ABSTRACT

The year was 1973 when I read the story Late Love by Amos Oz, and underlined the following passage: […] something must, absolutely must, reveal itself, a formula, a dazzling system, a purpose, surely it is inconceivable that you will go from birth to death without experiencing a single flash of illumination, without encountering a single ray of sharp light, without something happening, surely it is impossible that all your life you have been nothing more than a barren dream inside yourself, surely there is something, something must make itself known, there must be something. After reading these lines, I decided to write my MA thesis on Amos Oz. After Late Love, I went on to read My Michael and Where the Jackals Howl, as well as many of his articles and interviews he’d given. And only afterwards I was bold enough to write him, asking if we could meet. Quickly and succinctly, he replied: “What is there to discuss? You can find everything [you are looking for] in my books and essays.” Still, just a few days later, we met at Café Peter for a lively conversation, which felt like a real dialogue. That conversation which was the basis for my book, What was Lost to Time: A Biography of a Friendship, is the essence of this article.

摘要

那一年是 1973 年，当我读到阿莫斯·奥兹 (Amos Oz) 的故事《迟到的爱》(Late Love) 时，我在下面的一段话下划线：[……] 某些东西必须，绝对必须，显露出来，一个公式，一个令人眼花缭乱的系统，一个目的，你肯定难以想象从生到死，没有一闪而过，没有遇到一缕锐光，没有发生过什么，当然不可能一辈子都只是自己内心的一个荒芜的梦，一定有什么，某事必须让自己为人所知，必须有某事。阅读完这些内容后，我决定在 Amos Oz 上写我的硕士论文。在晚恋之后，我继续阅读我的迈克尔和豺狼嚎叫的地方，以及他的许多文章和采访。直到后来我才敢写信给他，问我们是否可以见面。他迅速而简洁地回答：“有什么好谈的？你可以在我的书和论文中找到[你正在寻找的]一切。” 尽管如此，几天后，我们在 Café Peter 见面，进行了一次生动的交谈，感觉就像是一次真正的对话。那段对话是我的书《失去的时间：友谊的传记》的基础，也是这篇文章的精髓。