Book Review: The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The book is about a friendship between two Jewish boys in Brooklyn at around the end of World War Two. One boy, Reuven Malter, is the narrator and is a traditional, Orthodox Jew. The other boy, Danny Saunders is a Hasid and is a prodigy who loves psychoanalysis. They meet at a baseball game, where Danny hits Reuven in the eye when he is pitching, so Reuven is rushed to the hospital. Danny later visits him to ask for forgiveness. From then on, the two boys become best friends. The book also explores the boys’ relationships with their fathers. Danny’s father is Reb Saunders, who is a sixth generation Rabbi, and Danny is expected to take his place even though he doesn’t want to. Reuven’s father is David Malter, and he is more open-minded and accepting of modern America. A powerful book about family, friendship, and what it means to be Jewish in America.

This novel is not an easy read—you will have to work to understand this, especially if you are not familiar with the Jewish religion. I personally don’t know that much about the Jewish religion, so I learned a lot from this book. However, it was a bit overwhelming for me at times because of all the vocabulary. I had to write down words I didn’t know so I could look them up later on. The Chosen is worth the work though.

The book shows us two perspectives on being Jewish in America during that time period, and these perspectives are represented by the boys’ fathers. Danny’s father, Reb Saunders, is not willing to interpret Judaism in any other way than his own. He is not willing to embrace modern times because he is held back by tradition. Reuven’s father, David Malter, is tolerant of different perspectives on Judaism, and he adapts his religious beliefs to fit-in with modern times. At the end of the book, Reb Saunders becomes more open-minded, and this is the view Potok encourages.

You have probably guessed from the title of the book that The Chosen also emphasizes choice. No one in the book chooses to be Jewish on their own—that aspect of their life was chosen for them. Danny does not choose to take over his father’s position in the community when he dies—that role was chosen for him. Danny has other passions though, and he wants to choose a different path through life. His father does not support that until later, when he realizes that America is a land of choice, and Danny should decide for himself what he wants to do in life.

What I liked about this book was that even though it talked about the holocaust because it took place during World War Two, it wasn’t about the holocaust. This book asked what it meant to be Jewish in a rapidly changing America. If you’re a teacher, I recommend teaching this alongside holocaust literature such as The Book Thief or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas so your students can see what it was like being Jewish in different parts of the world during that time in history.

I think boys would enjoy this more than girls, but girls can still appreciate the book and identify with the characters. There’s not a lot of Young Adult books out there aimed at boys, and The Chosen is one of those few aimed at boys. I also think it would be great if both the parents and their teens read this book at the same time. In The Chosen, the fathers learn to see their sons as individuals, but they also make sure that they don’t forget where they came from. Parents can learn a lot from David Malter and Reb Saunders.

Overall, I give five out of five stars—it really was a great book with a lot to say. There’s a baseball scene in the beginning that is terrible, but I promise, once you get past that scene, the book improves dramatically.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Chosen-Chaim-Potok/dp/0449213447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395593122&sr=8-1&keywords=the+chosen

Teens and Atheism

In the spirit of the last book I read, Godless by Pete Hautman, I am going to write about atheism for this post. The word “atheism” can mean different things to different people, but it generally means the absence of belief that any god(s) exist. A survey conducted in 2012 tells us that about 2.4% of Americans are atheists, 3.3% are agnostic, and 13.9% don’t identify themselves with any religion. Those numbers are rising too.

In Godless, the main character, Jason, was an atheist because he did not believe in the existence of God, and he saw organized religion as an institution. Other atheists choose to be one because they believe that the evidence against the existence of God is more compelling than any evidence that there is a God. Some use the Problem of Evil as justification for their atheism. Every atheist has his or her own reasons for not believing in God.

Most atheists though, are under the age of thirty, and teenagers account for a large amount of that number. This may be because for some, atheism is a phase, although for most, this isn’t the case, and you should take a teen’s decision to become an atheist seriously and respect that decision. This also may be because atheism is becoming more acceptable in society and because education is being separated from the church.

Unfortunately though, a lot of people still aren’t open to accepting atheism completely. If a teen declares him/herself an atheist, their parents don’t react in an accepting way. They try to change the teen and in extreme cases, excommunicate them. It’s hard being an atheist in a world that believes in a god or gods. I am speaking from personal experience too.

When I decided I was an atheist around the time I was in middle school, my parents were obviously not happy with my decision. They accepted my decision to become an atheist, but they didn’t respect it. At family gatherings, I was mocked because I was the only atheist there. Sometimes my family would be talking about a miracle or a religious experience and my mother would say something like, “Oh wait…Paige can’t understand this because she’s an atheist.” The whole table would either burst out laughing or look at me pitifully. I immediately felt like an outsider in my own family.

Some have it worse than me though, and thankfully, I live in a time when atheism is acceptable in society. If you are a parent with a teen who has decided to become an atheist, the websites below say to respect their decision and ask them why—they might have a good reason. If their reason is they have become an atheist because they don’t like getting up early to go to church, THEN you can ask them to reconsider. Otherwise, let them be and ask them to respect your beliefs and you will respect theirs.

For teens and parents looking for resources, check out these websites:

http://www.kidswithoutgod.com/   

http://atheismforkidsandteens.com/en/