Black Box by Amos Oz������������.5I picked up this book with little enthusiasm. Based on the summary, I was convinced that I would not care for it. The GoodReads summary was as follows, ���examines the lives of a contemporary Israeli couple whose marriage has ended in disaster.��� My initial reaction was ���that sounds boring and depressing.��� Boy, was I wrong (about the boring part, it is not exactly uplifting). I loved this book. The Black Box is an epistolary novel told through a series of letters, memos, notes between a formerly married couple, their son, the wife���s current husband, her sister, and the ex-husband���s lawyer. Oz takes us (the reader) on a journey of a marital breakdown that has so many twists and turns that you never quite know where you are going to end up. Each new letter adds to the jigsaw puzzle and contributes to an almost complete picture of how each character ends up in their current situation. Your heart breaks for these flawed and emotionally damaged people. This book is about so much more than the disintegration of a relationship. It is in many ways a book about fanaticism. All characters are extreme or fanatics in different ways. Alec, the ex-husband, is the secular rationalist (often cruel, seemingly emotionless), Michel, the current husband, is the religious fanatic, Ilana the seductress (all emotion, desire, etc), Boaz, the son, is naturalist with no faith. Oz clearly has little positive regard for fanaticism and he constantly points out the flaws in his characters. I would describe this book as a commentary or observation on the human condition, one that is set in a complex political setting. Oz captures the voices of each character so well. The letters are at times funny, at times bitter and cruel, and at other times filled with a sense of sadness and desperation.I have lots to say about this book, but fear that my comments will give too much away. So, instead I���ll just say that the book is complex, beautifully-written and engaging. My only criticisms (and thus the reason for not giving it a 5) are: 1) Ilana remains somewhat elusive. We are given a lot of information behind what drives many of the other characters (their childhood history, etc), but little background about Ilana and her flaws; & 2) some of the letters don���t quite read like letters since the characters will rehash in great detail exactly what they had said to the recipient of the letter (something that would be needless if you had actually had the conversation with that person to begin with). Favorite quotes: -���as after a plane crash, we have sat down and analyzed, by correspondence, the contents of the black box.���-���there is happiness in the world, Alec, and suffering is not its opposite but the narrow passage through which stooping, crawling among nettles, we reach the silent clearing in the forest bathed in lunar silver.���-���our love had filled with hate. Which consumed everything yet continued to masquerade as love.���
Black Box by Amos OzI keep hearing about Amos Oz and the Nobel that he is expected to get, for some years now. It seems a sure bet to say that he will. He has the necessary good work and the political favor that this prize involves.I see on goodreads that a few of my friends have rated Black Box with a maximum of five stars. I will not do the same, although I still have to make up my mind, by the end of these lines how much shall I put. I could appreciate it as a good book, although not great from where I stand. In fact, it is part of a series of modern Literature novels that I start, read some way through and decide that it doesn’t work for me. Although I found interesting statements like:“To be Jewish, Boaz, means to know how to give and to vanquish everything and walk forward on our path”I have all the admiration for the Jewish; chosen people…I had the chance to work with thousands of Israelis, as a tour guide through my years at University and after that.Even these days, I see them every day at the Radisson, where I go for my physical exercises. The other day, I surprised a number of them in the sauna, by saying: Ani medaber czad Ivrit”I speak some Hebrew…I have learned a good number of words and even a few sentences:Nipaghesh mahar ba bokerBruhim abraim le RomaniaNesia tovaAni oevotahI was wondering if I do not have some Jewish ancestry: I am tight with money, and I have an enormous empathy and interest in the culture, political situation…I was even very fond of a Jewish girl, who went to Israel, after we had been lovers for a while…hey…Scarlet Johansson is Jewish, maybe the most beautiful star of today.Coming back to Amos Oz- I wish him to win the Nobel Prize and I regret that my encounter with Black Box (of letters) has been a brief one, since in spite of the fact that I have appreciated the style, the book did not rub on me. It is my fault for being too much of hedonist in my reading, lacking a proper training that would have enabled me to see (all) the gems and enjoy them. The way it is now, I am an amateur satisfied, even thrilled by a good number of books, but simply unable to fully understand or connect with others, especially more modern Literature.
What do You think about Black Box (1989)?
Unforgettable and intenseA powerful book with unforgettable remarkable characters that are very well built in their flaws as much as in their strength. It is amazing how the author makes such a gripping a book in which we only get to know the relationship between the characters through letters they write to each other. We see love, hatred, passion, good deeds, evilness, hope, despair and there are no villains or good guys. A touching and involving story written by an exceptionally talented writer that masterfully takes us into the complexity of the human being.
—Lena
The Black Box by Amos Oz4 StarsThis is purely and simply a brilliant character study of four people told through a series letters between Ilana, the twice married Israeli mother of Boaz, Alex, Ilana's first husband and biological father to Boaz who now lives in America, Michel, Ilana's first husband, Boaz, Zakheim, Alex's attorney, and Rahel, Ilana's sister. Ilana and Alex's marriage was a difficult one full of abuse and infidelity. Alex abandoned Ilana and Boaz and no communicated took place between the two between the two for seven years until Boaz begins to get into trouble. What follows is a round of letters that slowly uncovers their troubling souls and histories in the same manner a black box traces the cause of an airline crash. Again, it is brilliant.This book is not for everyone. It takes a bit to engage the story since the story unfolds slowly through letters of, quite frankly, unreliable narrators. But, once you figure that you are looking into complex psyches and appreciate some of the humor it becomes a fun read. If you like a plot driven story this is not for you. If you need to have at least one character this is not for this is not for you. But, if you like great character development give this a try. They are incredibly flawed, complex and each are a fanatic is his/her own right. Oz is a gifted writer, capturing each persons voice adeptly and vividly paining scene for the writer. My one complaint was that sometimes the letter were too descriptive. Sometimes you just wanted Ilana to shut up.
—Regina Lindsey
Before starting to read this book, I read some (very few) comments on it. Most of them talked about a love story and about humor... Maybe it's me, but I didn't find anything funny in this book. And I would hardly call it a "love story". I would rather say it's a book about death and violence. A sad book about death and violence. It only gets 3 stars from me because I found the beginning tiresome and naive, full of clichés and superficial. I found the end quite exquisite, though boring sometimes. As an overall feeling, this book puzzled me (which I guess means it's a good book). I would assume this is what the author meant: all characters are (generally speaking) defined as to overline the duality of the human being: the almost fanatic husband that shamelessly asks for money from the ex-husband is a kind man that tries to protect everyone, even if the ways he chooses to do so are a bit tyrannic; Ilana is a weak woman and lousy mother, driven by her sexual pleasures, but capable of tenderly taking care of her dying ex-husband and renewing in the same time the relationship with her almost-abandoned son; Alexander is a violent man that used to savagely beat up his wife, but he's capable of an out-of-measure generosity just to have things cleared up in his mind before his death. Not to speak about the lawyer, who seems the most balanced character, but meanwhile the one that you really cannot trust and understand. Or the old "tzar", with a whole life of splendor and treason and cruelty behind him...I wonder what I will be thinking about this book in a few weeks from now, when things will be a bit more clear in my head... :)
—Lavinia
