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My Name Is Asher Lev
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
28 posts | 50 read | 39 to read
"Memorable...A book profound in its vision of humanity, of religion, and of art."THE WALL STREET JOURNALHere is the original, deeply moving story of Asher Lev, the religious boy with an overwhelming need to draw, to paint, to render the world he knows and the pain he feels, on canvas for everyone to see. A loner, Asher has an extroardinary God-given gift that possesses a spirit all its own. It is this force that must learn to master without shaming his people or relinquishing any part of his deeply felt Judaism. It will not be easy for him, but he knows, too, that even if it is impossible, it must be done...."A novel of finely articulated tragic power...Little short of a work of genius."THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
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Amandajoy
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Decided to get out of the house so I could have a quiet place to sit and read for a bit.

Crazeedi That looks perfect ❤ 4y
44 likes1 comment
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Thousand-Lives
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Here are my #bookspin and #doublespin books for September. I‘m taking a break from #bookspinbingo this month, but really excited to tackle these novels. My middle son is named Asher and both of these books have been on my TBR for years!

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks for hosting another month of #bookspin fun! 😁

TheAromaofBooks I like the “name“ theme you have going! 😂 4y
Thousand-Lives @TheAromaofBooks Right! It‘s so funny when there‘s a theme. 🤣 4y
BarbaraBB They are both very good! 4y
44 likes3 comments
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The45Girl
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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I cannot wait to begin to read this book.

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IrishColleen
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
Pickpick

A story that was painful to read...beautifully written, emotionally believable portrayal and easily followed. A boy, born as a prodigy painter/artist into a family with no artistic understanding or any desire for it, actually repelled by it and both encouraged and discouraged in his formative years, culminating in devastation. I was raptly attentive throughout, heartbroken in many ways about his childhood and at the end. 5 stars!

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laytonwoman3rd
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok

"The fact is that gossip, rumors, mythmaking, and news stories are not appropriate vehicles for the communication of nuances of truth..."

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JLaurenceCohen
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok

My Name is Asher Lev is the first part of Potok's story about a Hasidic Jewish boy who scandlizes his community by painting a crucifixion, reminiscent of Marc Chagall's work.

24 likes1 stack add
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Pam.Kokomo
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Pickpick

I can‘t even begin to tell you how much I love this book! ❤️

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Pam.Kokomo
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok

“I would put all the world into light and shade, bring life to all the wide and tired world. It did not seem impossible thing to do.”

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charl08
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Asher is a young boy who wants to paint. But his orthodox father is not so keen. Asher reads The Art Spirit...

42 likes1 stack add
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jenrok
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
Pickpick

One of my favorite books from way back. You can't help but feel the passion for art and the pain it causes in Asher's life. I recommend this book to anyone who will listen!

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rustoryhuf
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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1. My Name is Asher Lev
2. I want to eat my way around the Mediterranean
3. @kellyann28
Thanks!

kellyann28 Thanks for entering! And eating my way around anywhere sounds like a good time to me 😂 6y
23 likes1 comment
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alisonrose
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
Panpan

Sigh. A disappointment. It‘s always nice reading about Jewish characters, especially ones more observant than me because it‘s familiar but also new and motivates me (not that I want to be Orthodox). And I like the exploration of one‘s desires and religion clashing. But good lord, this was so slooooowww. Pages and pages of the same conversations. Asher was flat and wooden and honestly just turned into a jerk IMO. Unpopular opinion, I guess! 2/5 ⭐️

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alisonrose
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Somehow I‘ve never read this one, so I gotta get my Jew-points up. (BTW I‘m Jewish and it‘s ok for us to use the term Jew, but not for anyone who isn‘t, this is your PSA for the day #themoreyouknow)
#nowreading

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erzascarletbookgasm
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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A novel about a Hasidic (a mystical Jewish movement founded in Poland in the 18th century) Jew in postwar Brooklyn who is caught between his love of art and his obligations to his community. He is a firm #believer but is torn between his faith and his creativity. He tries to reconcile the two but the result is tragic.
#decdays @Cinfhen

Cathythoughts Excellent 👍 7y
Cinfhen @LauraBeth & @ValerieAndBooks both recently read this book...it's definitely on my radar!!! Looking forward to reading it! Chaim Potok, the author lived in my neighborhood in the states for many years. Went to school with his daughters #smallworld 7y
BarbaraBB Such a beautiful, sad book.. it made me read many more of his books. My favourite was 7y
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LauraBeth I almost wish that I taught high school English simply to be able to talk about this book with kids. And then I‘d hope that they‘d go back and read it again as an adult and encounter the story from a perspective given with age❤️ 7y
Dragon 💕 one of my favourites 7y
mrp27 I've been wanting to read this one for forever 7y
mjdowens I️ just read this one this summer. It is definitely a book to read more than once 7y
75 likes5 stack adds7 comments
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LauraBeth
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Cinfhen I never read this one...is it good?! 7y
LauraBeth @Cinfhen YES! Go buy this today!!! 7y
Cinfhen Going to check on BookOutlet💗 7y
ValerieAndBooks @LauraBeth loved this one! @Cinfhen this is by the same author as the tagged book we read for a while back for the birthday challenge (which I need to start doing again) 7y
Cinfhen I've been soooo bad with the #birthdaychallenge @ValerieAndBooks 7y
90 likes1 stack add5 comments
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BarbaraJean
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Oh, I thought of a better #readthisnotthat! Because of how much I loved Asher Lev, I picked up this other Potok at a library book sale & chose it for my book club without pre-reading. It had none of the depth or beauty of Asher Lev. We all finished Old Men at Midnight wondering what the point was supposed to be, and a little disturbed by the way Potok described women's bodies. My advice: read Asher Lev and skip the Old Men. #maybookflowers

Libby1 My son is called Asher. 🙂 I loved this book. I just hope my husband and I are not at all like Asher Lev's parents! 😬 8y
25 likes1 comment
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mjdowens
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
Pickpick

What a powerful and moving story. I don't think this one will ever leave me.

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Copwithabook
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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My husband is taking a literature class and has to read this book. So while doing errands today, I'm reading aloud to him. #qualitytime

Dolly Awww, how nice is that!😍 8y
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Libby1
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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This book has had a profound impact on me, primarily because I named my son Asher.

The name Asher means happy, and this was our hope for this child.

#ReadJanuary
#TitleWithAProperName
@RealLifeReading

8little_paws My friend lent this to me with a high recommendation but I've been so hesitant to read it, did you like this book? 8y
Libby1 @8little_paws - I LOVED it. It is about art and beauty and fear and loneliness and the hurt and healing of religion. ❤ 8y
8little_paws @Libby1 OK. I'll get myself to read it later this month. 8y
ValerieAndBooks Loved this book! I read it pre-Litsy -- once as a kid, and again a couple years ago. Also love the name Asher. Have you read the sequel? 8y
Libby1 @ValerieAndBooks - yes, I have read the sequel. Have you? Both books have affected me deeply. I don't want to say much about The Gift of Asher Lev in case you haven't read it. 8y
56 likes1 stack add5 comments
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BarbaraJean
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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This is one of my all-time favorites. A beautiful story of a young Orthodox Jewish boy in New York, a gifted artist who struggles through the clash between his art, his faith, and his family. #artrelatedbooks #seasonsreadings2016

Libby1 This book is profoundly thoughtful and sad, as is its sequel, The Gift of Asher Lev. Have you read it? 8y
BarbaraJean @Libby1 Yes! I kept hearing that the sequel wasn't as good, but I thought it was well done. Both books take faith and art so seriously, and on their own terms. Thoughtful and sad, yes- and not afraid to explore the implications of taking faith seriously. 8y
25 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Cortg
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Pickpick

This was such a beautiful story about Asher Lev, a Hasidic Jewish boy growing up in Brooklyn with an extremely gifted talent for art. Unfortunately, his father does not understand Asher's gift and the path that the Rebbe lays out for Asher. This is a book to read slowly to savior the words and feelings of Asher Lev while he comes to terms with who he is and his path in life.

Suet624 I read this when I was a teenager. I should read it again. I bet I'd get even more out of it. 8y
Louise Such a beautiful novel! 8y
18 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Kathrin
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Pickpick

Potok paints a vivid portrait of all of the main characters and leaves them so helpless in this story, sometimes only moving on because of the Rebbe's intervention. Asher definitely has daddy issues, but daddy sure has issues too and between all of it, they don't realize how similar they are. All of this culminates in Asher's masterpiece finding a perfect ending to the story.

Litlady Beautiful pic! 8y
28 likes1 comment
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Kathrin
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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I am really enjoying this so far...

Libby1 One of my all time favourites! 8y
ValerieAndBooks Very good book! 8y
25 likes2 comments
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Cortg
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Fieldtrip to DC today with middle schoolers! I am exhausted but going to try to get some pages in before I crash. Friday Night Lights...out by 10pm

sprainedbrain I share your party-animal parent lifestyle! 😂 8y
Cortg @sprainedbrain I'm dying tonight. Froze my booty off watching my daughter cheer a football game and just finished a coffee (not decaf) at 10:30 so I can pick a kid up from a party at midnight...this parenting thing is rough! 8y
sprainedbrain @Cortg Ouch... I know the feeling! 8y
15 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Libby1
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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❤️

BookBoggart I feel like I could draw this. Which makes me monumentously happy. 😄 8y
63 likes1 stack add1 comment
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rachaich
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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This was a spur of the moment pick at the library. So far, very readable :)

2 likes1 stack add
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jessicaesquire
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Packing up my books for my move in a few weeks. The mass market paperbacks tend to fill up the empty space at the top. It's a hodge-podge.

RanaElizabeth Ugh, moving books is the worst. Those boxes are always so heavy. 8y
10 likes1 comment
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Alisnazzy
My Name Is Asher Lev | Chaim Potok
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Pickpick

As a nonbeliever, I normally stay away from novels that deal with religion, but this book was so moving, so powerful that I just have to make it my #recommendsday pick. This is the story of a young Hasidic boy who has the talent for art that rivals most contemporaries. In his quest for his craft, he finds himself at odds with his beliefs, his family, and his role in life. 5🌟

Kathrin This is my pick for the Read Harder Challenge "Pick a book first published in the decade that you were born"... I am looking forward to it! 8y
ValerieAndBooks Great pick! I loved this book. There's a sequel, but I liked this much more. 8y
JackieSmith I love this book! And Davita's Harp (also Potok). 8y
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gibblr I haven't read this since high school, but I loved it then. I should read it again now! 8y
Dragon I loved this book, I learned so much 8y
Cortg Thanks! I'll put it on my list for my Read Harder Challenge! 8y
84 likes13 stack adds6 comments