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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
At the end, when I found myself rather choked up, I was at first surprised, because I hadn’t thought it was that sort of book at all (that is, the sort of book where you cry at the end), but then I felt, somehow, like this book was more that sort of book than the average book of that sort, like it really deserved my tears, had earned them, had really truly been the sort of book where you should cry at the end, and I had this feeling, an odd one I don’t think I’ve felt before, like, “Ah, yes, this is something that is worth mourning.” Which is funny, because no one even dies, and it’s not very often that I stop to think that there might be some things in life that are sadder than death. In retrospect, however, it seems like an obviously true thing, though I’m not sure why it was this book that made the thought obvious to me, because it’s not like the ending was desolate—it was somehow sweet as well, somehow uplifting, and there wasn’t any bitterness in it at all.
Coming of age stories are a fairly common genre choice for me, but it’s been a long time since I read one and felt, at the end, that I’d grown up a little as well.
Coming of age stories are a fairly common genre choice for me, but it’s been a long time since I read one and felt, at the end, that I’d grown up a little as well.
This is the story of an improbable friendship between Reuven, an Orthodox Jew who wants to become a rabbi and Danny, a Hasidic Jew, who carries the burden of following in his father's footsteps as the tzaddik, or congregation's rabbi. Danny is a prodigy, vociferous for knowledge both within and beyond the Talmud and Hasidism. He sneaks away to the local library to read forbidden books.
Set against the backdrop of World War II and the onset of the Jewish State, a world repeatedly cited as "crazy," the place of God within is not easily seen. Zionists fight for a homeland while the Hasidim protest, believing This obfuscated presence is represented within the text as blindness. Reuven is nearly blinded by his baseball injury, only for the incident to lead to his closest friendship. The boy in the hospital bed beside Reuven, Billy, is awaiting a surgery that is meant to restore his vision. That surgery is unsuccessful. Danny believes his father is blind to his library visits and his expanding interests beyond Hasidism, but he is privy to his son's exploits.
In The Chosen, openness is paramount, understanding is essential, silence becomes understanding, and fathers are god-like.
Reuven's father guides the reader and becomes Potok's prophet through which he can speak to the reader. Reuven is the prophet through which Danny's father can speak with his son.
This was an engaging read from start to finish. I learned a lot about Hasidism's roots in Eastern Europe
Other themes
Cards: chance
Mr. Savo: resilient pugilist who would have become a priest: plight resembles the Jewish persecution.
blindness: both openness and God's obfuscated plan.
need for understanding: Danny's father
The importance of careful examination: Talmud and other sources
Set against the backdrop of World War II and the onset of the Jewish State, a world repeatedly cited as "crazy," the place of God within is not easily seen. Zionists fight for a homeland while the Hasidim protest, believing This obfuscated presence is represented within the text as blindness. Reuven is nearly blinded by his baseball injury, only for the incident to lead to his closest friendship. The boy in the hospital bed beside Reuven, Billy, is awaiting a surgery that is meant to restore his vision. That surgery is unsuccessful. Danny believes his father is blind to his library visits and his expanding interests beyond Hasidism, but he is privy to his son's exploits.
In The Chosen, openness is paramount, understanding is essential, silence becomes understanding, and fathers are god-like.
Reuven's father guides the reader and becomes Potok's prophet through which he can speak to the reader. Reuven is the prophet through which Danny's father can speak with his son.
This was an engaging read from start to finish. I learned a lot about Hasidism's roots in Eastern Europe
Other themes
Cards: chance
Mr. Savo: resilient pugilist who would have become a priest: plight resembles the Jewish persecution.
blindness: both openness and God's obfuscated plan.
need for understanding: Danny's father
The importance of careful examination: Talmud and other sources
beautiful writing, a world i didn't know, perfect amount of historical tidbits, i was completely emotionally invested
Interesting story about male friendships and father-son relationships. Slow-moving but great. Mysterious in a way that you wouldn't expect from a book about Hasidic Jews.
Very good. I read this basically right after I finished [b: The Yiddish Policemen's Union|16703|The Yiddish Policemen's Union|Michael Chabon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557172798l/16703._SX50_.jpg|95855], so it was like -- suddenly I was learning all this stuff about Jewish people and culture -- that is, one of the cultures -- that I hadn't known before. Which is cool. I will probably be reading more by Chaim Potok.
Note to self: find books by/about Jewish women.
Note to self: find books by/about Jewish women.
A really interesting read, but you definitely need to be willing to look up terms because this book is heavy with Yiddish and Jewish terminology and customs that are likely unfamiliar to a layman.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
While the writing is very simple, really really simple, the story is exceptionally well told. An emotional book that exposes the complexity of the Jewish community of the 1940s of in Brooklyn.
I need to reread this sometime.
I found out about this book in high school, when we had to choose out of a few books to read for English Lit. I opted for another book than this one, but at some point, my teacher had a bunch of old books that he wanted to get rid of and I basically volunteered and brought a lot of them home with me, including this one.
The first chapter is, in my opinion, the 'worst'. Mainly because I'm not a sports person. But really, the rest of the book is just so good. It's very inspiring and it really made an impression on me.
I've now written this review more than a year later (oops), because I really want more people to know about it. It's listed as a classic - I totally agree - and therefore also deserves way more readers.
I found out about this book in high school, when we had to choose out of a few books to read for English Lit. I opted for another book than this one, but at some point, my teacher had a bunch of old books that he wanted to get rid of and I basically volunteered and brought a lot of them home with me, including this one.
The first chapter is, in my opinion, the 'worst'. Mainly because I'm not a sports person. But really, the rest of the book is just so good. It's very inspiring and it really made an impression on me.
I've now written this review more than a year later (oops), because I really want more people to know about it. It's listed as a classic - I totally agree - and therefore also deserves way more readers.