My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of My Name Is Asher Lev
Book Review: Well Written but Confusing Terminology
Summary: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and loved to see Asher grow and mature from a boy to a man. It was beautifully written, chronicling Asher's anguish and fury through his art. I could relate to Asher's struggle for independence and acceptance.
Since I am not Jewish, I did not understand many of the terminology used. I felt like Chaim Potok should have clarified terms such as Shabbos or Stalin. I got the understanding that if you did not know anything about Jewish history, you could not appreciate this book.
I would reccomend this book to teenagers because of its portrayal of the young artist.
Book Review: Powerful
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read "The Chosen" and "The Promise," I had to try "My Name is Asher Lev." Those first two were wonderful stories, but "Asher Lev" is such a powerful and (in the good sense) disturbing novel that it left me trembling.
I am not a Hasidic Jew -- in fact, I am a Roman Catholic priest. But Potok welcomes even the stranger into the Hasidic world so that a reader feels at home. Yet even more foreign to me is the world of the artist, for the Lord has given me absolutely no talent or vision in that area. Yet here, too, one learns to see with the artist's eye, or at least to understand.
Potok's writing becomes more and more terse as the tensions inside Asher Lev increase. He shifts themes within a single paragraph in a way that would earn a failing grade from any seventh grade English teacher, and yet he does so to very powerful effect, allowing the reader to be experience the difficulties that cause the protagonist such fear.
Asher Lev discovered that a gift of genius could be a true burden. Chaim Potok showed his own genius in allowing us a glimpse into this realm of creation.
Book Review: A favorite
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in high school and it's stayed one of my favorites ever since. We could all learn a little from Asher Lev. If you enjoy this book, try the sequel -- The Gift of Asher Lev.Book Review: Definitely not his best work
Summary: 2 Stars
I recently read another book by Chaim Potok and have since been devouring anything of his I can find. This book was, however, disappointing.The book is just as gripping as any other of Mr. Potok's books, but I had an extremely hard time relating to or even sympathizing with Asher Lev. While I understood that painting became his life, the better he got at it, the less compassion he seemed to have for everyone. The childish refusal to go to Vienna with his parents just made me dislike him even more. On the other side, I couldn't relate to his parents either. I understood a little better why Asher was so stubbornly infantile when his father acted the same way.
A last point of contention for me was the completely depressing atmosphere of the entire book. Even when things are going his way, Asher is consistently pessimistic, nervous, and angry. Of course, this can relate to his inner struggle between art and Hasidic Judaism, but it is SO pervasive and SO overdone that it hinders our sympathy for Asher rather than endearing him to us.
The only reasons I finished the book were my respect for Chaim Potok and my love of well-written literature. There are much better books by the same author for your money.
Book Review: Five Stars for the Brooklyn Prodigy
Summary: 5 Stars
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok is a remarkable story from the first page to the last. Potok takes the reader on a captivating journey through the complex mind and painful life of the "Brooklyn Prodigy" while dealing with reoccurring questions concerning acceptance, forgiveness, and the struggle to face one's identity. Potok creates a unique cast of characters and forms powerful relationships between them. No relationship, however, is as powerful as the one that Asher forms with his passion for painting. Through his passion, Asher and his family experience torment, anguish, confusion, and heartbreak. Their hardships, however, prove to teach life altering lessons about truth and love. Potok's use of vivid language and imagery help the reader to experience, feel, and learn as the characters do. This thought provoking novel had a great impact on me and is by far one of the best novels I have ever read.