The Promise

The Promise

book data

1620 ratings, 4.07 average rating, 123 reviews (more data...)

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published

November 8th 2005 (first published 1969) by Anchor

binding

Paperback, 384 pages

isbn

1400095417 (isbn13: 9781400095414)

description

Reuven Malter lives in Brooklyn, he’s in love, and he’s studying to be a rabbi. He also keeps challenging the strict interpretatio...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2030)

All ratings | 5 stars (463) | 4 stars (776) | 3 stars (356) | 2 stars (39) | 1 star (4) | avg 4.07

all | this edition

John

John rated it:

10/23/08

Read in October, 2008

recommended to John by: My sweet mom.
recommends it for: Those seeking to reconcile religion with modernity.

For all those struggling through religious issues (especially my LDS friends) -- this book will put so much into perspective.

This book explains everything. And it has the potential to change a great deal.

I cannot recommend highly enough.

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

12 comments

Tora

Tora rated it:

08/25/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in August, 2008

I thought The Chosen couldn't be beat, but this one did it. Chaim Potok draws you into the lives of the characters; Reuven's internal struggle to figure out just "what kind" of Jew he is while still remaining true to the faith he learned from his father, Danny's empathy with Michael's suffering and his desire to prove that choosing psychology was the right thing to do... but most of all it is tragic to see how much humans tear each other apart - in this book it's between Hasidic and ot...more

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Lynn

Lynn rated it:

12/09/07

bookshelves: american-history, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, spiritual

Read in March, 1999

recommends it for: people who liked "The Chosen"

I first read this book in the late '90s, when I just wanted to see what "happened next" to Reuven and Danny from The Chosen, one of my favorites from American lit back in high school. A recent reread has shown me how timeless this work really is.

This is the story of a young man of faith who is thrown in with religious fanatics, and men who've lost belief in God, in the tumultuous decade after the Holocaust. He can understand, but not quite accept, both points of view, and ...more

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Nola

Nola rated it:

12/17/08

bookshelves: fiction---drama, to-review

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Nola by: Potok
recommends it for: anyone willing to examine their religious standing

I cannot even begin to process the things I have enjoyed or picked up from this book. I marked several passages as I read that were especially thought provoking, but that doesn't even begin to cover the entirety of the novel.

I honestly felt like I shortchanged "The Promise." When I read "The Chosen," I did so with a pen and paper, taking notes, and I took so much from it. With "The Promise," I was more casual in my reading, didn't take any notes, and my ...more

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Jenny

Jenny rated it:

12/12/08

This novel is set in the 50s, in the era of Joseph McCarthy, but it deals with another area of reactionary thought. It's about the Orthodox Jewish community in NYC, and how it is changed by the concentration camp survivors who make their way there after WWII.

The narrator, Reuven Malter, is a Talmudic student who is caught between the orthodox European Jews (who, after so much loss, can't accept any threat to their traditions) and the more liberal threads developing in the U....more

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Emily

Emily rated it:

12/10/08

Read in June, 2007

I love reading Potok’s books for a variety of reasons, the least of which is that I always learn a tremendous amount about Judaism. I also like reading him from a Christian perspective and often wonder what he would make of messianic Jews (the Jews for Jesus folks). The Promise left me with many thoughts, not the least of which was what was the promise? Potok’s struggle to reconcile the various approaches to Judaism in 20th century America is insightful and refreshing. And it’s not limite...more I love reading Potok’s books for a variety of reasons, the least of which is that I always learn a tremendous amount about Judaism. I also like reading him from a Christian perspective and often wonder what he would make of messianic Jews (the Jews for Jesus folks). The Promise left me with many thoughts, not the least of which was what was the promise? Potok’s struggle to reconcile the various approaches to Judaism in 20th century America is insightful and refreshing. And it’s not limited to Judaism. I think there is much to be gleaned here that is applicable to us even within mainstream Christian denominations.
In a lot of ways the Michael character represents the end result of what happened to the Jews in the 20th century. He finally blows up in anger at his parents for belonging to a religion where they are open to attacks, anti-Semitism, and victimization. In his final breakdown he screams that he hates religion because of what it does to people. Michael’s rage and mental illness are symbolic of not only what did happen to the Jews in the 20th century, but what happened when Jews could not accept the events of the holocaust and choose to walk away from the idea of God. I think it is also symbolic of what happens when there is legalism and instead of love (but that’s my Christian bias). Michael’s father ethnically and religiously identifies as a Jew, but asserts there is no God. Likewise, many Jews walked away from their faith, away from the idea of a God who created the universe (like Abraham Gordon) because of what Hitler did to the Jews in World War II. They could no longer comprehend that a loving God would allow that kind of suffering. Of course, they also don’t accept Christ’s ultimate suffering on the cross either.
The movement from Orthodox to reformed Jew is played out in Abraham Gordon’s character. Reuven and his father are also a part of this movement in a small way. They reformed the way the Talmud is studied, which became an instant threat to the Orthodox way of studying. I also enjoyed the way Potok paralleled what was happening with the Jewish community with what was happening in the American secular political world with his references to McCarthyism. That the sort of rigid witch hunting legalism that forbade the yeshiva students from even studying in the Jewish theological seminary is and was a rampant human universal even outside of the Jewish community. Reuven’s own struggle to maintain his theology and identity as a yeshiva student is all too poignant.
I like the way Potok ends his theological debate with Danny’s and Rachel’s marriage. The beauty of Rachel and Danny’s relationship points to the evolution of marrying (literally) old traditions to new ideas. Of course, the success of that remains to be seen, but the continued mixing of old and new traditions within 21st century Judaism is one of Potok’s main points throughout the novel. All in all I loved it, and feel the better for having read it.
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Jorgina

Jorgina rated it:

(review of isbn 039444163X)

01/03/09

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in December, 2008

not sure i will finish this one, it is a hard beginning.
But well worth the struggle. An amazing book. I did not think "The Chosen" needed a sequel,but once reading this I am convinced it was very necessary. Mr. Potok's story-telling style of explaining Hebrew culture in 3 different factions of the Jewish faith added so much to this father/son conflict. The reintroduction of the rich characters was like hearing from old friends. I learned so much about child/parent relation...more

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Reshma

Reshma rated it:

09/18/08

Read in September, 2008

I read this book immediately after I read The Chosen. As a sequel, the reader expects from The Promise "more of the same" or even less. While the novel is not as deep thematically and symbolically as the first book, it maintains the warmth and genuineness of The Chosen. I read this book becasue I fell in love with the main characters, Danny and Reuven. The Promise is again written from the point of view of Reuven, but seems to talk less about Danny and more about the newly introduc...more

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Trish

Trish rated it:

12/18/08

Couldn't wait to buy this as it was the continuation of Reuven Malter's adventures as begun in The Chosen. Somewhat disappointed, mainly due to Potok's writing style in this one. Lots of run-on sentences, a style I didn't quite get and found distracting. It was worth a read and it was enough of a page-turner to keep me going all the way through, but I was somewhat annoyed. Guess I expected to be as blown away as I'd been by The Chosen. Oh well -- not bad, though!

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Gil

Gil rated it:

01/06/09

Read in November, 2008

This book was awesome, but it seemed to drag on and on. It didn't have the same enthusiasm as "The Chosen" did. It wasn't as well done. That being said, the character development was fantastic--except for any female character. The storyline was great.

It does seem that Reuven's social life really sucks and so that makes the story unbelievable. The outcome for Reuven was also unbelievable.

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Gabriela

Gabriela rated it:

01/05/09

Read in December, 2008

I liked The Chosen better, but I still enjoyed this book very much. I like how Potok describes the characters. He makes one close enough to the character that you think you know him very well, but not so close that you feel that you have access to his mind. I'd have really loved to meet Reuven. Anyway, I wish there was another sequel so that I could read about what happened to him afterwards. I definitely plan on reading Potok's other books.

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Kay

Kay rated it:

12/01/08

Read in November, 2008

Enjoyable and moving novel about tension between Orthodox and scholarly Jewish scholars. The story is played out through a young teenager whose mind is torn apart by the conflict, and an older graduate student who finds his own way through the conflict. I don't know much about the Jewish traditions but it was emotional to read about the Holocaust survivors and how they brought their (very understandable) fears with them to America.

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Anna

Anna added it

01/05/09

As the sequel to "The Chosen", I loved this book as well. No novel has ever made me cry as hard as the scene in this book where the two fathers meet for the very first time. Even though the culture is so different from my own, the themes in it are so true to life, both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, as life often feels.

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Alisa

Alisa rated it:

11/24/08

Read in November, 2008

This was my first time reading the sequel to The Chosen. If what spoke to me in The Chosen was the theme of silence, the theme from this book would be anger. How can the Jews face and interpret what the 20th century did to them? Some will cling more rigidly to their ideology. Others will open up. Amazing themes. Great young adult writer.

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Connie

Connie rated it:

12/04/08

Possibly there is more to this book than I personally got out if it, but I'm not real excited to try to discover more. Overall, I thought it was too "Freudian" (if that is a word) and very anti clamatic. The characters were too serious and unhappy.

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Abigail

Abigail rated it:

(review of isbn 039444163X)

03/26/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in January, 1988

recommends it for: Readers Who Loved "The Chosen"

This follow-up to The Chosen continues the story of friends Reuven and Danny, each pursuing his chosen field of study in post-World-War II New York. Potok is on top of his form here, with memorable characters who manage to explore some of the fundamental questions of human existence while keeping us engaged in their narratives...

Of particular significance to me, when reading this as an adolescent, was the author's understanding of the toll a parent's intellectual and/or political act...more

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Debbie

Debbie rated it:

(review of isbn 0449209105)

01/04/09

bookshelves: oldbooks-historicalfiction

Read in October, 2008

It took me a couple of tries to get past the first chapter (just because of the situation, not because it was bad), but I enjoyed the rest of the book. It was good to be able to follow Reuven and Danny after The Chosen.

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Jennifer

Jennifer rated it:

04/26/08

Read in April, 2008

I was just sure when I started this book that I wasn't going to like it. I felt like an outsider not able to understand the conversation I was overhearing. But, as I continued, I started learning the voices of the characters, and I really really got into it. By the end, I was totally engaged. I didn't read any summaries or any info at all about this book before I started, so I didn't know where the plot would go, or, for that matter, that it followed "The Chosen." I'll probably re...more

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Linda

Linda rated it:

12/20/08

Read in December, 2008

Potok is a wonderly fluid writer who make the Hasidic Jewish Culture alive to his reader. The characters become such a part of your life. They seem so real.

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Jenny

Jenny rated it:

(review of isbn 039444163X)

07/28/08

bookshelves: my-favorites, psychology

Has a copy to sell/swap

recommends it for: anyone who enjoys reading about Jewish history, Judaism

One of my favorite books. I love the story about Danny and Reuven. And I love that this book brings in the psychology piece, as I am a therapist and read this book long before I went to school to be one and was completely fascinated by this part of the book! I love learning about Jewish history and Judaism, so this book is right up my alley, but also adds the components with friendship and familial relationships, especially that of Danny and his father, that I find so intriguing. I like the dept...more

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