Δημοσιεύθηκε στο VUB LSTS website, 20.12.2018

Oz, Amos, Judas 2016 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016) Amos Oz died on December 28, 2018, but this is not the reason why I am adding his last fiction book, Judas, in the LSTS list of books for 2018. If it were for his best book I would surely have inserted A Tale of Love and Darkness, which I wholeheartedly recommend to anybody coming to terms with his writing for the first time. No, Judas is not his best or even his second-best book for me however I feel I need to make a note of it for two reasons: First, because of the originality of its approach to the story of Judas, and second because of the choice of topic: Traitors. Originality of approach, a fresh look, a challenge of conventional wisdom are all highly regarded characteristics to professionals working on the regulation of technology. As regards the choice of topic, living in Europe these days one more than frequently hears the ‘traitor’ accusation been thrown against politicians and academics from all sides of the political spectrum. While such high volume alone would normally be enough to mutually void all these accusations, still a number of countries are faced these days with critical questions as to their identity, their culture (and whether it is worth keeping), their relationship with religion and their future course in history. Amos Oz’s book is far from a soothing call for reconciliation and introspection in this regard. Instead, it is a brutal reminder that in radical times voices asking for a compromise may be marginalised and vilified, and that labels stick even if what they preached may finally come to happen. Overall, then a tale for alertness and vigilance rather than an uplifting and hopeful one, but to me this is perfectly aligned to our turbulent times.