I Am the Clay
by Chaim Potok
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chaim PotokEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-12-04
ISBN: 0449221385
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Reviews of I Am the Clay
Book Review: I recently revisted this book, it still staggers me
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book when I was 13, I couldn't quite recall the plot but I there were certain images from the book that popped into my head.
The main characters are known as old man and old woman and the boy. The Chinese Army has begun its sweep South and the villagers of a Korean Village during the Korean War have become refugees. The Old Man and The Old Woman, immediately upon leaving the village find a young boy. The old woman refuses to leave the boy, she thinks of the child she lost, the old man begins to resent the boy and think that the woman is crazy. They risk their lives to save the boy, they suffer to save the boy. And when the boy does not die he returns as many kindnesses as he can upon these people who protected him and did not give up on him.
I think what moves me most is the desire to reconnect to one's humanity when the world feels as if it is spinning dangerously out of control. The are lead by their compassion and it is a remarkably moving story.
If you were to use this book with young adult readers there could be a number of topics to discuss. The tension between the man and the boy. Why do you think they do not have names. The complexity of the Old Woman. The hard side of the old man. The sacrifices made. The reason for the title. And discuss the things unsaid at the end of this powerful book.
Summary of I Am the Clay
"Potok writes powerfully about the suffering of innocent people caught in the cross-fire of a war they cannot begin to understand....Humanity and compassion for his characters leap from every page."SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
As the Chinese and the army of the North sweep south during the Korean War, an old peasant farmer and his wife flee their village across the bleak, bombed-out landscape. They soon come upon a boy in a ditch who is wounded and unconscious. Stirred by possessiveness and caring the woman refuses to leave the boy behind. The man thinks she is crazy to nurse this boy, to risk their lives for some dying stranger. Angry and bewildered, he waits for the boy to die. And when the boy does not die, the old man begins to believe that the boy possesss a magic upon which all their lives depend....
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