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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Amos Oz
Aired November 10, 2001 - 16:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Today in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian man was injured in an explosion near an Israeli military checkpoint. Israelis say that he was wounded when a bomb he was carrying blew up prematurely. Palestinians say the man was accidentally injured by Palestinian militants who misfired a mortar bomb.
Well, for a perspective on peace in the Middle East, we are joined by Israeli author Amos Oz, who is in Philadelphia. He's written a number of books, well-known books; the latest, a novel called "The Same Sea." He's joining us from Philadelphia.
Thank you for being with us today.
I have the book here, incredible book. Tell us -- I know you say you're closest to this book of all the ones that you've written. And this one is really written mostly in verse. How difficult was that?
AMOS OZ, ISRAELI AUTHOR: Well, it's a playful novel, written partly in verse, partly in prose, erasing the lines between prose and verse, trying to create something which is utterly new and fresh.
CALLAWAY: And tell us, Mr. Oz, why you feel closest to this book. I mean, certainly you're well know -- your books are well know.
OZ: Well, it's a very personal book in many ways. And it deals with the Israel that most people outside Israel don't even know about, the Israel that never makes the news headlines.
It's the Israel of the coastal plain, secular, hedonistic, noisy, passionate, warm-hearted, hearty. It's a country which I love even at times when I don't like it. In fact, I love it even at times when I can't stand it.
CALLAWAY: The reviews of this book have been just as fascinating to read. It's called the book a breakthrough; an interesting way of telling a story and truly -- unfortunately I haven't read the whole book, but I read part of it this afternoon, and it is just an incredible way of telling a story, the way it's written in verse like that.
How long did you work on this piece?
OZ: Close to five years. CALLAWAY: Wow.
OZ: It was quite an undertaking, yes.
CALLAWAY: Yes, a good deal of investment.
OZ: Yes.
CALLAWAY: And it's interesting, is your -- are you and your family written into this novel?
OZ: Yes, my family, my wife, my dead parents, we move in and out of the novel, mingling with the fictitious characters.
CALLAWAY: Tell us a little bit about what the story's about, the characters.
OZ: Well, the story is about a love affair between a young boy and a young girl, but the boy is a prodigal son. And his widowed father falls in love with the girlfriend of his son. So it's a bit of a complicated story.
CALLAWAY: Oh, complicated yes; it's got a ghost in it, a little sexual hanky-panky.
OZ: Oh, a very active ghost. It's the ghost of a Jewish mother. Since, when being dead is a problem for a Jewish mother who -- for a Jewish mother who wants to defend her boy.
So it's about love, and it's about desire, and desolation, and loss and all those issues which will stay with us long after the present crisis dissolves into the next one and the next one.
CALLAWAY: And this was written in Hebrew, we should say. This -- I'm holding the translation, of course. Do you think your book loses anything when it's translated?
OZ: Well, it's like playing a violin concerto on the piano. It can be done very successfully on one condition, that you never try to force the piano to produce the sounds of the violin. This would be grotesque. But I think this translation is as vivacious as a translation can be. And the book, even in English, not just tells a story, but sings and does as I wanted it to do.
CALLAWAY: Let's talk briefly about the current situation, and the Palestinian and the Israeli negotiations. It seemed right after September 11, they pushed forward. It seemed that things were moving forward. That doesn't seem to really be the case now. What are your thoughts on that?
OZ: I want to tell you the good news. You all know about the bad news, and I don't need to repeat that. The good news is that the vast majority of Israeli Jews and of Palestinian Arabs know in their heart of hearts that in the end of the day there will be a two-state solution and a painful compromise, including people who hate this solution. They know it. Even people who regard this solution as crying injustice or as a mortal danger or both, they still know that this is going to happen at the end of the day. The realization is dawning on both nations, the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Arabs.
I dare say that the leaderships on both sides are way behind their own constituencies.
CALLAWAY: And do you feel like the current war on terrorism, the current war that's underway in Afghanistan is redirecting the U.S. concentration right now?
OZ: Well, I think it would be just as well to redefine what this war is all about. Is it about chasing a bunch of fanatics in the caves of Afghanistan? Or is it about combating fanaticism itself? Chasing a bunch of fanatics is a Hollywood story really, and I hope it will come to a happy end and they will be brought to justice.
But this will not be the end of fanaticism. We are dealing with a widespread, deep, complex phenomenon. And you deal with fanaticism by healing, not just by beating. Military muscle is very important, but military muscle alone cannot cure fanaticism.
CALLAWAY: Amos Oz, thank you for joining us so quickly. I have to ask you this: Are you reading anything right now? Can you tell us?
OZ: Well, I'm reading too. All I read is my own work, which I have to read to varying audiences each night.
CALLAWAY: All right, Amos Oz, author of "The Same Sea," thank you for joining us. It was indeed a pleasure.
OZ: Thank you for having me. Thank you.
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