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: Torn Apart
Summary: 4 Stars
Torn. Torn between the two incompatible worlds of Art and Judaism is the life that Asher Lev lives. Chaim Potok, in his book My Name is Asher Lev weaves a poignant story about an artist whose immense talent is a curse and a gift at the same time. He traces Asher's life from the first discovery of his gift to the art shows in the midst of his fame, and shows us that these eventually get him exiled from the Hasidic community.By using first person narrative, Potok gives the reader a glimpse of the Ladover Hasidic world through Asher's eyes. One does not have to be an artist to understand the turmoil that Asher goes through. Potok's portrayal of the rift that eventually widens between Asher and his parents as well as the Jewish community is simply and clearly portrayed. The reader sympathizes with Asher throughout the story, hoping that the young prodigy can somehow merge the two worlds he loves so much.
Potok's characters make this book even more engaging. Each character has his or her own distinct personality and problems that help the reader understand their viewpoints. Take, for example, Asher's mother. She is torn between her husband and her son, and till the end tries to make the two men in her life understand each other. However, this small, fragile woman is no match for the powerful forces pulling Asher and his father apart.
The use of Hasidic Jewish terminology like Shabbos and Ribbono Shel Olom is confusing at first, yet it binds the reader into Asher's Jewish world more and more securely as the novel progresses. It helps the reader understand the world of Aryeh Lev, Asher's father, who continually works for the good of the community. It also helps the reader realize that Asher's dreams of his Mythic Ancestor are a symbol of his own guilt. Asher feels like a traitor to his family because he is not continuing the work of his ancestors.
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to be a part of Asher's life, with all of its joys and sorrows. Come grow up with Asher in this excellently written book, and for a while imagine his talent is your own. Follow his example, and go wherever your heart leads you. Just don't forget to take his teacher's advice and be great at your chosen path, as that will justify all the consequences.
Book Review: The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a teenage kid with a busy life of school and other things, but all that just stopped as soon as I picked up this book. Have mercy on my soul, this book was good. It hit me deep and made me think. I was totally taken over by the story and I began to connect and relate with the characters. Chaim Potok's style of writing is so easy to read and get into. I read through this whole book just itching for more the entire time. I would recommend this book to anyone; young, middleaged, old, it doesn't matter. Anyone can appreciate my new favorite book. I can't wait to start The Gift of Asher Lev.Book Review: Thank you, Chaim Potok.....
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm speechless. Thank you, Mr. Potok. May your memory live on through your work.....Book Review: Awful Boring Put-you-to-sleep-by-reading-it
Summary: 1 Stars
I read maybe...3 Chapters of this book in my Act class at school and I found particularily useless. This is NOT a book i felt that the school board should be making middle school students read. So after the first 3 chapters I decided to protest by not reading the book. of course I still had to hear people drone on about it twice every six days but still I found it VERY boring. So If you are a parents shopping for your teenage son or daughter this book would not be a good choice. I know one person who really enjoyed this book and well....everyone's always thought he was kind of crazy.Book Review: A classic
Summary: 5 Stars
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV by Chaim PotokA story about a young man's struggle between the secular world of an artist, and life as a Ladover Hasidic Jew, Chaim Potok's masterpiece MY NAME IS ASHER LEV is truly a classic.
Asher Lev is born to parents who are devoted to the life of the Ladover Hasidic Jew. As his mother supports and stands by the work Asher's father does, Aryeh Lev devotes his life to the causes closest to his people. Most of his life is dedicated to preserving the culture of this Jewish sect, and also to helping those who are being persecuted in other countries. He travels often, sometimes to countries as far away as The Soviet Union to help out his fellow Jew. He's rarely home, and young Asher is often angry and upset, wishing his father had more time for him.
From a very young age, Asher has a deep sense of art, and learns to express his innermost feelings through his creativity. As with any artistic genius, creating art is in Asher's blood and it soon gets in the way of his schooling and his religion and culture. His parents are not happy with the way things are going with Asher, but they tolerate his strange obsession, thinking this is just a passing phase. He will grow out of it, they think. His mother in particular does not dissuade Asher from drawing, if only to keep him happy, hoping that he would reward her with better grades in school. And with the help of local storeowner Yudel Krinsky, Asher obtains the necessary pencils and other art equipment to continue his fascination with drawing.
However, his obsession with art does not die, as his parents had hoped. The older he becomes, the more his passion with art drives a wedge between himself and his parents. He becomes more independent in the way he thinks, and soon his parents find they cannot control him. The life of a Ladover Hasidic Jew is one of structure and daily prayer and obedience to one's elders, to one's Rebbe, and to one's God. Asher lives in direct conflict with all this, although he tries to keep his daily prayers in his routines, and is often dwelling on things that pertain to his religious background.
Torn between his great desire to express himself as an artist and the need to please his parents and in particular his father, Asher's life is full of torment and guilt. But he is happiest when he is painting, or drawing, or walking amongst the masterpieces at a museum. When Asher takes up with a fallen Jew who also happens to be one of the greatest living artists in the country, Asher's artistic life goes into full swing. He lives and breathes his art, as Jacob Kahn teaches young Asher all he knows. Jacob convinces him that in order to become a true artist, he needs to live in the secular world. Again, Asher questions whether he is doing the right thing by following his passions and his God-given gift, or should he turn his back on art and follow the route of an obedient Hasidic Jew?
What more can I say about a book that has become a modern classic? Chaim Potok wrote a truly powerful story in which a person is torn between two worlds. A rare view into the world of a small Jewish sect, the reader senses the world of alienation and loneliness that comes to someone born into this society but living amongst the "goyim" that surrounds him. The author also makes the reader question whether it is better to be true to oneself, or to deny oneself the destiny that a higher being may have intended. There is no doubt that this book cannot be rated anything lower than 5 stars. Highly recommended.