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PARTISAN REVIEW
together with a tremor of despair: ("That's it. That's all . Finished .
That's the way it is.")
What does this old veteran have to say to me when we are sit–
ting over supper in the dining hall on one of those autumn evenings?
First, politics : "Why do I jump around so? Carter, Shimon Peres ,
Gush Emunim,
Kissinger,
Hashomer Hatsair,
perhaps I'll be good
enough to listen for a moment before I give vent to hasty opinions?
After all, we've been through it all before, one way or another, and
it's always turned out all right in the end. It's wrong to worry so, and
to spread panic . Don't get so worked up, Amos, we've been through
much more problematic times in the past, and you see, we've sur–
vived, thank God. This mood will also blow over. Do you have a
cigarette by any chance? No? Have you really managed to give up?
Hand on your heart-have you really stopped? Truly? (A hint of
Polish in the accent still .) So perhaps you'll share the secret, and tell
me how it's done? These cigarettes are killing me . Literally killing
me. Hey, how'd you do it?
Nu?
How? Wait, don't say anything, I'll
tell you exactly how it's done. Wait a minute, let me finish a
sentence, I'll tell you exactly and don't you interrupt."
Amos Oz, the Israeli novelist, has recently published
In the Land of
Israel,
from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
