Book Review of #1 the Chosen by Chaim Potok
Name of book: The Chosen Author Name: Chaim Potok ISBN: 0-449-21344-7 Publisher: Ballantine Type of book: Young adult-adult, historical, post world war 2, 1940s-1950s, Jewish Year it was published: 1967 Summary: 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 engen...