Review of "The Chosen", a novel.

The Chosen is a book written by Chaim Potok. It takes place in Williamsburg Brooklyn New York in the year of 1945.
The book is written in the first person. It starts by a person talking about a boy named Danny, And describing his community which according to him, it is largely Hasidic. He also talks about the school he goes to, which he calls a yeshiva and how it is different from other schools. He attends a parochial school, and here is Where he is exposed to courses in Hebrew and English. I was becoming aware that the person who was telling the story, was Jewish by some language that he was using. I found out that he was an orthodox Jew.
Then, the book moves on to where the unknown character and other people are talking about a game that they are going to have with another team. The character plays for a Softball teem. A boy by the name of Davey Cantor warns the narrator that the members of the other team are murderers. The character Does not believe this, and he thinks that this game is going to be easy as he is seeing how the other team is practicing.
As the game starts to progress, there seems to be some kind of hatred between the two teams. It was not the typical hatred that teams have towards each other. They hated each other because the two teams believe in two ways of Judaism. For example, The narrator’s team is referred as the apikorsim which are the “secular Jews.” and the other team is referred to as the Hasidim. The differences are that the Hasidim believe that Hebrew is a holy language and should not be used to teach classes.
This hatred between the teams reminds me of the different groups that are there in Judaism. They disagree with one another. I believe that some of these things are very small. For example, the traditions. Some jews, will follow traditions, but they do not believe in god.
the Hasidim seem to follow their customs. They are dressed in a specific kind of uniform. The apikorsim are a group that are dressed casually and speak English instead of Yiddish which is a mixture of German and Hebrew.
At this point, I was introduced to some of the characters. The person who was telling the story is a 15 year old boy named Reuven Malter. Also, there was Danny Saunders whom also is 15 years old, and who is a boy from the Hasidic team. Furthermore, he was the boy whom Danny had introduced earlier. Davey Cantor, is Reuven’s team mate as well as his classmate. When he finds out that Danny and Reuven are friends, he does not approve.
During the game, Danny hit Reuven with a ball breaking his glasses and bringing Reuven to the ground. Reuven had to be taken immediately to the hospital. It is mister Galanter his softball coach, that is with him when he is admitted into the hospital. Already in a hospital room after two doctors check his eyes, Reuven finds out that he has a glass in his left eye.
In the eye ward, Reuven meets Tony Savo, and he is referred to as mister Savo whom also has one bad eye. He also meets a boy by the name of Billy. He later discovers that Billy is blind. These two people, help Reuven feel a bit at ease. It seems as if when one of the two people is speaking about their lives, Reuven’s problems are small in comparison.
I felt as if Reuven as well as mister Savo, were a bit scared to interact with the boy. This could be because they were afraid to say something wrong that could hurt him. I think that because of this, Reuven starts getting worried about his own condition. He wonders how it would be to be blind. At times, he seems to be depressed.
One day, Danny goes to visit him, but he throws him out. After Reuven tells the story to his father, whose name is David Malter, and whom he calls aba, he says that it was not nice what he did, and he should listen to what the boy has to say. When Danny goes for the second time, Reuven apologizes. After a few minutes of talking, Danny explains to Reuven that he wanted to kill him, and he was very sorry for trying to do that. During the next few visits, they are already calling each other by there first names. Also, it seems that a friendship is starting to blossom.
During his stay at the hospital, I learned that Reuven’s father is a teacher. I also learned that Reuven likes math and although his dad wants him to become a mathematician, he wants to become a rabbi. Danny on the other hand, is a Hasidic Jew, and he does not seem too happy with the way his life is going. One of the sad things about this story, is when Danny reveals to Reuven that he does not speak to his dad except for when they are studying the Talmud. Danny is someone who wants to do something else, but he cannot because of the rules that he has to follow. He has to become a Rabbi although he wants to be a psychologist. Because He gets board of reading the Talmud, He spends his time in the library. This is where he meets a man and he recommends different books to the boy. Because Danny has a photographic memory, he is able to read many books, and he is also able to understand them very well. Later, I find that the man whom Danny had been talking to is Reuven’s father. As Reuven begins to recuperate, the hatred that the two boys had for each other starts to fade away.
A few days later, after Reuven is out the hospital, Danny’s father is introduced. He is a leader in the Hasidic community. Some Jews followed him after he made possible a trip to the US which took them out the country they were living in. He is pleased that Danny and Reuven are friends, but disapproves of the work that mister Malter is doing.
There were a few things that I liked about this book. One of them is that the descriptions were very good. Also, the book gives background information about almost all the characters which allows the reader to understand each character very well. This background information also answers some of the questions that the readers might have about the actions of a character.
I am able to identify my self with two characters. The first one is Billy because he is blind. As a blind person, I believe that the character known as Billy was portrayed very well. He asked a lot of questions which I believe was a good thing. Although this is a fictional story, which took place over 60 years ago, It still reflects how people feel today about blind people. I felt bad for him because he did not know what people thought of him or how people were looking at him. Another character that I identified myself with was Danny. I felt as if he was forced to do something he did not want to. A lot of people, who work with people with disabilities, want them to do a specific task. The person has no say on the choice because by the time he or she has reached the point that he or she could make decisions, they already have been brainwashed and have been given too much medication to stop the person from moving forward. Another thing that I have in common with Danny is that like him, I am also interested in psychology. I felt as if danny needed his dad to talk. This would have been good for him. I also feel the same way that Danny felt when he did not talk to his dad, very alone. Almost at the end of the story, Reuven’s father asks Danny If and when he has children, is he going to treat them the same way that his father treated him. Danny tells him that probably he will.
Unfortunately, we have a cicle. I was able to tell that although danny will finally become what he always wanted, He did not learn the most important thing.
This book was made into a movie which I have not seen. I hope it is as good as the book is.
I would have liked it if Reuven would had kept in contact with billy. It is sad that he only made one attempt after he got out of the hospital. I believe that this friendship would have benefited both of them. Reuven would had learned that there are more important things than seeing. He would have been able to understand things much better. For billy, Reuven could have been his best friend. It was very important for Reuven to be there for Billy. He could have given him strength, and He would had become Billy’s eyes.
I would definitely recommend this book. By the end of this book, the reader will have a greater appreciation for the small things in life and he or she will have a better understanding of the Jewish religion