Reviews

As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg, Chaim Potok

khornstein1's review against another edition

4.0

I finally finished this one! Another you can't read a few pages at a time...really enjoyed the descriptions of life in the Middle East about 100 years after Christ's death--the Romans, Greeks, Jews and others had so much cultural conflict, and then there was conflict within Judaism--made evident in the portrayal of Elisha. Poor conflicted Elisha never had a chance to read "When Bad Things happen to Good People." His internal conflicts mirror the conflicts taking place around him. Language is a bit stilted at times but a good interfaith read.

dgross144's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

reikista's review against another edition

3.0

In the Roman times, Elisha, who started out the son of secular Jew who loved Greek philosophy, has become a respected sage in the Sanhedrin, ruling on all sorts of matters for his people. But he has doubts about revelation, which lead him down the path of heresy, to trying to prove through philosophy the laws of nature and belief.

charmander17's review against another edition

Liked the part of it that I read, but it was long and I was borrowing Avir's copy and he wanted it back. Worth returning to in the future, but probably should restart at that point.

anna_kristina_nord's review against another edition

5.0

A beautifully stirring book; I’m especially glad that I happened to pick it up during Chanukah this year. Interestingly, I think there were a number of parallels to CS Lewis’s Till We Have Faces; both books deal so beautifully with struggles to maintain faith.

zelig's review against another edition

5.0

A brilliant book. Masterfully portrayed the struggle of one who has to choose between his faith, family and community and his own intuitions and perceptions. It conveys the clash between idealism and pragmatism especially in the realm of religion, morality, ethics, theology and philosophy. Elisha is a very sympathetic character, and the ending is quite tragic. He’s a man in search of absolute truth and certainty in a world bereft of both. He’s a man of two worlds and of no world at all, as neither his native community nor his adoptive one can fully satisfy the totality of who he is. It is a book full of the difficult questions and weighty conundrums that often haunt those who profess to believe as much as those who wish they could.

“Whose struggle to live in two worlds destroyed his chances to live in either”-could not have put it better (from the back cover).

It is a window into the thoughts of a skeptic tormented by a questioning mind and a thirst for truth.

morvram's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Takes the already fascinating Talmudic and historical character of Elisha ben Abuya ("Acher" to some) and turns his life story into one of the most emotionally compelling novels about a human being's search for meaning that I've ever read. 

sophiebk's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting story, but the writing itself didn’t hold my attention all that much. Kind of lost me in the middle which is why I had a hard time finishing, but I’m so glad that I did.

veryperi22's review against another edition

5.0

The fictionalized account of Elisha Ben Abuah, with many of the pieces filled alternatively with actual accounts of the Talmud and product of a creative imagination.

Milton Steinberg has done a masterful work with bringing the tumultuous era of Talmudic times to life. The story drew me in and kept me there till the last page, where I sobbed and sobbed for the elusive peace Elisha never found.

ewynn610's review against another edition

1