The Book of Shares by Edmund Jabes, Edmond Jabes, Rosmarie Waldrop (Translator)

From the Publisher

As we approach sharing let us ask: "What belongs to me?"
Balance sheet of a life ratified by death.
Whatever exists has no existence unless shared.
Possessions under seal are lost possessions.
At first sight, giving, offering yourself in order to receive an equivalent gift in return, would seem to be ideal sharing.
But can All be divided?
Can a feeling, a book, a life be shared entirely?
On the other hand, if we cannot share all, what remains and will always remain outside sharing? What has never, at the heart of our possessions, been ours?
And what if we can share the vital desire to share, our only means of escape from solitude, from nothingness?

Booknews

First in a new series. A translation from the French (1987, Editions Gallimard). Jabes (an Egyptian Jew expelled from Cairo during the Suez crisis and now living in France) describes a form of community that does justice to the divisions, oppositions, and conflicts of human existence. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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