Scan barcode
cosmological's review
5.0
YOUNG REUVEN: I just want to break something, destroy something.
REUVEN: Why not build something, make something?
YOUNG REUVEN: Like what?
REUVEN: (Putting the question back on himself) Like what?
—
I am way too attached to the original source material to give this anything less than five stars. Like. WAY too attached. But this was also just an extremely efficient adaption. Trims a lot from the book obviously but it keeps the heart of it intact and also makes its own mark on the story. Didn’t move me as much as the novel did, but they’re different animals. I still really, really, really liked it. I’ll be thinking about it for a while.
REUVEN: Why not build something, make something?
YOUNG REUVEN: Like what?
REUVEN: (Putting the question back on himself) Like what?
—
I am way too attached to the original source material to give this anything less than five stars. Like. WAY too attached. But this was also just an extremely efficient adaption. Trims a lot from the book obviously but it keeps the heart of it intact and also makes its own mark on the story. Didn’t move me as much as the novel did, but they’re different animals. I still really, really, really liked it. I’ll be thinking about it for a while.
athenalindia's review
4.0
Chaim Potok is a master at creating characters that you genuinely care about, and then putting them in positions where the one thing that they feel they must do is the one thing that will hurt them the most, and often, the one thing that will separate them forever from their families and heritage.
I read My Name is Asher Lev first, and I think I'm still only gradually getting over that book. The Chosen is almost as good, and probably should have gotten five stars, but Asher Lev made me walk around for days feeling like someone had rearranged my brain, and while I really enjoyed The Chosen, it didn't have as profound an effect on me - hence the four stars.
There are no easy answers in these books, and all the tension is sharply and devastatingly created to put characters on the knife's edge. Both books hurt, in a way, because you wish there was a way in which everything could work out perfectly, and yet, the unflinching view of what is and is not possible, given society, religion, culture, and family dynamics, makes that impossible.
I read My Name is Asher Lev first, and I think I'm still only gradually getting over that book. The Chosen is almost as good, and probably should have gotten five stars, but Asher Lev made me walk around for days feeling like someone had rearranged my brain, and while I really enjoyed The Chosen, it didn't have as profound an effect on me - hence the four stars.
There are no easy answers in these books, and all the tension is sharply and devastatingly created to put characters on the knife's edge. Both books hurt, in a way, because you wish there was a way in which everything could work out perfectly, and yet, the unflinching view of what is and is not possible, given society, religion, culture, and family dynamics, makes that impossible.
lex's review
5.0
Excellent!!!! I had a negative attitude before reading the book, but decided to read it anyway and love it.
sirthomasmalory's review
3.0
Intriguing plot with good characters and interesting insights into Orthodox Jewish communities - the prose is aesthetically nothing and frequently far too obvious.
texasolsen's review
5.0
Amazing! This is the second book I've read by Potok and I've found his books just have a way of really touching your soul.
More...