Potok, Chaim

The chosen by Chaim Potok ( Book )
130 editions published between 1966 and 2010 in 10 languages and held by 4,539 libraries worldwide
Two jewish boys growing to manhood in Brooklyn discover that differences can strengthen friendship and understanding.

My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok ( Book )
71 editions published between 1972 and 2009 in 7 languages and held by 3,720 libraries worldwide
The novelist records the anguish and triumps of a young painter as he emerges into the great world of art and rejects all else.

The promise by Chaim Potok ( Book )
76 editions published between 1969 and 2005 in 9 languages and held by 3,299 libraries worldwide
Two young men question the "orthodoxy" of values and religion in a world cut off from their Hasidic traditions.

In the beginning by Chaim Potok ( Book )
42 editions published between 1975 and 2003 in 9 languages and held by 2,858 libraries worldwide
The novel, set in the Bronx, New York, concerns a gifted Jewish boy who becomes a Biblical scholar. From shortly after birth, in the 1920's, David Lurie is plagued by illnesses that prove to be emblematic of his growing up. He is bullied by bigger boys, haunted by the "accidents" that he brings upon others, safe only within his pious home. David's inner life, tortured with fears and bad dreams is followed through the Depression, which nearly ruins his family; through the late thirties and forties, as the news from Europe grows more and more dreadful; and into his budding years as a scholar.

Davita's harp by Chaim Potok ( Book )
40 editions published between 1984 and 2010 in 5 languages and held by 2,581 libraries worldwide
The daughter of a non-believing Jewish mother and a non-believing gentle father - dedicated Communists both - Davita Chandel, growing up as the world suffers through the Spanish Civil War and World War II, turns to Judaism for consolation and spiritual sustenance.

The book of lights by Chaim Potok ( Book )
38 editions published between 1981 and 1997 in 4 languages and held by 2,454 libraries worldwide
"At the center of the novel is Gershon Loran--a young rabbi, the product of a parochial New York Jewish upbringing--whose early life [was] shaped by darkly irrational circumstances ... It is this young man--raised in the absolute belief that 'the Jewish religion made a fundamental difference in the world'--who at the end of the Korean War, finds himself a chaplain in a country where Judaism has played no part ... Gershon begins to see his own people--and himself--in a new light ... Gershon has the most disturbing ... of his visions--encompassing both light and dark, both good and evil, just as life must; just as, he begins to understand, Judaism must, if it is to remain a living faith."

The gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok ( Book )
33 editions published between 1990 and 2008 in 3 languages and held by 2,289 libraries worldwide
In the continuation of one of Potok's best-known books, we find Lev called back to Brooklyn from France--and once again forced to make a choice between the sacred and the worldly. Lev comes to realize that his decision will affect not only the two worlds he inhabits, but also the sanctitiy of his family and, most importantly, the future of his young son.

Wanderings : Chaim Potok's history of the Jews by Chaim Potok ( Book )
22 editions published between 1978 and 1990 in English and held by 2,235 libraries worldwide
Surveys the 4,000-year history of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to the present.

I am the clay by Chaim Potok ( Book )
24 editions published between 1992 and 1997 in 5 languages and held by 1,809 libraries worldwide
Tells the story of an old man, his wife, and a young boy brought together by chance during the horror of the Korean War.

Old men at midnight by Chaim Potok ( Book )
8 editions published between 2001 and 2010 in English and held by 1,502 libraries worldwide
"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." "Ilana Davita Dinn is the listener to whom three men relate their lives." "As a young girl, she offers English lessons to a teenage survivor of the camps. In "The Ark Builder," he shares with her the story of his friendship with a proud old builder of synagogue arks, and what happened when the German army invaded their Polish town." "As a graduate student, she finds herself escorting a guest lecturer from the Soviet Union, and in "The War Doctor," her sympathy moves him to put his painful past to paper recounting his experiences as a Soviet NKVD agent who was saved by an idealistic doctor during the Russian civil war, only to encounter him again during the terrifying period of the Kremlin doctors' plot." "And, finally, we meet her in "The Trope Teacher," in which a distinguished professor of military history, trying to write his memoirs, is distracted by his wife's illness and by the arrival next door of a new neighbor, the famous writer I.D. (Ilana Davita) Chandal."--Jacket.