The Chosen (Library Binding)

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.

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Danny, the Hasid (and heir to his father's religious dynasty) befriends Reuven in a very unlikely atmosphere of initial distrust (and perhaps even hatred). Oddly (although predictably and accurately) enough, the groups within Judaism are presented as feuding sects, which are feuding with each other as much as ever. The plot unravels seamlessly as the reader gets to walk along with Reuven from his point of view. The emotions tilt in several directions as he befriends Danny and is initiated into the religiously esoteric world of the Jewish Hasidic community in New York, New York.

Here is an example of the intense emotional fluctuations:
(p.187 of the Fawcett Crest edition) "I [Reuven] sat there stunned and terrified, engulfed by his rage. His reaction had caught me so completely by surprise that I had quite literally stopped breathing, and now I found myself gasping for breath. I felt as if I were being consumed by flames. The silence that followed his outburst had a fungus quality to it, as though it were breeding malignancies, and I naked and violated. I didn't know what to do or say. I just sat there and gaped at him."

This rich paragraph is a description given by the character Reuven in response to the outburst by Danny's father Reb Saunders when he did not give a sufficient answer to a question regarding religion.

Chaim Potok's writing style, as seen above, is very well done with a certain rhythm throughout the whole book; making it easy to read and follow. He is Jewish himself and has a rabbinic degree, so this fictional story is perhaps loosely based on someone's true story (I would not be surprised, since the storyline is very believable).

The Chosen is actually the first book in a duology. The concluding book is The Promise, which is a worthy conclusion, indeed.

I also found some of the views held toward non-Jews to be interesting - if not particularly surprising - and the views about Jews who convert. While this is really not even a sub-plot per se, it is still a nice conversational addition to the characters to make them more rounded and believable.

Quite well done. The interplay between the various groups within Judaism is interesting and informative (especially when Potok brings the plot through the formation of the modern state of Israel--Reuven's father is deeply involved). Pick up a copy of Chaim Potok's "The Chosen." Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," an odd, funny, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

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