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Title: a subtle story, written simply
Review: This highly lauded book is a tale of fathers, sons, differing traditions, changing times, and ageless truths. Written in deceptively simple style and from the point of view of Rueven, a teen-aged Jewish boy in WWII era New York City, "The Chosen" is the story of his unlikely friendship with Danny, the son of a leader of Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg.Inextricably woven through the narrative is the study of the Talmud, which in terms of time and attention, is the center of both boys' lives.The two boys must work out their relationships among themselves and their fathers, and must find a way to pursue theircallings. Ironically, Danny's vocation is to become a "secular" psychologist rather than, as tradition dictates, a rabbi in thefootsteps of his father. Rueven is the one who senses a call to the rabbinate.Potok writes cleanly, never letting his style get in the way of the story. At its close you will know the hearts of its four major characters.
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