Ilana Davita Dinn is the listener to whom three men relate their lives.
In an essential echo of one of my takeaways from The Chosen, another all-time favorite of mine by this author: greatness is not, and need not be, easily understood.From the celebrated author of The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev, a trilogy of related novellas about a woman whose life touches three very different men stories that encompass some of the profoundest themes of the twentieth century.
Nevertheless, the story served to further impress upon me my takeaways from the previous book, concerning the tension of the unfathomable mystery that can come along with a profound gift. And for personal reasons I won't get into, this story wound up angering a part of me-which nothing in the novel could resolve. I couldn't put into a book review all the reasons why I relate to Asher, an artist, even as I, a writer, don't share his rather somber outlook on life or what life apparently must be for a serious creative. The walk through this novel was rather dry and tedious to me at times, but I remained curious to see where this mysterious, mystical leg of Asher's journey would lead.īesides, I already knew how this author's measured and understated but intentional plot development can eventually bring certain details and questions into startling light, which does happen in places in this story. Now, in all honesty, if I hadn't already gotten to know and relate to Asher in the preceding novel, My Name is Asher Lev, one of my all-time favorite books, it's doubtful that I would have stuck with this sequel from start to finish. He's stayed away from the rest of his family and Jewish community back in Brooklyn, but the passing of his uncle draws Asher into a difficult and perplexing journey he isn't prepared for in The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok.
Asher Lev, now a husband and father living in France, has become a world-renowned artist, even as his art continues to grate against his Hasidic Jewish observance.
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