The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Chosen (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
By Chaim Potok

Video Clip: The Chosen: Chaim potok's novel about the friendship between two very different jewish youths in 1940's brooklyn.

Product Description

"Anyone who finds it is finding a jewel. Its themes are profound and universal."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again....

From the Paperback edition.

---------------------------------------------

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #119832 in Books
Brand: Ballantine Books
Published on: 1996-08-27
Released on: 1996-08-27
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
304 pages

----------------------------------------------

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. Though on the surface it explores religious faith--the intellectually committed as well as the passionately observant--the struggles addressed in The Chosen are familiar to families of all faiths and in all nations.

In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences (Reuven is a Modern Orthodox Jew with an intellectual, Zionist father; Danny is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe), the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love. (This is not a conventional children's book, although it will move any wise child age 12 or older, and often appears on summer reading lists for high school students.)

From the Publisher
6 1.5-hour cassettes

Inside Flap Copy

"Anyone who finds it is finding a jewel. Its themes are profound and universal."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again....

From the Paperback edition.

-----------------------------------------------

Customer Reviews

Better with re-reading

I first read this book as a teenager, and have re-read it numerous times since. I'm now in my mid-40's. As a teen, it opened my eyes to a world most of us never encounter - Jewish Brooklyn, the sphere of the Hasids, Talmudic study. As I've aged my enjoyment of the book has matured. These days, it's particularly interesting in light of Mid East politics and the controversy surrounding the founding of the State of Israel. Through all these years, though, the relationships between the boys and their fathers remains as touching, as profound as they were upon first reading. I cried the first few times I read this book. I still re-read certain passages just for the emotional "oomph".

A tremendous, powerful book that bears up well for a lifetime's enjoyment.

Love it

I remember having to read this in High School for a 6 weeks book report. I loved it so much I read it at least 4 times cover to cover, but I think it was actually 6 times. I can't wait to get hold of it now, almost 20 years later and read it again.

The Chosen By Chaim Potok

This book was sensational it was a book that made you laugh and cry. it was the kind of book that made you wish you were there and stop all the wrong doing. Anyone who likes baseball or Softball should like this book