The book that I have selected is titled “The Chosen” and Chaim Potok is the author of this outstanding novel. It is Jewish-American Literature written in 1960 and published in 1967. An interesting fact about the writing of the novel is that is was written in Philadelphia, Israel, and Brooklyn.
The story line is as follows: it is narrated by a boy about fifteen years old named Reuven Malter who is hurt in the beginning of the book in a baseball game by another boy named Danny Saunders who is the son of the great Reb Saunders. You see Reuven and Danny are both Jewish, but they are two different kinds of Jews- Danny a higher class Jew, Hasidic who thinks that the opposite kind are “apikoros”, and Reuven an Orthodox Jew. I’m not sure what “apikoros” really means but I’m thinking that it means that they are not worthy.
It all starts with a baseball game. And it was a game that changed everything.
The point of view is that of Reuven Malter's about the events that lead up to his rise in maturity. He doesn't know what other people are thinking or feeling and only concentrates on himself and how he analyzes everyone else, he is not omniscient. Reuven is an extremely smart kid and rarely does he judge anyone, that is except Reb Saunders- whom is judged quite harshly.
I found this amazing symbolic reference in the first two chapters of the book! (You will be so proud Knuth!) It all starts with a baseball game (yes I know that I have said that twice now) in which the Hasidic school is facing the regular Yeshiva school, they are known as the "apikoros" to the Hasidic‘s. The teams best player, Danny Saunders, the son of the renown Reb Saunders, hits a hard ball right to the current pitcher in a very tight and close and super competitive game. The current pitcher is known as Reuven Malter, and he gets pelted in the face with the hard ball when Danny hits the ball. The boys had it in for each other, in fact Danny even admits that he wanted to kill Reuven and Reuven the same. Reuven is hit in the eye with the baseball and results in his glasses breaking with a piece of glass in his eye. It was very close to making him blind, but the doctor did an operation to save his vision. The symbolism is that he felt hatred for Danny, and now that he has a "new" vision he sees Danny very differently and now is trying to understand him as he tries to become a psychologist even though he is biologically in line to become the next Rabbi.
The Chosen is becoming one of my favorite novels as the story progresses on to reveal how the plans for Danny turn out and the steps that Reuven must take in order to understand his friend and his way. I highly recommend it.
The story line is as follows: it is narrated by a boy about fifteen years old named Reuven Malter who is hurt in the beginning of the book in a baseball game by another boy named Danny Saunders who is the son of the great Reb Saunders. You see Reuven and Danny are both Jewish, but they are two different kinds of Jews- Danny a higher class Jew, Hasidic who thinks that the opposite kind are “apikoros”, and Reuven an Orthodox Jew. I’m not sure what “apikoros” really means but I’m thinking that it means that they are not worthy.
It all starts with a baseball game. And it was a game that changed everything.
The point of view is that of Reuven Malter's about the events that lead up to his rise in maturity. He doesn't know what other people are thinking or feeling and only concentrates on himself and how he analyzes everyone else, he is not omniscient. Reuven is an extremely smart kid and rarely does he judge anyone, that is except Reb Saunders- whom is judged quite harshly.
I found this amazing symbolic reference in the first two chapters of the book! (You will be so proud Knuth!) It all starts with a baseball game (yes I know that I have said that twice now) in which the Hasidic school is facing the regular Yeshiva school, they are known as the "apikoros" to the Hasidic‘s. The teams best player, Danny Saunders, the son of the renown Reb Saunders, hits a hard ball right to the current pitcher in a very tight and close and super competitive game. The current pitcher is known as Reuven Malter, and he gets pelted in the face with the hard ball when Danny hits the ball. The boys had it in for each other, in fact Danny even admits that he wanted to kill Reuven and Reuven the same. Reuven is hit in the eye with the baseball and results in his glasses breaking with a piece of glass in his eye. It was very close to making him blind, but the doctor did an operation to save his vision. The symbolism is that he felt hatred for Danny, and now that he has a "new" vision he sees Danny very differently and now is trying to understand him as he tries to become a psychologist even though he is biologically in line to become the next Rabbi.
The Chosen is becoming one of my favorite novels as the story progresses on to reveal how the plans for Danny turn out and the steps that Reuven must take in order to understand his friend and his way. I highly recommend it.
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