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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
inspiring
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chiam Potok is a masterfull writer, who makes you think deeply about important topics as well as the dynamics of personal relationships and how they shape our lives.
This book took me ages to get through, but it made me rethink my friendships and the very idea of friendship. Absolute doozy.
slow-paced
After I was finished with "My Name Is Asher Lev," I wanted to read, "The Chosen." I am so glad that I read Asher Lev first. I LOVED that book. I don't think that I would even have read Asher if I had read the Chosen first. It was steeped with so much Jewish history I was in a fog. I just don't know enough about it that I just didn't understand some things. I thought the writing in this book was a little elementary as well. I am still looking forward to reading, "The Gift of Asher Lev."
Chaim Potok's classic The Chosen is as entertaining as it is moving. Two American Jewish boys begin a very unlikely friendship after a baseball game goes terribly wrong in the middle of the second World War. Potok not only captures our minds with an engaging story, he engages our hearts too, challenging our notions of faith, Americanism, parental guidance, and identity. His prose is beautiful and his characters are crafted masterfully. Lovers of literary fiction will appreciate the work's subtext, and lovers of WWII fiction will gain a new understanding of how the war shaped the lives of Jewish men and women across the sea. At once heartbreaking and inspiring, The Chosen asks us what it means to find yourself in a world pulling you in different directions.
Read this for short book book club. Really great read. The author manages to inform and educate throughout the entire book. I was learning the while time BUT also managed to enjoy a story about fathers and sons and friendships. Nicely done.
Potok writes with such warmth. I love the realtionship between Reuven Malter and his father (they are Orthodox Jews), and the friendship he has with Danny, an Hasidic Jew. Danny's father is hard to understand and like. (I later read he symbolizes God.)
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book more than 20 years ago and still think of it often and how much I enjoyed it as a teenager. Read it again and saw it in a whole new light. It’s just a fantastic story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Genocide, War
It takes place around World War II so there is talk of the death of Jews during that time in Europe.
I first read this book in HS. Now I teach it to my 12th grade English class. While it may be about religion, that is just on the surface. I have thought about replacing it just because of the religion, but my students love it!!!! The themes of friendship and perception are classic. And, it is good for my inner city kids to learn about something they have no clue about. There are so many metaphors and symbols in this book. The entire baseball scene is a metaphor for the entire book. while reading, pay attention to how many times Potok mentions the eyes or seeing. Perception is a main theme. One of my favorites. I reread it every year with my kids.