"In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine"- The unbearable lightness of being

About a year ago I attempted to read Everything is Illuminated. I was really into it at the beginning, but then i got bored and never finished it. Well last night I rented the movie to give it another try.

Reasons I thought I'd like the movie
*WWII stories are usually my favorite
*The author may or may not be related to me (Jonathan Safran Foer)
*I like Elijah Wood
*Elijah Wood Plays a Vegetarian
*Story Takes place around where my family is from
*The seeing eye bitch is named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.

Well it turns out that visually its a pretty good movie, but story wise the Book was better. The book wove together two different stories, the present and the past simultaneously. In the movie they only had the one story line, and the main character (jonathan safran foer) comes across REALLY strange. The book was more emotional too because of the historical context of the parallel story.

At the movie's end I was left with many questions about what had just happened. But I thought about it, and googled it a little bit and decided that really it conveys a pretty interesting message. The tour guide in the movie states that "everything is illuminated from the light of the past". Maybe it is true that to fully understand the present we have to revisit the past.

Augustine, Safran's love interest before the war, buried her wedding ring before she was killed. Her sister posed the question Why did she do that even though she knew she was going to die. Was it to be remembered or was it to give the future generations a reason to return. In the play Hamlet the king who is killed's greatest fear is that he would not leave a legacy and be remembered. When I read that play in 10th grade I thought this was a very selfish act on his part, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe he needed to leave his legacy in order for his children and grandchildren to understand their family and thus understand themselves.

In retrospect I guess I did like the book and the movie. Let me know if you've read this book and want to discuss. Maybe I need to joing a book club.