6.30.2010

The Chosen



"One learns of the pain of others by suffering one's own pain, by turning inside oneself, by finding one's own soul. And it is important to know of pain. It destroys our self pride, our arrogance, our indifference towards others."

I recently finished reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok.

It is a novel I have wanted to read for years but because of my English Major, I haven't been able to read for fun in a long time. And this book was a perfect start to free reading.

It is a Bildungsroman novel about a boy named Reuven Malter who is a Jew growing up in Brooklyn. He becomes friends with a boy named Danny Saunders, a Haddistic Jew in the same neighborhood, who has a photographic memory and a brilliant mind. It it set during WWII and shows the American Jew's reaction to the Holocaust, which was sad but thought-provoking.

It was philosophically rich, but even better taught me so much about the Jewish culture. I love Judaism. I took a Judaism class at BYU and came to appreciate the culture and faith of this ancient religion. Although the book itself is dated, it is an excellent read. It made me question my own existence and my placement in life.

For another awesome read about Judaism check out this book. It totally enlightened me.

Have you read The Chosen? What did you think?

4 comments:

emily said...

yes, yes, yes! i love this book. i read it in high school and thought it was completely fascinating. i have a copy and it sits on my shelf waiting to be read a second time... maybe i'll get around to it this summer.
so glad you liked it!!

Julie Wilding said...

I love this book.

Mandy, what is the link to the place you got the print from 6/25 at? Is it an etsy shop?

Michelle said...

that sounds really good! Adding it to my list!

Right now I'm reading Cranford, have you ever read it?

PS. In your comment you said Emily, you meant me right?? haha if you did I would absolutely love too! My classes kind of hover around lunchtime M-Th, but fridays I am done at 12 if you want to get lunch soon!

stephanie said...

I've never even heard of this! I'll have to check it out.

And I go to Belmont University in Nashville. I have to say, for a small, private school, our English department is rockin'. I've taken a Japanese lit class, a Pirate Lit class, and next semester (even though I can't take it because I'll be in Africa) there's a postmodern novels course. Our professors are insanely knowledgeable and gifted at teaching.

How's the department at BYU? I'm also wondering what types of jobs you're looking at with an English degree. I have one more year and I'm still totally unsure of what I want to do!