Chaim Potok

The Gift of Asher Lev

Magdalene Lim

Gah, my first Chaim Potok book and I had to spoil it by reading the sequel first. I hope having read it doesn't spoil the preceding story because I enjoyed this book soooo much and am really looking forward to "My Name is Asher Lev".

You read books about Jews and books about art, but Potok brings out the themes of religion, struggling with tradition, art, family and relationships in such a beautiful way that you just want to keep reading. It's interesting to read about Jewish tradition as they are the people written about in the bible, yet the teachings are similar yet different. That of course is unrelated, but a thought I had when reading this book. I mean, you read Anne Frank and other books about Jews and the war but this one focuses a lot more on religion and tradition,

In any case, this review does not do the book any justice so I leave you with beautiful quote (one of my favourites):

Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. He sees the world in pieces, in fragments. But the Master of the Universe sees the world whole, unbroken. That world is good.

The Gift of Asher Lev

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