A powerful and tragicomic blend of politics and personal destiny, "Black Box" records in a series of letters the wrecked marriage of Ilana and Alex. Seven years of silence following their bitter divorce is broken when Ilana writes to Alex for help over their wayward and illiterate son, Boaz, and old emotional scars are reopened.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Although they have been divorced seven years, Ilana, an Israeli, is still obsessed with her abusive, brilliant ex-husband, Alex, now a university professor in Chicago. She writes asking him to parcel out some of his considerable wealth and influence to benefit their son, Boaz, whom he abandoned. Oz (A Perfect Peace ) orchestrates impressively distinct and multilayered voices in an ensuing correspondence whose participants vie for each others' forgiveness and affection and, as after a plane crash, analyze the contents of the "black box" of Ilana and Alex's perverse relationship. Passionate Ilana is self-knowing and intensely loyal, yet self-destructively deceitful; barely literate Boaz is a cruel/kind savage who founds a utopian commune. Ilana's present husband, Moroccan-born Michel, is humble and loving but also chauvinistic and fawningly ambitious. A war hero, the cold, irreverent, love-starved Alex has written an international bestseller on fanaticism. In the hands of eminent Israeli writer Oz, this novel is more than a testament to the indivisible bonds of love and marriage; it is also an elegy to the demise of the Israeli old guard rooted in Eastern European socialism and the emergence of Sephardic and religious revisionists, and an eloquent meditation on the inevitability of death, the profound ties of parent and child, the seductive venality of money and the servitude of women. No doubt the barbs and homilies are far more pungent in the original Hebrew, however. And the epistolary format is constricting rather than creativeIlana's flowery prose and Michel's right-wing messianic propaganda run on unchecked for pages.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Few Israeli novelists have succeeded as well as Oz in portraying Israel's intensely felt political and religious strife. Black Box , his most experimental work to date, is told in letters: Ilana, "a born harlot," contacts her ex-husband for the first time in seven years to seek help for their desperately disturbed son, whose parentage was questioned in court. As well-meaning lawyers and relatives join in, what at first seems one woman's madness finally serves to illuminate all society. The ambiguities of the Israeli psyche are depicted by Ilana's second husband, who resorts to blackmail in soliciting funds for highly suspicious Zionist causes. Absolutely nothing here is trivialized or cliched, no easy feat considering Oz's themes. Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
AMOS OZ is a world-renowned novelist and essayist whose books include My Michael, To Know a Woman, Don't Call It Night, and The Same Sea. Most recently, his memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness, received the Koret Jewish Book Award.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Marvelous Land of Oz!,
By
This review is from: Black Box (Paperback)
I first became aware of Amos Oz as an Israeli intellectual of the left who is a proponent of reconcliation and peace. I knew he was a well known author, but had read none of his work until I finally picked up this fine book that delicately examines forces operating within Israel even as the author tells the compelling story of a man and woman who were unable to sustain their relationship as husband and wife.The husband, Alex, is a stunted human being, unable to sustain intimacy yet fully capable of leading Israeli soldiers in battle. Illana, the former wife and mother of a child who becomes centerpiece of their renewed relationship, is a passionate woman who has found solace in the arms of an immigrant who is committed to his religious faith and equally absorbed in the opportunities to make a profit under the umbrella of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The title "Black Box" comes from the device found in airplanes which become the source of information when there has been a crash. Illana initiates contact with Alex after years of separation out of concern for their son, but as their correspondence continues, it becomes clear that both parties are trying to understand the failure of their relationship. In fact, the entire story is told through indirect communication in letters, telegrams and scholarly footnotes. I'll say no more about the story so the reader may discover for him or herself the feelings of the main characters and where those feelings lead them. But I encourage readers to note the play between the second husband and his enthusiasm for building upon his faith and the opportunities created by sudden wealth and the first husband who is re-examining the whole arc of his life. These two men represent the forces presently at conflict in Israel where the right continues its self-righteous mission of taking control of the land while the left ponders the wisdom of the actions of their country's leaders during the first six decades of Israel's existence. Amos Oz writes beautifully! I look forward to reading more from the land of Oz.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Letters,Love and Longing,
By Ravi Coltrane (Long Island City, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Box (Paperback)
Mr. Oz manages to tell a story of great passion without a hint of sentimentality. He sets this amazing story within the political context of 1970-s Israel and perfectly places each character within this scene. The characters in this novel are memorable for their failings as much as their strengths. Brilliantly writing in each of their voices, Oz reveals their ties, lies and love for each other. I encourage everyone to read this beautifully written book of letters from a truly gifted author.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling, intelligent and at times frustrating novel.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Box (Paperback)
This chef of prose serves up the interminable bond of two wildly intelligent though socially- maladroit people long after their marriage ends in letter form. Oz is tremendously gifted at telling a story and seldom while reading this excellent piece, will you not desire to step in as the peacemaker to rectify the wedge and reunite lost love.
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