Customer Reviews
By Andy K., a 7th Grader 
2008-05-21
Two Brooklyn Jewish boys live a few blocks away, but a world apart. One feels imprisoned by his family's long-held tradition. The other one is secretly very lonely. Although they hate each other at first, they grow to become best friends. This is the story of The Chosen by Chaim Potok. It takes place in the mid to late 1950's, and it is the story of Reuven Malter, a Modern Orthodox Jew, and Danny Saunders. Danny is destined to become a tzaddik, the spiritual connection between his people and their God, just like his father has become. The only problem is that he wants to be a psychologist. I thought this book was very, very good. It managed to be pretty modern, but Potok also weaved in much of the Jewish philosophy, customs, and history. And that, along with the characters, is what drives the story. These things give the story power, they give it drive, and they add deepness to it. The characters are truly amazing as well. Danny is so many things. He's friendly, but can be cold. He's surrounded by people constantly, and yet he feels rather lonely. He's strong, but only Reuven can help him to break free from his "imprisonment." Reuven is popular. He's scholarly. He's a very good baseball player. But beneath it all, he is rather sensitive to and troubled by the world around him. He doesn't really feel like he has a contemporary who he can relate to, who can lift his fear. And Danny seems to do that, slowly but surely. Both their fathers are extremely interesting as well. Both are sort of mini-celebrities. Reuven's father is a Modern Orthodox professor, as well as columnist on Jewish texts. He is constantly criticized and very frail, but ambitious. He serves as Reuven's conscience and source of wisdom throughout the book. Reb Saunders, Danny's dad and a Hasidic Jew, is the spiritual leader of his people. By far the book's most exciting character, the rebbe is a tyrant one minute, and gentle the next. The book gains a lot from Danny's strained relationship with his father. It provides a window to each of their minds, and it adds to the conflict. Danny isn't so much angry at his father, he just feels confused and trapped. The storyline I felt could be slow at times (the whole hospital part sort of drags on somewhat), but it never seemed to lose my interest. The Jewish culture Potok injects into the story is absolutely fascinating, and you weren't really sure what was going to happen next. I wouldn't recommend this story to anyone that gets bored with history or internal conflict. Even then, I would encourage them to try it, just because it expands the reader's cultural horizons and it is so great.
After I read this, I wanted more of it. There is a sequel called The Promise, which has most of the same characters, and is just as good (though in different ways). So I'd have to give this story ****** out of 5.
Beautiful Story of Friendship - Still brings tears to my eyes 2008-04-30
This and its companion novel "The Promise" are my favorite novels -- at least if I haven't read Leon Uris's "Armageddon" or "Exodus" lately. I've read this beautiful story of friendship more then eight times and it still brings tears to my eyes. The fact they are Jewish and that it is set in WWII NYC are incidental because the challenges they faces are timeless. I love this book.
Delights 2008-04-21
Every so often you go through a period of reading lacklustre books that make the lazy demon in you think of stopping, then you pick up a book like this and your thirst for the written word returns with a vengence!
I was recommended 'The Chosen' some years ago, and turned to it after just such a lull and it truly delights; its a great story well told that gives the reader an insight into the conflicts that lay within Judaism;Danny the orthadox Hassid and Rueven become friends after Danny injures Rueven in a baseball game.The story flows with wonderful imagry from the hospital with Mr Savo and Billy;the streets the two boys live in;the Hassidic home of Reb Saunders,the historical background of WW2 and the birth of Israel;how the mass murder of 6 million Jews brought on a re think of passive waiting for a messiah in a harsh and modern world.
This is great writing;up there with Bellow, Bashevis Singer, Malamud and Appelfeld.
I read this while I was in middle school and now I understand why I didn't like it 
2008-02-10
The truth of this book, is that it is subversively against Chassidism. Chassidism is portrayed as just the opposite of what it truly is. It's portrayed as rigid and out of date and frankly not 'with it.' Of course Danny must be a genius if he wants to break free of the mold of Chassidism. I grew up in a secular house-hold, and it seems that the calls of chassidism were within me even then, because I had a distate for the book and felt it had a significant bias. While Danny longs to break free of chassidism, I have found that Chassidism has helped set me free. It seems to me that Danny was just the opposite of a genius, and Chaim Potok was capitlizing on the secular world's viewpoint to create a book that was not so subtly anti-chassid. It's only years later now that I realize why I had such a distaste for the book. The book points away from the truth, not towards it.
About navigating adolescence 2008-01-19
This classic novel is set in the WWII-era Jewish neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It is the story of a deep friendship between adolescents Reuven (Modern Orthodox son of an intellectual) and Danny (brilliant Hasidic heir to the office of head 'rebbe'). On the surface its lots of fascinating religious debate. But fundamentally it is the story of how two friends together navigate the delemnas of adolescence.
Beautiful, deeply interesting story, by a master novelist (and ex-rabbi).
Don't rent the old Robbie Benson movie until after you've read this book
Worth reading - insightful 
2008-06-27
I really liked the historical aspect of the book. Though a work of fiction, it helped me to understand many ideas among the Jewish followers. A little too slow at times for my tastes (particularly the Talmud discussions). A certain amount was necessary to comprehend the background and situation but it went a bit overboard for me.
Overall I thought this was worth the time invested in reading it and I feel like a gained new insight into the Jewish faith and relationships in general.
Growing up in NYC 2008-06-25
The chronological lives of Danny Saunders (Hasidic) and Dave Melter (Orthodox) as they graduate high school and then college in Brooklyn. We meet the boys' passionate families, watch their ardent study of Talmud, and perceive the clash between their beliefs and expectations as their steadfast friendship supports them through the late teen years. A peephole into the state of world affairs around 1945 that helps to explain the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine today.
The Chosen:Understanding 
2008-06-09
in reading "The Chosen" i was very pleased with the book. The plot was very touching as we saw the boys (Danny and Reuven) grow from the grounds of a baseball field to the advanced college campus. Their friendship was very strong and was normally able to overcome most obstacles...except for the silence that Danny and Reb Saunders had between them. Mr. Malter brought Rueven up in talking, so Rueven began to hate the silence simply because he couldn't understand it. i believe that that applies to much of life. If we don't understand something completely, we tend to write it off as bad, hard, or tend to hate it. i would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a good book for any occasion.
The Chosen: Danny and Reuven's Interwoven Journey 2008-06-09
The Chosen is a capturing story of two boys as they grow and mature throughout their friendship and into adulthood. Reuven Malter is a secular Jew while Danny Saunders is a Hasid. The two are naturally opposed by their religion and unleash their anger toward each other in what is no ordinary baseball game. When Reuven is hit in the eye by a powerful ball hit by Danny, Reuven is rushed to the emergency room. It is while Reuven is recovering from the accident in the hospital that he and Danny official meet and begin their interwoven journey.
Danny and Reuven soon realize that they are opposites from one another. Reuven wishes to become a rabbi after graduating from college, while his father hopes for him to become a mathematician. Contrastingly, Danny dreams of being a psychologist even though he is the rightful heir to becoming a Hasidic rabbi. They are also raised by fathers who have contrasting methods of bringing up their sons. Still, it is through these family difficulties, the devastating tolls of the Holocaust, conflicting religion, and Danny's own secret from his father, that create the powerful and unique bond between the two boys. Join them as they teach each other lessons they could not have learned anywhere else and grow into the young adults they strived to be.
"The Chosen", review 2008-06-09
"The Chosen", by Chaim Potok, is a narrative about two Jewish boys, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, who are from different Jewish sects. The novel is all about their friendship and about them growing up together and the troubles they face due to their different religious interpretation. The boys are raised in different styles Reuven is raised in a regular manner, while Danny's father raises him in silence. Silence is a recurring, mysterious theme of the novel and the way they are raised greatly affects what they become in life. Silence is Danny's father Reb's way of raising Danny so that he will become a good rabbi by learning the ability to figure things out independently. Unfortunately, silence also separates Reuven and Danny when Reuven's father stresses the need to form a Jewish state. He supports "Zionism" while Danny's father does not and this causes Reb to forcibly separate the two boys.
In the novel Potok uses silence as a literary device that gives the text depth and mystery. The style of Potok's writing is sometimes very mysterious and, for me at least, confusing. The steady moving story shows the ways friendship can mature and change through different uncontrollable factors. It also gives insight into the different beliefs about raising children. I would recommend this book for someone who is prepared to think on a deeper level about the things of life, about differences, and about what can unite us.
