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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
So much warmth within the two main character's friendship and families that you don't notice you are also absorbing a lot of rather esoteric Jewish history. Wonderfully builds in gravity to the end.
I read the first half of this book, which was great, but then I promptly lost interest. It was pretty but a tad boring, in my opinion.
Potok's The Chosen... one of those books you want to recommend to everyone while keeping it a secret so it doesn't get too mainstream. Very easy to read and follow through. Great characters and lessons. Lots of things to think about. Learned a bunch about the Jewish lifestyle after WWII and the Zionist movement.
Absolutely & unexpectedly LOVED this book... probably my favorite of the year. But WTF? I SERIOUSLY need more closure on a story than that. He walked down the street and was gone. The end? I'm dying here. Did Danny become a psychologist? Did he have kids? Did he raise them in silence? Did Reuven become a rabbi? Were they still friends? Something other than "He walked down the street." Tortuous ending not included, I adore everything about this book.
This story was so thoughtful. It discussed the different ways people experience their religion and how information from other sources or experiences impact that, and it did all this without judgement. Beautiful.
I imagine the impact of this book would have been a lot more if I was not already familiar with Hasidic culture, courtesy of my days at Chabad. Still some of the themes -- do you assimilate, do you not assimilate, etc -- are ones that are central to Jewish life in America today, and the book should be a must-read for American Jews and anyone who would like to understand us.
I learned a lot, which was my aim in reading this, but also I wish there was more focus on the characters' story and less "and now another history lecture".
hauntingly beautiful.
My second book that I read from Potok.
Call me an ardent fan.
My second book that I read from Potok.
Call me an ardent fan.