Word: modernizing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...With the last two narrators, the novel spins out of Budnitz's previously firm control. The style changes from short sentences to descriptive passages, while snippets of modern existence attempt to address all the moral and emotional issues Budnitz has introduced. To prevent the rich symbolism of Ilana's account in the old country from laying waste, Budnitz reintroduces the egg as the unifying concept for the novel. When Ilana dies, the egg loses its sheen, and the novel comes to a halting...
...Naomi is the youngest narrator and the compendium of three generations of tenement dysfunction. While mysteriously drawn to her great-grandmother and the mystery of the egg, Naomi firmly inhabits the modern world. Her thoughts are descriptive rather than analytical, and this, combined with her youthful naivete, fail to give the reader any reason to feel an emotional stake in her future...
...approaching the world's end. After all, the year 2000 can only mean the Apocalypse. Usually these types of ideas are relegated to specific facets of society: messianic religious movements or anti-technology groups. It's the end of the world, the end of Virtue, the end of the Modern Welfare State and now Teri Agins, a veteran fashion journalist at the Wall Street Journal, has written a book called The End of Fashion...
...topics, he can then begin to enjoy Kugel's luxurious strolls through the Biblical forest. As the author points out a flower here, a bird there, all the while quoting liberally from diverse sections of Scripture, the fascinating nuances of Biblical thought are enlivened and made relevant to the modern reader. Sometimes Kugel dips into our own popular culture to clarify an idea, such as his citation of The Wizard of Oz as an example of theological disillusionment for which there is no Hebraic equivalent. At other times, he writes with a contemporary lyricism that brings to life, however anachronistically...
...Crowe's Wigand is undoubtedly the body and soul of the film; Crowe plays Wigand like a modern Hamlet, a quiet, broken shell of a man, and endows him with incredible dignity and grace. In this quietly riveting performance, Crowe captures every nuance of his character's dilemma and slow collapse; he heartbreakingly portrays Wigand's paranoia, depression and bewilderment...