Gift Of Asher Lev, The

Rating:
Summary: Good sequel of excellent book
Review: The excellent "My name is Asher Lev", to which "The Gift of Asher Lev" is the sequel, is certainly hard, almost impossible, to match. I think every author can be proud to write such a book once in his lifetime and, in fact, I found that "The Gift of Asher Lev" is not as great as the first part. Nonetheless, considering the trash you can normally expect from sequels, this is still pretty good. I don't know how I would have liked it if I hadn't read the first part, though, perhaps I would have wondered what it is all about. I can recommend to everyone to read the first part first, if you can.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most affecting books I have ever read
Review: The sequel to My Name is Asher Lev is that rare achievement - better than the first. I re-read the book about once a year and each time long for the third, to know the path down which Asher Lev and his son Avrumel travel. This family and community is so affecting, I find it hard to accept they do not exist. Potok's writing is truly beautiful and each time I read his work I find more to digest.

Rating:
Summary: Mature ,intelligent and still wonderful
Review: Twenty years have passed for asher lev, last seen dispalying waht sounded like a version of Marc chagalls white crucifixion to a stunned and mortified family. He is, as this novel opens, a very successful artist living in France. When his beloved uncle dies, he ends his exile and returns to Brookly, to the chasidic community he thought h had left behind,to small storefront shuls and men in dark hats and coats,to that place deep inside himself which he could never leave. The travles from Willaimsburgh to Monticello, Ny{the catskills}, and the intorduction of Lev's young son are a lovely narrative touch. The Rebbe,based it would seem on the late Lubavitch rebbe of Blessed memory,is brilliantly,sympathetically drawn. he comes off as a holy,profound man of deep compassion and mystical understanding. Lev has grown, also, and the story of these tow, brilliant men is the key to the novel. A wonderful,beautifully plotted story of an amazing group of people.