BOOKS: How To Cure A Fanatic by Amos Oz

How to Cure a Fanatic by Amos Oz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This small book had some great thoughts in it. I liked the descriptions of the fanaticism in both Judaism and Islam. I also liked the advice for resolving the Israeli/Palestinian problem (involving a two-state solution).

He gave a good description of the complexity of the issue and the importance of painful compromises on both sides. I really liked his description of the land of Israel as a house with two families fighting over ownership and that a solution would be painful and complex (similar to a divorce).

He wrote that learning how to have a sense of humor and to be able to imagine the other were important preparations for compromise. He also recommended using literature to learn how to imagine the other's situation. That advice would probably apply in all sorts of life-situations. Anyway, it was an interesting little book.

THINGS I LIKED:
1. The description of the complexity of the issue

2. The section on Jewish and Islamic fanaticism

MAIN IDEAS:

1. The need for a two-state solution

2. The importance of painful compromises for both sides

3. Important preparations for compromise include having a sense of humor and having the ability to imagine "the other".

4. Literature can be used to learn how to imagine the other's situation.

Favorite Quotes:

"The essence of fanaticism lies in the desire to force other people to change."

"And if you promise to take what I'm about to say with a big pinch of salt, I think I have invented the remedy for fanaticism. A sense of humor is a great cure. I have never once in my life seen a fanatic with a sense of humor, nor have I ever seen a person with a sense of humor become a fanatic, unless he or she has lost that sense of humor. Fanatics are often sarcastic. Some of them have a very pointed sense of sarcasm, but no humor. Humor contains the ability to laugh at ourselves. Humor is relativism, humor is the ability to see yourself as others see you, humor is the capacity to realize that no matter how righteous you are and how terribly wronged you have been, there is a certain side to life that is always a bit funny."

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