British female writer Naomi Alderman's first novel won the Rookie Writer Award and the Jewish Writing Award in 2006. Rachel Weisz was drawn to the work because she was looking for two female-centred stories. She acts as a filmmaker and at the same time as the heroine Ronit, and invited Chilean director Sebastián Lelio to direct and write the script. Another heroine, also named Rachel McAdams (Rachel McAdams), plays Esti. Dovid in the Triangle is performed by British actor Alessandro Nivola. Dovid's character is in some ways a lot like Laurel Canyon.
The reaction from the premiere audience was mixed. The first compliment that came out was that the two heroines had a good tacit understanding on the screen. There are two things that everyone cares about most: (1) the sex scene in the original is just an understatement. Some people describe the movie version as insane, which is beyond the original, and even a little kinky (whether for marketing purposes or interpretation); (2) Esti's The ending is not the same as the clean ending of the original book, it is more open.
The roles of Ronit and Esti in the book are just the opposite. The film version adapts Ronit to a more lovable, original financial analyst, turned photographer (again). The slender Esti in the book is a very strong character, and she is the meaning of practicing Disobedience.
Back to the novel.
I don't like the use of lesbian in the book, it's just a flag of rebellion, not the heart of the emotion. The rebellion displayed by Disobedience is not the taboo same-sex love, but the courage to question the closed repression of traditional Jewish society. The three characters Ronit, Esti, and Dovid challenge in their own way and present different levels, which should cause great reflection in the conservative Jewish community. This book offers different voices on the fundamental teaching of the Undoubted God.
Each chapter is divided into two perspectives, the first being the omniscient perspective, which usually begins with a Jewish tradition or scripture, and then describes people and things that advance the story. The second is Ronit's perspective and her cynicism.
Ronit, the only daughter of a Jewish priest near London, lost her mother at the age of four. The ghosts have been out of tune with traditional communities since childhood. She was sent to the United States to study, and after graduating, she became self-reliant in New York. She never returned to her hometown until her father passed away eight years later. She came back to handle the funeral and found that her youthful lover, Esti, had married her cousin, Dovid, who had been assisting her father as a church deacon.
Ronit is like the typical New Yorker, open to talk and reluctant to keep silent. Everything in the traditional community was teased by her, and modern readers nodded in agreement. Knowing that she is unpopular in her hometown, she uses taboos as a weapon of attack. She talks nonsense at formal dinners about marrying a same-sex partner and has children, and she is still worrying about the source of sperm. In fact, it's all lies.
She did have a homosexual relationship in New York, but in the course of the story, she was in a relationship with her married male boss until she was discovered by the other party's wife in the latter part and ended up resigning. I wonder why the author made Ronit a bit selfish and anticlimactic? Because walking away is not a rebellion. To be brave is to stay where you are and try to change. (The movie version deleted the married male boss.) The
first chapter at the beginning of the novel is that the old Jewish priest insisted on preaching on the sick body, and finally fell to the ground. This metaphor symbolizes the end of the traditional era. People worry about who can continue to lead the community, and is Dovid a worthy successor?
Dovid is a very difficult character in the book. He was Ronit's cousin four years older. He went to seminary and studied with Ronit's father for a long time. He has always been silent, has no ambition, and has no social charisma. He has a hidden headache. When I was young, I spent some time at home recovering from illness and met Esti through Ronit's relationship. The three often dream of future plans, with only Ronit flying away. Ronit often uses the psychiatrist's words as a shield, "You can only save yourself, not others."
Dovid has always had reservations about the role of Jewish priests, insisting that he does not want to speak and preach on stage. Church members felt that he was too insecure. Dovid is also concerned that attitudes towards Esti will intensify, as tradition dictates that priestesses must be more "decent". The church committee actually wanted to place Esti overseas, out of sight (like Ronit).
This sacred to idealized character is a very loving and tolerant person in the book. He already knew about Ronit and Esti's past relationship (in fact, the small community has long been rumored). It is said that the film version of Dovid was not willing to leave Esti. In the book, Dovid witnessed Ronit and Esti in bed, and then the two confessed.
Esti admits that she and Ronit have been in a relationship for a long time, and it has never changed (sexual orientation):
"It has always been this way with me. No other way. I think I will never be any different than this."
(The paradox is the original In the end, the two had a new generation, and they did not separate)
Esti asked Dovid, why did he marry her since he knew about the relationship between the two? Dovid could not bear to leave Ronit damage:
"the I DID not want you to Shrink the I like the this the I though you could the Keep Safe Wrong the I WAS the I'm Sorry...."
Dovid then leave the initiative to agree Esti, whether or not they follow Ronit left together.
He ended up being a church pastor, reluctant to play the great leader of the past. Some people left to join other churches, and some chairmen moved to make a profit. He worked hard to create a new look in the old community.
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Speaking of the real soul character Esti, probably the most heartbreaking and righteous dialogue is reserved for her.
She teaches at school. On the day Ronit came back, she stayed at school and didn't come home. At the end, she meets a young and beautiful female colleague at school. The book depicts her feeling her female colleague's hair and body heat, which awakens Esti's impending desire.
In the book, Esti has been looking forward to Ronit, she is the party of desire and kisses Ronit twice. At first Ronit thought he was moving forward, the past was gone. Then she confronted Esti, why did you never beg me to stay? Esti couldn't stand rejection and preferred not to speak. Because Ronit was all about plans to stay in New York after school.
Why did Esti marry Dovid? In fact, we can understand that we have to enter marriage under traditional pressure. But Esti has "better reasons". She cites the David and Jonathan relationship in the Old Testament as an example. Many people interpret it as gay romance (see: Jonathan). King David loved Jonathan more than women. After Jonathan died in battle, King David married Jonathan's sister, Michal. (There are many biblical metaphors in this novel)
Esti made her claim of disobedience to Ronit:
"Sometimes I think that God is punishing me. For what we did together. Sometimes I think that my life is a punishment for wanting. And the wanting is a punishment, too. But I think- if God wishes to punish me, so be it; that is His right. But it is my right to disobey."
(Sometimes I feel like I'm being punished by God for being together. Sometimes I'm being punished by desire. Actually desire itself is a punishment. If God is going to punish me, then Come on, this is his right. But I also have the right to disobey.) In the
end, Dovid introduced Esti to stand on stage despite objections at the church, and made public that she had confessed to the old pastor that she had female desires. The old priest reassured her that there is nothing wrong with desire itself, but the practice of desire is forbidden. Advise her to marry a quiet man who doesn't ask much, and stop talking about it. Esti thinks "this is wrong". For since God has given man the ability to speak, man should create rather than destroy the value of speaking:
"I have desired that which is forbidden to me. I continue to desire it. And yet, I am here. I obey the commandments . it iS Possible AS long AS the I do not have have to do SO in silence. "
(in the past I have the desire taboo, is still, but I did not run away. I would like to observe commandments, if not forced to remain silent by.)
The original book has some logic, I don't agree with it, and it is not a book list I strongly recommend. But on the subject of lesbianism, this novel has its own claims, not a general emotional story. The movie propaganda will gradually spread, when more and more people only pay attention to the sex scenes and kissing scenes, don't forget that the original book has a strong spirit of disobedience against the rigid system.
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