There are many difficult and complex things going on in "The History of Love". The book is about a family dealing with the death of their father/husband and a man trying to accept the fact that he is aging. I found that the man, Leo Gursky, has a lot of complex issues that were really deep. Leo struggles with the concept that he is growing older and that he cannot do certain things. For example, Leo never looks in the mirror because he doesn't want to see the sagging under his eyes.
Leo is also a fascinating character because he has never gotten over the love he lost. Leo lived during the Holocaust in Poland and the love of his life left for New York City before he could chase after her. It took him about ten years to finally see her again but she was already happy and remarried with two kids. While Leo uses his love as an excuse to live in a pig stye and never try anything new, I still feel awful that he must live alone. Leo also has a friend named Bruno who tried to commit suicide because he didn't see the point in living if he wasn't doing anything anymore.
I think that Leo really wants to do something with his life but he has a strong barrier between trying to reflect on his awful past and getting over the past in order to do something in the future. I find this really complex because I have never had any experience like that because I am so young. I think that the author will change Leo to make him leave the house more often. These are the things and ideas that are really complex in the book, "The History of Love".
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Everything Is Illuminated 2
***SPOILER ALERT***
***SPOILER ALERT***
***SPOILER ALERT***
In the book, "Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer, I found the character of Brod to be very unordinary. According to the Jonathan (the main character), Brod is his "very great-grandmother" who dates back to the 1800s in The Ukraine. Brod was found as a baby in the river, she was said to be a miracle because her father did not survive and probably drowned in the river. Her adoptive father is chosen by lottery and Yankel, a very old and wise man is the winner of the child. Yankel teaches Brod many things which changes her personality forever.
In the book it says, "life is an empty void" according to Brod. Brod struggles with a deep sense of depression based upon what Yankel taught her. Yankel's wife left him, and in his response to create something more lively for Brod to imagine as her Mother, he imagines the most perfect woman. This unknown Mother seems to create Brod's depression and she cannot truly grasp the idea that her depression is not normal. As the reader I didn't understand why she should be so depressed because her life is so perfect and yet she still finda a way to make herself miserable.
At 15 or so, Yankel now such an old man dies and Brod is left to marry the man named, "The Kolkier". Her husband is a very sweet and gentle man that wants nothing more than to please Brod, though it seems that their love is not deep but physical. Throughout their marriage, Brod seems to misunderstand love and when "The Kolkier" states he wants to live apart from her she says, "love is a room". Personally, I know that love is not where you are but it's who you're in love with and that was when I knew that Brod had never loved nor knew that she was loved.
Brod Safran is a character I truly do not connect with, mostly because her emotions and actions do not make sense to me. Brod is sweet and gentle but doesn't understand her emotions, so she just tries to go along with where life takes her and does not take risks. I think that the author used Brod as a little loophole you could see the past through and realize the very cycles we go through as we grow up. That is why I found Brod to be such a strange, thoughtful and unique character.
***SPOILER ALERT***
***SPOILER ALERT***
In the book, "Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer, I found the character of Brod to be very unordinary. According to the Jonathan (the main character), Brod is his "very great-grandmother" who dates back to the 1800s in The Ukraine. Brod was found as a baby in the river, she was said to be a miracle because her father did not survive and probably drowned in the river. Her adoptive father is chosen by lottery and Yankel, a very old and wise man is the winner of the child. Yankel teaches Brod many things which changes her personality forever.
In the book it says, "life is an empty void" according to Brod. Brod struggles with a deep sense of depression based upon what Yankel taught her. Yankel's wife left him, and in his response to create something more lively for Brod to imagine as her Mother, he imagines the most perfect woman. This unknown Mother seems to create Brod's depression and she cannot truly grasp the idea that her depression is not normal. As the reader I didn't understand why she should be so depressed because her life is so perfect and yet she still finda a way to make herself miserable.
At 15 or so, Yankel now such an old man dies and Brod is left to marry the man named, "The Kolkier". Her husband is a very sweet and gentle man that wants nothing more than to please Brod, though it seems that their love is not deep but physical. Throughout their marriage, Brod seems to misunderstand love and when "The Kolkier" states he wants to live apart from her she says, "love is a room". Personally, I know that love is not where you are but it's who you're in love with and that was when I knew that Brod had never loved nor knew that she was loved.
Brod Safran is a character I truly do not connect with, mostly because her emotions and actions do not make sense to me. Brod is sweet and gentle but doesn't understand her emotions, so she just tries to go along with where life takes her and does not take risks. I think that the author used Brod as a little loophole you could see the past through and realize the very cycles we go through as we grow up. That is why I found Brod to be such a strange, thoughtful and unique character.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Everything Is Illuminated
"Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer seems extremely interesting in the way the author decided to organize his writing. The character, Jonathan who is based off the author, goes on a journey to meet the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. I saw part of the movie two years ago and I found the story fascinating because the author decided to do something very unique. The narrator is a Ukrainian translator that knows some butchered English and Jonathan is an accomplished writer. The author wanted the narrator to tell the story using extremely sophisticated vocabulary words and as the sentence continues the words are extremely simple and do not make sense with the very accomplished word he had previously used.
The author also wanted to tell the story of a Jewish culture during 1791-1793. The translator suddenly launches into the story of a man who vanishes (or may be dead) and how he had left behind almost everything he owned, including a baby, in a riverbank. It also shows a very comedic side to the Jewish holiday in the story they call, Trachim, after the man who vanished. The author also talks about the very long prayers that are screamed from the rabbis and the strange townspeople. The author created an entire world of extremely gossipy and nosy people whom are very interesting.
The author is extremely creative in the way he decided to write the book and create the all those completed characters. The world of Jonathan Safran Foer is fascinating and a thrill to read. The movie was particularly funny from the almost psychotic characters thrown into the quest. For anyone who can carry a dictionary with them while their reading this will probably enjoy this, even though I've only read about 30 pages myself.
The author also wanted to tell the story of a Jewish culture during 1791-1793. The translator suddenly launches into the story of a man who vanishes (or may be dead) and how he had left behind almost everything he owned, including a baby, in a riverbank. It also shows a very comedic side to the Jewish holiday in the story they call, Trachim, after the man who vanished. The author also talks about the very long prayers that are screamed from the rabbis and the strange townspeople. The author created an entire world of extremely gossipy and nosy people whom are very interesting.
The author is extremely creative in the way he decided to write the book and create the all those completed characters. The world of Jonathan Safran Foer is fascinating and a thrill to read. The movie was particularly funny from the almost psychotic characters thrown into the quest. For anyone who can carry a dictionary with them while their reading this will probably enjoy this, even though I've only read about 30 pages myself.
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