A review by protoman21
The Chosen by Chaim Potok

4.0

This was a novel unlike any I've ever read before. The exploration of two different Jewish sects in New York around the time of the Holocaust told through the eyes of two boys really opened my eyes to a world I have extremely limited knowledge about. I found the boys' devotion, commitment and study habits to be awe inspiring and felt shameful for my own lack of discipline. Danny and Reuven do not get upset at petty things, because their hearts are pure and their minds focused, and when something does upset or trouble them, you know it holds a deep significance and is worthy of much introspection. Danny's tortured upbringing is hard to come to grips with and the reader is meant to struggle with this alongside Reuven. In the end, we can only take solace in the fact that Danny does begin to hear something in his Father's silence, something beyond that of normal human thought which can only be achieved through such a radical method.