Open heart
(Book)

"This is a Borzoi book."

After years of health problems, but none with his heart, the author, at age eighty-two, was told that he needed immediate surgery to clear his blocked arteries. On what he knew might very well be his deathbed, he reflected on his many losses and accomplishments, and on all that remained to be done. Fortunately, he survived the life-threatening heart surgery to turn those reflections into a book which discusses his affection for his family both departed and still living, his aspirations for his writing, and his hope that he improved the world. Facing his own mortality, the author reflects back on his life. Emotions, images, faces and questions flash through his mind. His family before and during the unspeakable Event. The gifts of marriage and children and grandchildren that followed. In his writing, in his teaching, in his public life, has he done enough for memory and the survivors? His ongoing questioning of God, where has it led? Is there hope for mankind? Here the world's tireless ambassador of tolerance and justice has given us this account of hope and despair, an exploration of the love, regrets and abiding faith.

Translated from the French.