(5) Tree Line
At first, Everything is Illuminated seems a lot more like Everything is Intimidating. The first chapter (and about half the book's total chapters) is narrated by Alex, who has a, shall we say, tenuous grasp of the English language. He uses "oppress" when he means "impress" (5.11), "oblongated" (9.1) instead of "obligated," and the funny idiom "manufacture any Z's" (5.13) when he means "sleeping." Depending on your patience level, this can be annoying or hilarious.
The rest of the chapters take place in a Jewish shtetl (basically a village) and span from 1791 to 1942. It has more time shifts than True Detective, and the character names are strange even to Alex. But lucky you! We have a handy summary to help you out.
And if you're wondering if this whole journey is going to pay off, don't worry: everything will be illuminated.