This photograph posted on Twitter by his daughter, Fania Oz-Salzberger, of Amos Oz’s hand before, at, or just after the moment of his passing is both deeply touching and very odd. A frozen photographic image, it is not unlike a contemporary and digital version of a medieval relic or of a momento mori. An object of Zionist fascination, the image now made public is hagiographic. It says so many contradictory things about the physical life represented by a uniquely gifted cultural mediator and the cultural-literary and political-ethical values he represented to his people.
he’ll be missed for his individual roles but also I think may also be one of the last novelists to be given a serious place at the table of public debate, as that generation goes I think so too does the role of the fiction writer as something like an informed conscience.
Losing a parent presents a loss that is rarely reduced over time. Long life, Fania, and we can all be grateful for the wonderful literature and images that remain from your dad.