I Am the Clay

I Am the Clay
by Chaim Potok

I Am the Clay
List Price: $6.99
Our Price: $2.93
You Save: $4.06 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Chaim Potok
Edition: 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....

Literary Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics) ImageIsland (Perennial Classics)
by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
Angels ImageAngels
by Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.21
Price in other shops: $24.95
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ImageA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.81
Price in other shops: $23.99
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation ImageThe Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation
by Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Boonville: A Novel ImageBoonville: A Novel
by Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $12.99
Caramelo ImageCaramelo
by Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
Headhunter ImageHeadhunter
by Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The White ImageThe Crimson Petal And The White
by Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectations ImageGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $12.10
This Side of Paradise ImageThis Side of Paradise
by Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $6.95
Similar Books and other products
The Book of Lights ImageThe Book of Lights
by Chaim Potok
Fawcett; Published: 1982-09-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.99
Wanderings: History of the Jews ImageWanderings: History of the Jews
by Chaim Potok
Fawcett; Published: 1987-10-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $93.68
The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle) ImageThe Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Chaim Potok
Ballantine Books; Published: 1996-08-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: $15.00
Davita's Harp ImageDavita's Harp
by Chaim Potok
Ballantine Books; Published: 1996-08-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Gates of November ImageThe Gates of November
by Chaim Potok, Leonid Slepak, Vladimir Slepak, Alexander Slepak, Maria Slepak
Ballantine Books; Published: 1997-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops: $14.95
Old Men at Midnight (Ballantine Reader's Circle) ImageOld Men at Midnight (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Chaim Potok
Ballantine Books; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.30
Price in other shops: $14.95
In the Beginning ImageIn the Beginning
by Chaim Potok
Ballantine Books; Published: 1997-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.54
Price in other shops: $15.00
My Name Is Asher Lev ImageMy Name Is Asher Lev
by Chaim Potok
Anchor; Published: 2003-03-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Promise ImageThe Promise
by Chaim Potok
Anchor; Published: 2005-11-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Gift of Asher Lev ImageThe Gift of Asher Lev
by Chaim Potok
Fawcett Books; Published: 1997-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops: $15.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories