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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
It took a long time to get into this book. After a couple of weeks of reading pages here and pages there, something changed in the narrative. The pace didn't pick up, but the build-up in emotions of the main character, Asher Lev, was so eloquently expressed to the reader that I was entirely wrapped up in his many conflicts. I found myself waking up at 5am with the notion, "Pick up the book!"
If I wasn't an Ashkenazic Jew, I don't know if I would have understood a lot of this book. It's very Yiddish-heavy and based in a lot of customs that may be completely foreign to non-Jews. However, I think as a work of fiction, it's universal in terms of the psychology and familial relations explored by Potok.
I want to read more of his books.
If I wasn't an Ashkenazic Jew, I don't know if I would have understood a lot of this book. It's very Yiddish-heavy and based in a lot of customs that may be completely foreign to non-Jews. However, I think as a work of fiction, it's universal in terms of the psychology and familial relations explored by Potok.
I want to read more of his books.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm not a big Chaim Potok fan. His story lines are too boring and drug out.
The World in One’s Hands
Sitra Achra, literally The Other Side in Aramaic, is the kabbalistic domain of evil. It contains what is false and impure, the most important component of which is the idea that evil is contained in the Master of the Universe. This idea is not only an impiety, it is also the source of countless other horrors that prevent human beings from appreciating their own reality. The struggle against the Sitra Achra is the central theme of My Name Is Asher Lev, established at the outset and pursued constantly throughout the book.
Evil is a very tricky theological issue. Typically it is either rationalised away as only apparent in a world governed by Providence; or it is considered an aberration brought about by human beings who act in error. Judaic Kabbalah, unlike most religious practices, however, takes the existence of evil seriously as a fundamental and pervasive fact. But it also refuses to fall into the Gnostic trap of including evil as an inherent part of the divine. Evil exists in a sort of parallel universe, one which lacks a crucial component of the divine and its Creation: language.
Such a universe is in one sense impossible to conceive. There are literally no words to describe it. The best we can do it to call it ‘darkness.’ Within this realm of darkness, chaos reigns. Out of it, the darkness seeks to overcome the light, in part by infecting language itself. Stalin, for example, as part of the Sitra Achra kills Jewish writers, both because they are Jewish and because they write, and substitutes Soviet propaganda for divine truth. There are even Jewish Communists who persecute other Jews. Ultimately it is words that killed the writers, the millions of others in Russia, and in the Holocaust - laws, and commands, and secret memoranda, and judicial verdicts, all in the language made unsafe by the Sitra Achra.
Kabbalah can be considered as a mystical approach to disinfecting language by turning language in on itself, using language to undermine the pretensions of language when it becomes something that it shouldn’t - lies, misrepresentations, distortions, and claims to reality. It is not enough to say the Krias Shema before sleep, the Modeh Ani upon waking, or the dozens of other prayers for every other occasion during the day. Even the language of these prayers must transcend language itself.
The artist in a community devoted to the Kabbalah is thus in an ambiguous position. On the one hand, he relativises written and spoken language through his pictorial interpretation of the world, even the world of darkness which is immune from linguistic description. Such interpretation challenges whatever existing representations of reality there might be and therefore is consistent with kabbalistic practice. On the other hand, it is unclear whether any artistic innovation might be yet another attempt by the forces of the Sitra Achra to dim the light of divine guidance. Is such art grace or heresy?
So the issue raised by Asher Lev’s artistic talent is not aesthetic. It is not even moral in the narrow sense of rightness and wrongness. His abilities as a painter have profound significance, not just for the community but for the entire cosmos. An artist attacks the Sitra Achra directly by entering into it with his art. His duty is to bring the Sitra Achra within the world of divine creation by giving it a language, a means of representing itself in order to see itself clearly.
This is a dangerous business. The danger is that the artist attempts to emulate the Master of the Universe rather than act as His instrument. Does the artist represent light or darkness? Is his art a purification or a desecration? These are as much questions for Asher Lev as they are for his community in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights in which even “washing for meals was a cosmic enterprise.”
Postscript: Also see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2549202998
Sitra Achra, literally The Other Side in Aramaic, is the kabbalistic domain of evil. It contains what is false and impure, the most important component of which is the idea that evil is contained in the Master of the Universe. This idea is not only an impiety, it is also the source of countless other horrors that prevent human beings from appreciating their own reality. The struggle against the Sitra Achra is the central theme of My Name Is Asher Lev, established at the outset and pursued constantly throughout the book.
Evil is a very tricky theological issue. Typically it is either rationalised away as only apparent in a world governed by Providence; or it is considered an aberration brought about by human beings who act in error. Judaic Kabbalah, unlike most religious practices, however, takes the existence of evil seriously as a fundamental and pervasive fact. But it also refuses to fall into the Gnostic trap of including evil as an inherent part of the divine. Evil exists in a sort of parallel universe, one which lacks a crucial component of the divine and its Creation: language.
Such a universe is in one sense impossible to conceive. There are literally no words to describe it. The best we can do it to call it ‘darkness.’ Within this realm of darkness, chaos reigns. Out of it, the darkness seeks to overcome the light, in part by infecting language itself. Stalin, for example, as part of the Sitra Achra kills Jewish writers, both because they are Jewish and because they write, and substitutes Soviet propaganda for divine truth. There are even Jewish Communists who persecute other Jews. Ultimately it is words that killed the writers, the millions of others in Russia, and in the Holocaust - laws, and commands, and secret memoranda, and judicial verdicts, all in the language made unsafe by the Sitra Achra.
Kabbalah can be considered as a mystical approach to disinfecting language by turning language in on itself, using language to undermine the pretensions of language when it becomes something that it shouldn’t - lies, misrepresentations, distortions, and claims to reality. It is not enough to say the Krias Shema before sleep, the Modeh Ani upon waking, or the dozens of other prayers for every other occasion during the day. Even the language of these prayers must transcend language itself.
The artist in a community devoted to the Kabbalah is thus in an ambiguous position. On the one hand, he relativises written and spoken language through his pictorial interpretation of the world, even the world of darkness which is immune from linguistic description. Such interpretation challenges whatever existing representations of reality there might be and therefore is consistent with kabbalistic practice. On the other hand, it is unclear whether any artistic innovation might be yet another attempt by the forces of the Sitra Achra to dim the light of divine guidance. Is such art grace or heresy?
So the issue raised by Asher Lev’s artistic talent is not aesthetic. It is not even moral in the narrow sense of rightness and wrongness. His abilities as a painter have profound significance, not just for the community but for the entire cosmos. An artist attacks the Sitra Achra directly by entering into it with his art. His duty is to bring the Sitra Achra within the world of divine creation by giving it a language, a means of representing itself in order to see itself clearly.
This is a dangerous business. The danger is that the artist attempts to emulate the Master of the Universe rather than act as His instrument. Does the artist represent light or darkness? Is his art a purification or a desecration? These are as much questions for Asher Lev as they are for his community in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights in which even “washing for meals was a cosmic enterprise.”
Postscript: Also see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2549202998
Even to rate this book, to write about it, feels wrong. It, like Asher, is respectful and loving to the world whence it comes, without changing. It achieves the rare thing of seeing every character with honesty and compassion, and recreating the terrible times in the world where everyone - absolutely everyone - is trying as hard as they humanly can, and is doing the right thing and is seeking to avoid harm, and fails. And there is no reconciliation, and there is no blame, and there is only humanity as it exists. Chaim Potok is a genius, and Asher Lev feels more real than any character I can remember.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was heartbreaking, yet so incredibly inspiring and beautiful. It shows the need, bravery, and beauty that comes with telling ones whole truth, but also shows the brutal reality of how it can affect the people around you. I loved this book so much and will definitely reread many times.
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Moving and compelling story of a character torn between family expectations and his calling to be an artist. For a literary novel about feelings, I have to say, the ending was a nail biter for me. I almost had a stomach ache waiting for Asher's parents to see That One Painting.
It's hard to share my thoughts about this book, because there are so many. It was amazingly well-written, and the emotion was raw and honest. But I found it difficult to deal with the fact that Asher Lev broke every relationship and tie in his life for his art. The Rebbe was hoping that he would use his gift for the betterment of his society, and I hoped that he would find a way to do that as well. To find a balance between his family/society/culture and his art. It didn't work out that way, and I found a lot of his actions to be very selfish. Admittedly, I've never had a talent like that that was so all-consuming, but I tended to agree with his father when he said that only animals "can't help it." A man has a will. Asher Lev could have made different choices. He was so concerned with being "great" and "honest" that I think he was irresponsible.
But like I said, I'm not an artist of any kind and nor will I ever be. I just tend to feel that relationships are more important than anything else, and that Asher Lev could've found a balance if he'd wanted to.
But like I said, I'm not an artist of any kind and nor will I ever be. I just tend to feel that relationships are more important than anything else, and that Asher Lev could've found a balance if he'd wanted to.
I have to say I really didn't think I could possibly connect with this book. It would never be a book that I would pick for myself and is not the kind of book I normally read. But I think it's a pretty good one. It deals with Asher Lev's internal struggle with trying to express and be himself without sacrificing/ damaging the relationships he has with his family. The book starts off slow and it is not fast pace but in the end, the themes are relatable and moving. And yes I've been reading this book for a very long time, like I said it was slow and I didn't like it at first. I also took a really long break from Goodreads for no reason at all lol.