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awblass 's review for:
My Name Is Asher Lev
by Chaim Potok
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.