Everything Is Illuminated

The novel returns to Alex’s narrative. Alex and his grandfather are leaving to drive 10 hours to meet Jonathan’s train in Lvov. After some negotiation, it is decided that Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. will go on the trip as well. Alex and his grandfather get to Lvov without incident but get lost trying to find the train station. Finally, they meet Jonathan’s train. Alex is underwhelmed upon meeting Jonathan and takes him to the car, where Grandfather is sleeping in the driver’s seat. Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. takes an immediate liking to Jonathan, even though he does not like dogs. He tells Alex and Grandfather this but they do not take him seriously, and the dog stays in the backseat with him for the duration of the trip.

The novel returns to Jonathan’s fictional history of Trachimbrod and opens at the Slouchers’s weekly service. The Slouchers use a book called The Book of Recurrent Dreams as their main text. Members of the congregation contribute to the text when they have a dream, and the entries are then read at the services. On this day, the service is interrupted by members of the Upright congregation, who come to tell Yankel D that he has won the lottery: He will be the adopted father of the girl born in the river.