Rating: 
Summary: Fathers, Sons, Brothers and Friends
Review: This book is difficult to describe in a way that conveys its worth. The plot is simple enough: two teenaged boys from rival schools and differing backgrounds turn from adversaries to friends. Reuven's father is a yeshiva (religious school) professor; Danny's is an Hasidic rabbi. The son of the professor wants to become a rabbi; the son of the rabbi wants to become a psychologist. The setting is Brooklyn at the height, close and aftermath of WWII (1943-47). The book is imbued with Jewish tradition and history (one of the reasons I read it, because my knowledge is rather limited) that I found fascinating and enhanced the story. The story is one of filial and paternal love as each father seeks to raise, though in very different manners, his son. Both fathers want their sons to grow to be wise and kind, but for Danny's father, who is the tzaddik (inherited spiritual leader of the community; wise man) it is also important that his son assume the mantle of community responsibility and become the next rabbi. If you find stories of spiritual struggle and the search for meaning compelling then you will like this book because it deals with these issues on many levels. From the general: Jews' despair and crisis of faith upon learning about the events of the Holocaust; to the personal: a father's anxiety about the spiritual well being of his son, it is, as others have said, humane and wise.
Rating:
Summary: Not Perfect but very good
Review: What prevents me from giving this 5 stars is that the novel tends to drown in Jewish custom, etc- not for only ten or so pages, but more like fifty. The characters are insightful and well-developed. The relationship between Danny and the main kid in the 1st section is very good. The 2nd section, while as interesting the relationship b/t Danny & his dad are, we do not need 50 plus pages on the history of Judiasm. A few long paragraphs would have sufficed. The father of the narrator is one of the most interesting characters in the book, esp when speaking about life not having meaning until a being makes it so. Also the comments on what each boy thinks of Freud is interesting- like Freud himself has become a metaphor or "saving grace" of some sort. Wonderfully philosophical at times, the last section is also good, but my only problem is I think this novel was in need of a good trimming. 286 pages easily down to 200-220, which reinforces my belief that very few novels need to go beyond 200-230 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, Interesting, and Moving
Review: I read The Chosen for my literature class at school, and I enjoyed it very much! Chaim Potok did a wonderful job of portraying the life of two young Jewish-American boys. Based in Brooklyn in the 1940s, we first meet the narrator, the modern Orthodox Reuven Saunders, as a 15 year old. An incident occurs to where he becomes close to his Ultra-Orthodox (Hasidic) counterpart, Danny Saunders. One is a mathematician and the other aspires to become a psychologist. Both are brilliant scholars of the Torah and the Talmud. Although I had little knowledge of Jewish customs and cultures, after reading this book, I learned some aspects of Judaism I never knew before. Potok defined many Jewish and Yiddish terms that otherwise I would not have any clue understanding. He made this a novel which looks into the lives of two brilliant young men who struggles to preserve their friendship and their own beliefs.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book is Terrible
Review: For your convinience, I will now boil down The Chosen into one easily readable paragraph:
"I can hear silence," Danny said sadly. I went over and gave him a big hug. After that we went for a long walk. We walked for about two hours. We walked at a medium pace. While we walked, we talked about the Torah. Danny does four blat of the Torah a day! Danny's so smart, I can only do two blat. After that we went to Danny's house and argued with his dad. We argued about the Torah. Then I went home and cried.
Now imagine if this paragraph was two hundred pages long. That is pretty much all The Chosen is.
Rating:
Summary: The Chosen Review
Review: The Chosen by Chaim Potok is definitly an unregular kind of book, I must egmit that not every page is as attracting as the other. Although I liked reading it and I can tell you that doesn't happen so often. To everybody who has a certain doubt whether to open or skip the book,give it a chance, I can assure you you won't consider it a waste of your time afterwards. A book you shouldn't refuse. Whithout a doubt!!
Rating:
Summary: Great but difficult book
Review: I think this book is a real good one. I've read it for a schools assignment and first I thought it was boring to do, but later when I was reading the book, I started to like it. It is a very interesting and high quality book, and even easy to understand for people who don't read English very well. I would recommend it to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story and superbly written.....
Review: I loved this story. Who wouldn't? It has universal appeal that is undeniable, even though some of the religious themes are strictly Jewish. Even so, the fact that I'm not Jewish didn't stop me from appreciating the way the author presented his faith. The book was superbly written and in a way that allows people of all faiths to appreciate it's themes of friendship, conflict, love, and loyalty. A must read.....
Rating: 
Summary: Fathers and Sons----the kosher version
Review: When I started reading THE CHOSEN, I was rather disappointed. It read like a run-of-the-mill pop fiction work for at least 90 pages. Reuven Malter, 15, plays baseball for his yeshiva team in Brooklyn; their opponents are a Hasidic team whose star is Danny Saunders, the 15 year old son of the religious guru or the tzaddik of a Hasidic community. The teams clash, Reuven winds up in the hospital thanks to stopping a vicious line drive with his glasses. Danny, the hitter, comes to visit him and apologizes. They become friends. The year is 1944---D-Day and the war hover in the background. There are a couple other stock characters. At that point, the tenor of the novel changes to a schematic balancing of the two sets of fathers and sons. Reuven's father teaches in the yeshiva where his son studies, but he is more open to the outside world. Danny's father is a patriarch steeped in tradition, bearing the cares of all his people on his shoulders, revered by them to extremes. Danny, with a photographic memory and keen mind, has long been tipped to succeed his father, hence he is "the chosen" one. Reuven, the less religious of the two, decides to become a rabbi. Danny wants to go into psychology, but will his father permit it ? Can their friendship hold out before the narrow, strict vision of life of Danny's father ? Will Danny's fate be decided for him or will the American ideal of individual choice prevail ? THE CHOSEN is a coming of age novel with a difference, it traces the onset of maturity, the making of life choices in an environment unfamiliar to most people in the world. Mainly, though, the novel compares and contrasts differing ideas on Jewish life and the creation of Israel. There are also earnest discourses on psychology and Freud, the Talmud and logic. Readers can learn a lot about Jewish tradition and customs, including, by induction, the importance of women in Orthodox Jewish life (there are perhaps ten lines about women in the whole book, showing how they take care of men). Though I did learn a lot about Hasidic thought and practice, I did not admire this novel in terms of literary power. Both Bernard Malamud and Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote to a much higher standard on similar topics. I felt continually as though Potok was using the text to educate me. I don't object to such sincere and gentle lecturing, but it seldom produces great literature. I think that your take on this novel will depend on your age. The younger you are, the fresher it will appear.
Rating:
Summary: Good Job Potok!!!
Review: This book was class assigned, by my english teacher... and right away i thought, "Oh God, class books are soooooo boring!" But as soon as i finished the first page, i got really into it, and I ended up loving it. The friendship between Danny and Reuven is heart warming and inspiring. Their experiences can alter the way people view religion for years to come. Good Job Potok!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Chosen
Review: This was a very uneventful book. I recomend reading a different book because this is quite boring. The plot is weak and nothing interesting happens at all. This book deserves to be burned, not read. Don't buy it.
|
