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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
I've put off writing this review for a while because I knew that it would be a difficult one to write. I'm finally getting around to it.
It amazes me how Chaim Potok is able to see things from multiple sides. Asher is the main character of the story here, but he isn't set up as some noble hero without flaws. On the contrary, he's often selfish, unwilling to consider others' feelings, and fickle. Likewise, even though the story is told from Asher's point of view, and even though Asher and his father are often completely at odds with one another, his father doesn't come off as evil, or even unfeeling. It just seems that Potok did a really good job of showing the reader the many viewpoints that the events can be seen from.
Here are two things that I learned from the book:
1. What Jesus means to Jews. Of course I can't pretend that this one book by a single author represents what Jesus means to all Jews. But, Potok paints a clear picture: for this Hasidic family it's in Jesus' name that their ancestors were tortured and killed. It's in Jesus' name that their people have been brutalized and chased from one patch of earth to another. It's around Easter and Christmas that their fathers needed to be careful of being out to avoid having their skulls pierced by the hatchet blade of some drunken Christen zealot. These are the stories they tell their children. These are the stories they need to tell their children to keep their identity. Just as Mormons tell stories of little children leaving bloody footprints through the snow of the great plains after being chased from Missouri and Illinois. All of this I knew, or should have known. But I had never quite seen it from the perspective that Potok gives in this book. It wasn't until reading My Name is Asher Lev that it really dawned on me how offensive it was that members of my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons) had at one time extracted names of Jewish victims from Holocaust records to baptize them posthumously in the name of Jesus Christ in Mormon temples. I knew that it had been done. I knew that the Mormon Church had issued official apologies for it. Only when reading this book did I see what a desecration it had been.
2. Tradition in the art world. I'm not an artist, and I really know very little about the art world. One thing I learned from Potok's book is the weight and importance of artistic tradition to art. Without artistic tradition any one work of art has no context. Maybe this is one reason we art-outsiders have such a hard time understanding art. We just don't understand the language of art tradition that is being spoken. The crux of the book is how Asher deals with the heritage of art tradition and the heritage of his religious tradition clashing head-on.
It amazes me how Chaim Potok is able to see things from multiple sides. Asher is the main character of the story here, but he isn't set up as some noble hero without flaws. On the contrary, he's often selfish, unwilling to consider others' feelings, and fickle. Likewise, even though the story is told from Asher's point of view, and even though Asher and his father are often completely at odds with one another, his father doesn't come off as evil, or even unfeeling. It just seems that Potok did a really good job of showing the reader the many viewpoints that the events can be seen from.
Here are two things that I learned from the book:
1. What Jesus means to Jews. Of course I can't pretend that this one book by a single author represents what Jesus means to all Jews. But, Potok paints a clear picture: for this Hasidic family it's in Jesus' name that their ancestors were tortured and killed. It's in Jesus' name that their people have been brutalized and chased from one patch of earth to another. It's around Easter and Christmas that their fathers needed to be careful of being out to avoid having their skulls pierced by the hatchet blade of some drunken Christen zealot. These are the stories they tell their children. These are the stories they need to tell their children to keep their identity. Just as Mormons tell stories of little children leaving bloody footprints through the snow of the great plains after being chased from Missouri and Illinois. All of this I knew, or should have known. But I had never quite seen it from the perspective that Potok gives in this book. It wasn't until reading My Name is Asher Lev that it really dawned on me how offensive it was that members of my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons) had at one time extracted names of Jewish victims from Holocaust records to baptize them posthumously in the name of Jesus Christ in Mormon temples. I knew that it had been done. I knew that the Mormon Church had issued official apologies for it. Only when reading this book did I see what a desecration it had been.
2. Tradition in the art world. I'm not an artist, and I really know very little about the art world. One thing I learned from Potok's book is the weight and importance of artistic tradition to art. Without artistic tradition any one work of art has no context. Maybe this is one reason we art-outsiders have such a hard time understanding art. We just don't understand the language of art tradition that is being spoken. The crux of the book is how Asher deals with the heritage of art tradition and the heritage of his religious tradition clashing head-on.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I had been wanting to read this book a long time and now finally...
In high school and college I had to read Portrait of an Artist and I hated it. Like took offense to it hated it. Both times. I hated that people revered Stephen Dedalus for rejecting family and country and faith in his pursuit of his art. Grrrrr.
But then along comes Asher Lev and he doesn't reject family country or faith. In fact he does his best to see them honestly through his art and in doing so we see how faith and family end up rejecting him. For me, it's a much better tension.
So If I'm ever teaching a college course where these themes are important... out with Dedalus and in with Lev.
In high school and college I had to read Portrait of an Artist and I hated it. Like took offense to it hated it. Both times. I hated that people revered Stephen Dedalus for rejecting family and country and faith in his pursuit of his art. Grrrrr.
But then along comes Asher Lev and he doesn't reject family country or faith. In fact he does his best to see them honestly through his art and in doing so we see how faith and family end up rejecting him. For me, it's a much better tension.
So If I'm ever teaching a college course where these themes are important... out with Dedalus and in with Lev.
This is probably one of the only books I have read that was not a page-turner but that I greatly enjoyed anyway. I could not find one wrong aspect about My Name is Asher Lev as it was perfect in every way. Also, every character is flawed and that is what makes it so realistic and believable.
The story starts out in post World War II Brooklyn in a Jewish Hasidic community where a boy named Asher Lev lives with his father and mother. Asher, a Jew with a talent for artistry from a very young age, enjoys drawing and painting the world around him. Although this causes the relationship between him and his father, an emissary who teaches Torah to Jews throughout Europe, to be quite strained, his mother is what keeps the family ultimately from splitting apart. However, as Asher grows older and becomes more talented as an artist he begins making waves throughout his family and community and affecting those around him which is not seen as a good sign. His skill is seen as a gift to some but to the majority of people, including his own family, as a curse from the Sitra Achra, or the devil himself. In the end, I think it is up to the reader to decide what they think of Asher Lev and his artwork.
I would classify this novel as a coming of age art story with some religious historical fiction mixed in and would recommend it to those who enjoy these types of genres.
The story starts out in post World War II Brooklyn in a Jewish Hasidic community where a boy named Asher Lev lives with his father and mother. Asher, a Jew with a talent for artistry from a very young age, enjoys drawing and painting the world around him. Although this causes the relationship between him and his father, an emissary who teaches Torah to Jews throughout Europe, to be quite strained, his mother is what keeps the family ultimately from splitting apart. However, as Asher grows older and becomes more talented as an artist he begins making waves throughout his family and community and affecting those around him which is not seen as a good sign. His skill is seen as a gift to some but to the majority of people, including his own family, as a curse from the Sitra Achra, or the devil himself. In the end, I think it is up to the reader to decide what they think of Asher Lev and his artwork.
I would classify this novel as a coming of age art story with some religious historical fiction mixed in and would recommend it to those who enjoy these types of genres.
reflective
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An absolutely wonderful story told against the backdrop of the rich culture of the orthodox Jewish community.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Hands down - beautiful, moving.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes