Aside from three quotes that I found interesting or found a connection with, I have drawn two major conclusions about these fifty pages. My overall impression from this section was that the theme was life versus death. It seemed as though in many different points throughout the fifty pages, the topic or discussion of death came about both in the present with Rora, Iuliana, and Brik, and the flashbacks of Olga and Taube. Secondly, the tour through the museum of polgroms consumed a large portion of this section of reading. My main connection to this is that it reminded me a lot of what I have heard about the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. I am from D.C. and have yet to tour the Holocaust museum, but I have wanted to go for a very long time now.
The first quote that I literally had an immediate reaction in my head to was when Rora was speaking toward Brike on page 209, "Know what? Everybody knows some things. You don't need to know everything. What you need to do is shut up and stop asking so many questions. You need to relax." This scene made me laugh because Brik reminded me so much of myself. I am a chronic overanalyzer and and constantly asking questions. It is almost always to the point that someone has to tell me that I am annoying and need to shut up. This mostly happens with my boyfriend and sometimes with my father because they cannot handle my overwhelming curiosity about literally everything that I stumble upon.
The second quote that gave me insight was when Taube was speaking on page 224, "...We are within our life and we stay there for as long as possible, that's our home. We need life. There is too much death already, and there is probably more coming our way." Not only was this particular quote extremely deep, but everything that Taube says in reference to death and life within this scene was clearly given a great about of thought. Although I do believe that his character is somewhat forced to be saying these things in order to convince Olga to stay and cooperate with him and his team, I truly appreciated his outlook on life. Taube puts a bold emphasis on the fact that death is all around us, but we cannot give up because those that have passed are relying on us that are alive to continue on and to carry their traditions. I completely agree with Taube, although I believe that most of us lose sight of this reality too often.
Finally, my favorite scene of these fifty pages was on page 235, "Here it was. Iuliana was flustered, blushing, a globule of sweat sliding down past her ear, then curving at the jawline. She smiled at me--I could have kissed her right there, those living lips, those gloaming eyes, that pale face. That's me, I thought. That woman is me. Somewhere beyond the roof of tree crowns the sky grumbled, hearing up for a storm. Rora took a picture of her, then of me, then of us." I honestly thought this scene was beautiful in description, language, and imagery. I could picture the scenery perfectly, with the light sun beams gleaming off their faces of delight and wondrous love, all astounded both by the matter at hand (finding the tombstone) and the love they all discovered for each other right in that very moment. Even though it is clear that Brik has internal battles between his love for Mary and is interest in Iuliana, for some reason, this scene made me want Iuliana and Brik together. The way he describes her beauty is so precious that you can't help but root for her.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Finitude: to look through/explore/examine
Sotto voce: a low, soft voice
Platitudes: a flat, dull remark
Ubiquitous: existing everywhere
Rapt: deeply engrossed or absorbed
Indelibly: making marks that cannot be erased
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