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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Really enjoyed the last chapters!
This was not one of my favorite Chaim Potok books. It was a slow read although, as always, I appreciate his insight into a world I don't know much about.
You would think that reading about a painting wouldn’t be nearly as good as seeing a painting up close, feeling its texture, smelling the paint and being enchanted by its meaning. But in My Name is Asher Lev, it is as if you are the creator of the paintings, which is much more intense. Chaim Potok’s description of the paintings are wonderful and brilliant. I had looked up Asher's name several times to see if he really was just a fictional character because the paintings seemed so real. Potok’s novel is extraordinary, touching parallels between the Jewish community and the “goyish” (non-Jewish) world of artists.
This coming-of-age story is told from Asher Lev’s perspective, and we slowly see him grow up in a strict Hasidic community in Brooklyn. He is wrestling with his gift of drawing. The gift could be used to create “pretty birds… and the flowers” (13) as his mother asks him to do, but that seems spurious to Asher, since the world could be dark and grim as well. Throughout the story, Asher’s father refuses to understand his insatiable desire to paint, telling him that only animals are unable to control theirselves. Even after the Rebbe instructs Asher to be the student of Jacob Kahn, his father continuous to struggle with his son. Asher’s last painting reveals his internal struggle between his Jewish upbringing and his aesthetic eye, and it shows his wish to express his feelings in his creating, but it destroys the relationship with his parents.
The artwork also shows how he is still uncertain about the role his paintings play in the world and if they originate from the Ribbono Shel Olam (the Master of the Universe) or the “Other Side”. When he is finished with the painting he says: “I looked at it and saw it was a good painting” (288), connecting his creation with God’s creation of the earth in Genesis. However, when he looks at the works again later on, he feels a sense of dread: “Then I turned away terrified before such an act of creation. Master of the Universe, I did not mean to attempt to emulate Your power, Your ability to create out of nothing.”(310) Asher feels like he betrayed his parents, and his faith, by creating an artwork that is heresy for the Jews. He is dichotomised between the two worlds.
The narration frequently makes use of the stream-of-consciousness literary device, which effectively relates Asher’s conflict with his talent. This is especially seen when Anna Schaeffer introduces him to the art collectors in the last chapter. Asher dimly listens to what happens around him, experiencing the conversation in a haze: “I was not listening. I felt cold. Someone brought me black coffee in a paper cup. Yes, the small ones may now go into five figures, someone was saying. Hello, hello, my dear Schiller, hello, how are you?”(311). Although this type of narration can be overwhelming, it was extremely effective in this chapter. This permits you to step into someone’s mind, invading the personal thoughts that you normally perceive from a safe distance. Although Asher sometimes seems like a cold person because he is reticent and concise in the dialogues, these passages help the reader get to know Asher.
The one critique on this book is the lack of climactic elements. Throughout the book, there were many moments where I thought something major was going to happen. An example occurs when Jacob Kahn needs to leave on a trip to Zurich for a week and he only tells this the day before he departs (239). The scene is stretched, with Jacob saying his goodbyes and Asher keeping quiet the whole conversation, only to have him returned a few sentences later. It seems a misleading scene, creating a false sense of importance. But there is brilliance in it too. It made you think that you finally know where the plot is heading, and it seems to function as a reflective element, telling us: ‘Ha! You still have no idea what’s going to happen, do you?”. The reader has to read on to grasp the core of the book.
I read that Chaim Potok wanted to write a third novel about Asher. It broke my heart. This means that his work is not finished, something that plagues the Lev family throughout the book. “‘Can you understand what it means for something to be incomplete?’ My mother had once asked me. I understood, I understood.”(286)
This coming-of-age story is told from Asher Lev’s perspective, and we slowly see him grow up in a strict Hasidic community in Brooklyn. He is wrestling with his gift of drawing. The gift could be used to create “pretty birds… and the flowers” (13) as his mother asks him to do, but that seems spurious to Asher, since the world could be dark and grim as well. Throughout the story, Asher’s father refuses to understand his insatiable desire to paint, telling him that only animals are unable to control theirselves. Even after the Rebbe instructs Asher to be the student of Jacob Kahn, his father continuous to struggle with his son. Asher’s last painting reveals his internal struggle between his Jewish upbringing and his aesthetic eye, and it shows his wish to express his feelings in his creating, but it destroys the relationship with his parents.
The artwork also shows how he is still uncertain about the role his paintings play in the world and if they originate from the Ribbono Shel Olam (the Master of the Universe) or the “Other Side”. When he is finished with the painting he says: “I looked at it and saw it was a good painting” (288), connecting his creation with God’s creation of the earth in Genesis. However, when he looks at the works again later on, he feels a sense of dread: “Then I turned away terrified before such an act of creation. Master of the Universe, I did not mean to attempt to emulate Your power, Your ability to create out of nothing.”(310) Asher feels like he betrayed his parents, and his faith, by creating an artwork that is heresy for the Jews. He is dichotomised between the two worlds.
The narration frequently makes use of the stream-of-consciousness literary device, which effectively relates Asher’s conflict with his talent. This is especially seen when Anna Schaeffer introduces him to the art collectors in the last chapter. Asher dimly listens to what happens around him, experiencing the conversation in a haze: “I was not listening. I felt cold. Someone brought me black coffee in a paper cup. Yes, the small ones may now go into five figures, someone was saying. Hello, hello, my dear Schiller, hello, how are you?”(311). Although this type of narration can be overwhelming, it was extremely effective in this chapter. This permits you to step into someone’s mind, invading the personal thoughts that you normally perceive from a safe distance. Although Asher sometimes seems like a cold person because he is reticent and concise in the dialogues, these passages help the reader get to know Asher.
The one critique on this book is the lack of climactic elements. Throughout the book, there were many moments where I thought something major was going to happen. An example occurs when Jacob Kahn needs to leave on a trip to Zurich for a week and he only tells this the day before he departs (239). The scene is stretched, with Jacob saying his goodbyes and Asher keeping quiet the whole conversation, only to have him returned a few sentences later. It seems a misleading scene, creating a false sense of importance. But there is brilliance in it too. It made you think that you finally know where the plot is heading, and it seems to function as a reflective element, telling us: ‘Ha! You still have no idea what’s going to happen, do you?”. The reader has to read on to grasp the core of the book.
I read that Chaim Potok wanted to write a third novel about Asher. It broke my heart. This means that his work is not finished, something that plagues the Lev family throughout the book. “‘Can you understand what it means for something to be incomplete?’ My mother had once asked me. I understood, I understood.”(286)
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished this book on the beach this last weekend and felt like throwing it in the ocean because it was so devastatingly beautiful. However, it belongs to a friend and throwing it in the ocean would be disrespectful of her property and also a waste because everyone needs to read this book. Get to it.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A masterpiece. Genuinely.