A letter written in the spirit of "Everything is Illuminated", a book by Jonathan Safran Foer, first published in 2002, written "simply and impossibly" for his family... the story of a young, Jewish American-born writer's search for more information about his heritage... mainly to find Augustine, a woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
So, without spoilers, I present to you
"contemplative thoughts on the
sadness of dreams"
...something I've written in response to the sentiment (or retort)
"ur living a dream"
to
you and to
you.
and which should give the reader a fuller image of the nature of the book.
Brod would say to you yes, living is better in dreams
and we always want what's
not so far away, but just out of our grasp
teasing.
a daydream where...
...and by the way, before I continue
whatever you dream, you can make real
there is also a sadness in this.
if that day were to come
as it came many times before
as in the past it came to you also
when we have it, we envy that time of want.
you can replicate what you`ve seen in dreams
but not the tenderness you had for it
remember the beauty of making love through the peep-hole?
when the wall comes down
the dream is over
and that's why
there's no such thing as living a dream
there´s only the beauty of longing.
the moment the dream is here, the dream is over
you begin to deal with the bruises of enjoyment
so sometimes, I am content with longing
I can be satisfied by my own imagination
I am content with wanting.
and perhaps, not better off than those unable to.
'Everything is Illuminated' was adapted into a movie directed by
Liev Schreiber and stars
Elijah Wood,
Eugene Hutz, and
Boris Leskin. "Everything is Illuminated" is also loose adaptation of the term '
Illuminate me' and so, actually means 'Everything is Understood'. But Foer's expert manipulation of the
Ukranian translator's unique language gives added depth to the simplest of sentences. The book, on the other hand, is less a story than it is a disconnected yet connected series of events. Thoughts,
dreams,
memories... love?
www.whoisaugustine.com
www.jonathansafranfoer.com