A review by pokolila
Black Box by Amos Oz

2.0

The theme of this book, as far as I can decipher it, seems to be “the art of living”: meaning the difficulty and perhaps the impossibility of mastering it. I cannot say that the writing technique has fascinated me or the story for that matter. After reading the book I proceeded to read upon the author. It was with no surprise that I learned that he has studied philosophy, since most of his characters are more than in any other way defined by their ideas, ideals and impressions of themselves rather than their actions. Like an over-protective parent, Oz left little room for the reader to "interfere", to offer their own interpretation of the characters. I found this rigidity annoying since by contrast, the characters changed their own minds a lot in the course of 4 months the story takes place, so much so, that the reader can infer no pattern or detect any consistency from which to draw a conclusion or other message. Such can neither be drawn from the ending of the book, it being is more ambiguous and cryptic even than religious scriptures so often quoted. I chose instead, by exercising a lot of latitude, to take away the following lesson from this reading experience: living is an act made difficult to man, by the very same nature that separates and makes him superior to other animals, even without the self-imposed obstacles of religious morality, and the pressures of social conformity, in any way that those elements may factor into each ones’ own philosophy.