My Name is Asher Lev

[Sara, New School Classics]

This is the thread for the March 2024 Buddy Read of My Name Is Asher Lev

[Terry]

I will join once I am through with A Prayer for Owen Meany, which I am enjoying very much!

[Sara, New School Classics]

Glad you are loving Owen, Terry. I started this today.

[Kathleen]

I just started this. The tone is so warm--it's hard to put down!

[Sam]

I wanted to join this but I am afraid I have too many projects going already and the International Booker, Women's Prize and Carol Shields all release longlists this month so I am going to pass. Good luck with your read.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Kathleen wrote: "I just started this. The tone is so warm--it's hard to put down!"

Asher has easily pulled me into his world.

[Terris]

I really wanted to join in on this read, but have too many others I am trying to get to. Let me know what you all think and if you recommend it. Enjoy!

[Sara, New School Classics]

We are sorry to lose you, Sam and Terris, but I certainly understand. Over-extended is my middle name.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I have finished Part One: (view spoiler)[I can feel very strongly the inner struggle that Asher is caught in, but also that of his mother and father. He wants to, in fact needs to, serve the gift he has been given and pursue his art. For his father, this goes against everything he has ever believed in, and his position with the Rebbe has built in expectations of what his son will be, the path he will follow, the manner in which he will serve God.

I have been thinking of Van Gogh while reading this. For the true artist, the art might not be so much a choice as a compelling and relentless master. There is a tiny bit of abnormality that also often goes with being a great talent. Perhaps it is because of the focusing of the mind on only one thing of importance, the art. Asher is not like others and nothing he does, nor anything his father might do, is going to make him like them.

I was also struck by how inquisitive he is. His school fellows might be better at rote--at providing the acceptable answers and looking smarter--but it is Asher who asks the questions that need answers, who sees the world around him completely and in detail. The episode in the Mashpia's office with the rain and Asher dissecting the elements while he contemplates how they can be painted was masterful. (hide spoiler)]

[Annette]

I read this many years ago - long.before Good Reads and I still remember its impact. I don’t have time for a reread but I think it’s worth reading! Enjoy!

[Terris]

Sara wrote: "We are sorry to lose you, Sam and Terris, but I certainly understand. Over-extended is my middle name."

Don't count me out for sure -- I may not be able to help myself.... ;)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Annette wrote: "I read this many years ago - long.before Good Reads and I still remember its impact. I don’t have time for a reread but I think it’s worth reading! Enjoy!"

I have finished and it was astounding, Annette.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Terris wrote: "Sara wrote: "We are sorry to lose you, Sam and Terris, but I certainly understand. Over-extended is my middle name."

Don't count me out for sure -- I may not be able to help myself.... ;)"

I'm tickled pink!!!!! 🌷

[Terris]

Sara wrote: "Terris wrote: "Sara wrote: "We are sorry to lose you, Sam and Terris, but I certainly understand. Over-extended is my middle name."

Don't count me out for sure -- I may not be able to help myself...."

;)

[Kathleen]

I'm about a third of the way, and this is definitely a compulsive read. If I didn't have so many other books going at the moment, I'd be faster. But it's okay because I look forward to each time I get to return to this world.

I want to mention that one of the reasons I wanted to read this was the Bingo prompt to use literaturemap.com. My author was William Saroyan, and this was one of the books that I was supposed to enjoy if I enjoy Saroyan. Absolutely! There is a similarity in the voice, and it's something I rarely see it. It's hard to describe, but it's like the narrator is telling you the truth, a truth you don't expect, and a truth that most others won't tell you. And with so much warmth and humanity.

Asher's truth--about what it feels like to be an artist and also to be a young boy pulled from the only world he knows--feels painfully authentic as well as enlightening.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I love using literaturemap, Kathleen. It is pretty accurate in predicting which authors I will like. Your description of the voice is perfect. I could also feel Asher's constant struggle between wanting to please his father and live up to his expectations and wanting to be true to who he was and what he needed in life. I know a few people who have tried to follow the path the parents laid out for them when they did not want to (one is a lawyer), none of them is very happy.

[Kathleen]

I just finished and am in awe.

I loved two things most about this. One was the voice, as I said before. It's warmth, but also the way it embodies a child toward their parents somehow. Yes Mama, No Papa. Simple, respectful, but holding so much in/leaving so much unsaid. The way the led talks to the leader. It serves to emphasize the way that relationship changes over time.

(view spoiler)[It's painful to watch it sever and to watch him grow into something else, something individual. It's sort of an intense version of all separations between parents and children I guess. But the way it's done, slowly deepening the split step by step, is just brilliant. And the tension this creates throughout the book makes for masterful storytelling. (hide spoiler)]

[Terry]

I am starting today.

[Kathleen]

I'm excited to hear what you think, Terry. And hope you get to it too, Terris!

[Terris]

Me too!! ;)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Kathleen wrote: "I just finished and am in awe.

I loved two things most about this. One was the voice, as I said before. It's warmth, but also the way it embodies a child toward their parents somehow. Yes Mama, N..."

You have described perfectly what makes this so poignant. (view spoiler)[We all experience growing pains and sometimes separations, and this character felt so real in how he felt and how he dealt with it, and you could also feel the pain of the parents, who always have a set of expectations (or at least hopes) for their children. (hide spoiler)]

[Kathleen]

Sara wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "I just finished and am in awe.

I loved two things most about this. One was the voice, as I said before. It's warmth, but also the way it embodies a child toward their parents som..."

I agree completely with your spoiler comment, Sara. (view spoiler)[And the fact that the parents make a genuine attempt to understand, and that Asher tries so hard to find a way forward that doesn't hurt them, it's just heartbreaking. (hide spoiler)]

[Terris]

I just started (12% in) and am loving it already! I need to go a little further before I start reading comments here. But I'm loving how smoothly it is written. It just flows, and makes me want to read more and more.

But.... poor little Asher. Looks like he's in for a rough life :/

[Kathleen]

Terris wrote: "I just started (12% in) and am loving it already! I need to go a little further before I start reading comments here. But I'm loving how smoothly it is written. It just flows, and makes me want to ..."

Yay! I absolutely agree about how it flows.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I agree...the flow is beautiful and he sustains it throughout the novel. So glad you decided to fit it in, Terri.

[Terris]

I finished! And I loved it so much! I agree with all who said it was painful to see how Asher's growing pains separated him from his parents. There was just so much inside him that they didn't understand.

I also liked how the author expressed how Asher Lev's need to create drove him so mercilessly. I don't think I realized that about artists -- their "need" to create. It is something that most of us don't understand (just like Asher's parents). That concept will stick with me.

The writing style was amazing. The descriptions were beautiful, and Asher's life felt very real as I read. We got to hear what he was thinking and how he felt. But when there was a conversation between him and an adult, his responses were so minimal -- and to me, that minimalism was powerful. Potok really knew what he was doing!

Well, once I started I couldn't put it down! Thank you for encouraging me to put this one on the top of my list. It was so worth it, and I will think of it for a long time!

P.S. Sara, I definitely understand, and could feel, the connection between this one and Stoner. You hit the nail on the head!

[Kathleen]

Oh, I completely agree about Asher's minimalism, Terris. Somehow Potok got across all the unexpressed stuff that was going on inside of him. So glad you enjoyed it!

[Terris]

Kathleen wrote: "Oh, I completely agree about Asher's minimalism, Terris. Somehow Potok got across all the unexpressed stuff that was going on inside of him. So glad you enjoyed it!"

Definitely did!! :)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Some books just begin quietly and then have such a tremendous impact, and I felt this was one of those. Potok is certainly a marvelous writer, and everyone keeps telling me The Chosen is even better than this (how can that be true?). It moved to the very top of my list and I am determined to fit it in before the end of the year.

[Terris]

Sara wrote: "Some books just begin quietly and then have such a tremendous impact, and I felt this was one of those. Potok is certainly a marvelous writer, and everyone keeps telling me The Chosen..."

I will definitely put it on my list! It sounds interesting! I want to ponder Asher Lev a little while longer, but I can definitely see reading it for a Bingo category next year! Let me know if you read it and tell me what you think :)

[Terry]

This was a wonderful book. My review is in. There was a spareness to some of the writer’s style that sometimes reminded me of Hemingway, but other times not. Maybe this is what others called minimalism.

I would be up for reading The Chosen later in the year. How about October?

[Terris]

Terry wrote: "This was a wonderful book. My review is in. There was a spareness to some of the writer’s style that sometimes reminded me of Hemingway, but other times not. Maybe this is what others called minima..."

I could probably work that in!

[Sara, New School Classics]

Yes, if we waited until October, so could I.

[Terris]

Do we want to set up a buddy read and see if anyone else is interested? :)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Sure. I will put it up.

[Kathleen]

Terry wrote: "This was a wonderful book. My review is in. There was a spareness to some of the writer’s style that sometimes reminded me of Hemingway, but other times not. Maybe this is what others called minima..."

Oh yes, I agree, Terry. He has his own kind of spareness maybe. So glad you loved this, and so glad you suggested The Chosen buddy read. I'm in too!

[Terry]

I am so glad our Asher Lev buddy group will all jump into The Chosen next October!