We were small in numbers for our meeting on monday, but it was a good time of muffins, iced mango tea and of course talk of asher lev. My name is asher lev by chaim potok reading guidebook. My name is asher lev, by chaim potok richard harries on chaim potok s novel about a young hasidic artist, my name is asher lev most people will at some point have seen hasidic jews with their distinctive form of dress. The book follows ashers maturity as both an artist and a jew. Asher lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels even when it leads him to blasphemy. If youre not familiar with my name is asher lev here is a summary from goodreads. Click here for a downloadable word document of this discussion guide. My name is asher lev is about, at its heart, the unspeakable mystery that brings good fathers and sons into the world and lets a mother watch them tear at each others throats. If you couldnt make it and still like to hear some discussion on it head over to midday connections book club site. What about his style versus the style of the christian artists he emulates. It depicts that unspeakable mystery in all its painful humanity, and as a consequence the book is moving and disturbing. Kafka who liked to draw once remarked that the jew prefers writ ing. Asher lev introduces himself as the asher lev the notorious and legendary lev of the brooklyn crucifixion. My name is asher lev book club questions by hound and eye book, chaim potok, my name is asher lev new york.
The book contains several other discussions on nude art. They read the book back in november of 07 and you can still access the audio archives for it and hear the broadcast. Collision with the outside world the new york times. Im drawn to the themes he returns to many of his books. It definitely is an interesting novel, and one that is written with such an. Richard harries on chaim potoks novel about a young hasidic artist, my name is asher lev. My biggest complaint about many of the books i had to read in high school is that they were awful. His art, however, causes conflicts with his family and other members of his community. My name is asher lev by admin clarissa had a theory in those days.
Ashers art is consistently represented as both great and dangerous. For example, at the very beginning of the book there is a paragraph beginning, often on shabbos or festivals. And observant jews, he says, dont paint crucifixions or paint at all, for that matter. My name is asher lev is a novel by chaim potok that was first published in 1972. At book club we had more discussion on this book than most that we read. Had it not been for my book club, i most likely would never have stumbled across this book.
In this stirring and often visionary novel, chaim potok traces asher s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to god, the other subject only to the imagination. My name is asher lev consortium of christian study centers. These are the novels that oprahs book club made famous. The story follows ashers search for, yes, his identity. This isnt to say that the writing was bad, but that they were filled with stories of horrible things. Summary read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. The books protagonist is asher lev, a hasidic jewish boy in new york city. My name is asher lev is another powerful potok novel about core conflict between the artistic spiritual voice inside a mans soul, and the hasidic culture in which he grows up and in which he is so tutored by the memory of his legendary ancestor, as well as by the lives led by his grandfather and father.
My name is asher lev is a novel by chaim potok, an american author and rabbi. Asher lev is a ladover hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the ribbono shel olom, the master of the universe. Can you find passages in the book the describe ashers painting style versus the style his mother and father would find more acceptable. In this stirring and often visionary novel, chaim potok traces ashers passage between these two identities, the. Chaim potok good books, my books, inspiring people, book authors, audio books. My name is asher lev, the asher lev, about whom you have read in newspapers.