Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for honoring, respecting, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. Customs vary widely both between cultures and between religious groups and denominations within cultures. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved. Additionally, funerals often have religious aspects which are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.

The funeral generally includes a ritual through which the corpse of the deceased is given up. Depending on culture and religion, these can involve either the destruction of the body (for example, by cremation or sky burial) or its preservation (for example, by mummification or interment). Differing beliefs about cleanliness and the relationship between body and soul mean that a funerary practice that is deeply sacred to one culture may be absolutely taboo in another. When a funerary ceremony is performed but the body of the deceased is not available, it is usually called a memorial service.

Burial Rites

Burial Rites (2013) is a novel by Australian author Hannah Kent.

Plot summary

Burial Rites tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, a servant in northern Iceland who was condemned to death after the murder of two men, one of whom was her employer, and became the last woman put to death in Iceland.

Notes

Dedication: For my Family

Reviews

Interviews

Awards and nominations

Gary Ross

Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956) is an American film director, writer, and author. He directed the film The Hunger Games, as well as Pleasantville and the Best Picture nominated Seabiscuit.

Life and career

Ross is the son of Gail and Arthur A. Ross, the latter of whom was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Brubaker). He attended (though did not graduate from) the University of Pennsylvania, worked as a fisherman, worked on Ted Kennedy's 1980 Presidential campaign, consulted on both Michael Dukakis's and Bill Clinton's Presidential campaigns, and wrote a novel before being hired to write screenplays for Paramount Pictures.

Big was his first produced screenplay. Co-written with Anne Spielberg (sister of Steven), it led to an Academy Award nomination and a Writers Guild of America Award. He went on to write several other successful films, including Dave in 1993. In 1998, he wrote and directed Pleasantville, and in 2003, he wrote, directed and produced Seabiscuit, based on Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. The film earned seven Academy Award nominations.