The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Chaim Potok
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Book Reviews of The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Book Review: Is friendship possible between a Hasidic and an Orthodox Jew?
Summary: 5 Stars
Set in the 1940s in Brooklyn, this is the story of 2 sons of rabbis: the Hasidic Danny Saunders (brilliant, photographic memory, goes on to become a clinical psychologist) and Reuven Malter, son of a merely Orthodox rabbi, (considered as little more than infidels by the Hasids.) The story revolves around their friendship, beginning when Reuven is sent to the hospital when batter Danny's ball ends up in his eye, shattering his glasses and embedding glass in his cornea. All turns out well for Reuven's eye, and the friendship persists into college, when it is interrupted by the Zionist work of Rabbi Malter and his work in establishing the Zionist state of Israel. The Hasids were strongly against a secular Jewish state. At that time, Reb Saunders forbade any further contact between the two boys. The boys continue a separate path through college, with Reuven deciding to become a rabbi, and Danny leaving the religious community of Hasids, shaving off his earlocks and entering the secular community. He had been raised "in silence", a failed tactic intended to ensure the development of his soul as well as his intellect. Reb was concerned the boy did not have a heart for suffering. The suffering Danny experienced by not being able to talk to his father was intense. The final scene between father and son comes after Rabbi Malter insists that Reuven answer the insistent invitations of Reb Saunders to come on Shabbat as in earlier times. Reuven thereby acted as a medium to give Rev's son Danny the message that it was OK to leave the Hasid community, but that he must remain a man of the Commandments.Book Review: great read, educational, profound, engaging
Summary: 5 Stars
I expected The Chosen to be a great novel, after all it's been selling steadily since it was released decades ago. What I didn't expect is that it would educate me about my own religion, its history, mystic and intellectual traditions, schisms and divisions, background on the founding of Israel, and more. I also didn't expect it to be so ambitious: it takes some very profound issues in a very clear, straightforward way: in short, it will make you think about questions that really matter. And, yes, I was right, The Chosen is a great read: Chaim Potok is a masterful storyteller and has a great command of tension, suspense, pacing, plot twists, payoff at the end, and so on. And yet the story doesn't seem contrived, in fact, sometimes I felt a bit uncomfortable because it felt so much like I was reading a memoir of one chapter of Mr. Potok's life, and it felt a bit odd to be reading it disguised as fiction. (I don't know if I am right; it is just the sense I got very strongly.) My only other comment is that it is simply written, something high school students could definitely read, or even middle-schoolers. The writing style is simple also, no literary fireworks here, but workmanlike and consistently excellent. I would admit he's not a stylist, he's not, say, Ian McEwan or Isaac Bashevis Singer in his literary prowess, but he managed to write a great book nevertheless. And I've heard this one isn't even his best. I have ordered The Promise and Asher Lev. I certainly want to read more or Mr. Potok.Book Review: A masterpiece on every level
Summary: 5 Stars
When my high-school freshman son (who naturally no longer shares absolutely everything in his life with me) approached me with some questions of the more arcane variety with regard to the first of his summer reading assignments, I took a look at the title, and my heart leapt for joy. I first read "The Chosen" over 30 years ago. I vividly recall that, when I reached the last page, I immediately went back to the first and read it again. I have since re-read it at least 10 times (though not recently), each time discovering something new. My son's assignment has given me another opportunity to do so. We used the Amazon review board as a springboard for discussing the contents of the book. In reading the reviews, I am glad to see that, in large measure, Potok's ageless story is touching and educating another generation. To those who complain that they don't understand aspects of the story or the Jewish cultures central to it, I say, do as Reuven and Danny do -- savor the beauty and subtlety of the language and the ideas expressed through it, study for the pure sake of acquiring knowledge and understanding, stretch your horizons and seek knowledge of that which you don't understand, feed your soul. In this speed-, computer-, and greed-driven society, we need to slow down and remind ourselves of the existence of timeless, truly important things. This book does it better than any other I have encountered in 40 years of avid reading.Book Review: A favorite novel of mine
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never read a book by Chaim Potok that I didn't love. This is the first of his many fine novels and explores two relationships... first, that between a Chasidic teenager named Danny Saunders and his more "mainstream" orthodox friend Reuven Malther, and secondly, between Danny and his father, a great Chasidic Rabbi. The setting of the novel is Brooklyn in the 1940s. Being strictly observant, the Rabbi looks upon Reuven's family as apikoros or, (roughly translated) as heretics. Of course Reuven and his family are far from secular Jews, indeed Reuven attends a yeshiva (an orthodox Jewish school) but in comparison to the Saunders family, the Rabbi views them as unreligious. Clearly, the Rabbi does not approve of any relationship between Danny and Reuven. The Rabbi is very cold towards his son but does that mean that the Rabbi is cold by his very nature or is there an underlying reason for his relationship with Danny? This is a beautiful novel that is not just about Judaism but about relationships and it should appeal to Jewish readers and non Jewish readers alike. Additionally, this book was made into a movie that was reasonably true to the text.Book Review: Friendship that transcends all differences
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a story of friendship, a friendship that is formed between two Jewish boys (of differenct sects) under the most unusual circumstances. One boy, Danny, destined to be a tzaddik, a rabbi to the Hasidic community, is raised by his rabbi father who communicates to Danny only during study of the Torah. The other boy, Reuven, from a less strict Jewish sect, becomes more than a friend, actually more like a buffer or a liason between Danny and his father. Their friendship grows, is torn apart and then mended, leading to the emotional final chapter, as their true destinies begin to take shape.Chaim Potok has become one of my favorite authors. This is the third book of his that I have read this year, and, as a Christian, his novels give me great insight into modern day Judaism. His books are not only informative, but brilliant, heartbreaking, and compassionate. Everyone with any kind of religious bent at all, or even the non-religious, should read his work. I'll guarantee that you will be moved.