The book felt like authentic first person

Almost claustrophobically so. I kept feeling breathless from his sense of nowhere to turn to resolve the dichotomy of his life.

Interesting comments so far!

One thing I found as I read Asher Lev, is that I spent a lot of time comparing the book to Potok's The Chosen and The Promise. The Chosen is one of my favorite books of all time too. I found Asher Lev to be much more difficult and slow to read, although I still enjoyed it tremendously. Part of me had tremendous sympathy for Asher's parents. I found his actions very selfish, but more importantly, I had a difficult time with his apparent inability to modify his actions, even slightly, to fit with what he believed to be "right" and with his community. I don't mean to imply that I value conformity over other values, but it does seem that, as communal creatures, there needs to be some consideration of others. Also, Asher seemed to lack free will, at least when it came to his art. I certainly understand having internal pressures that lead one to behave "unreasonably," and have behaved unreasonably myself more often than I would like to admit.

I wonder sometimes if my questions about this are a result of my own ordinariness. Perhaps extraordinary people have these inner demons. or voices, or whatever, that they must follow. But perhaps being so gifted in one specific area results in a corresponding imbalance in will?

This is a long way of saying that Asher Lev brought up a lot of questions for me, but few answers. It was not a comfortable book for me, but I think it was a valuable one. Potok remains one of my favorite authors.

I wonder sometimes if my questions about this are a result of my own ordinariness. Perhaps extraordinary people have these inner demons. or voices, or whatever, that they must follow. But perhaps being so gifted in one specific area results in a corresponding imbalance in will?

That's an interesting thought. If Asher devoted himself completely and totally to his art, does that mean, by definition, he couldn't be devoted to anything or anyone else?

Perhaps extraordinary people have these inner demons. or voices, or whatever, that they must follow. But perhaps being so gifted in one specific area results in a corresponding imbalance in will?

It's somewhat of a cliche, the genius who doesn't function very well in other spheres. Cliches come from reality, and I know lots of people who excel at something and who are utterly clueless about other things.

I hate using myself as an example, but if someone told me that I had to give up my writing for the good of a community I loved, I'd have a very hard time with that decision. It's a question of personal--gah, not integrity, but not being willing to excise one's soul to satisfy one's heart. The price is too high but it's going to be paid anyway. Asher chose to lose his community instead of his vision of the world.

I'm enjoying this discussion. I may even go read the book.

In any case, I don't think his inter-personal skills are very highly developed. I don't think he knows how to communicate in any way other than painting.

His childhood was so isolated. Where were other children? Cousins? Anybody besides his parents and the housekeeper? Even at the cottages there were no friends...

I wonder how he could have been any other way.

His childhood was so isolated. Where were other children? Cousins? Anybody besides his parents and the housekeeper? Even at the cottages there were no friends...

There were some cousins that were mentioned tangentially. His uncle Yitzchak had kids. He mentions once or twice that there were other kids his age in the Berkshires, and he played with them sometimes, but more often, he played alone. Though, you're right, when someone suggests sending him to kindergarten, his father says no, and it doesn't seem like, before he started school, his parents did much to try to get him to play with other kids. But it also seems like, when there were other kids to play with, he wasn't that interested.

Add to his somewhat isolation the enormous expectations the community had for him, and his social awkwardness is fairly understandable.

Wolfram, how many days will you be off line for the holiday? Is there space between the new year celebration and Yom Kippur?

Cindy, Rosh Hashana (new year) starts Wednesday night and ends Friday night. Then Yom Kippur starts the following Friday night so there's a week in between. The days from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur are known as the Aseret Y'mai H'Tshuva (Ten Days of Repentance.) However, there are no holiday restrictions on any of the intermediate days. So in short, I'm only offline this Thursday and Friday (and as usual on Saturdays.)

His childhood was so isolated. Where were other children? Cousins? Anybody besides his parents and the housekeeper? Even at the cottages there were no friends...

I got the impression that several factors contributed to his status as a loner. First of all, he had a very prestigious pedigree:

So little Asher Lev-born in 1943 to Rivkeh and Aryeh Lev, in the section of Brooklyn known as Crown Heights-little Asher Lev was the juncture point of two significant family lines, the apex, as it were, of a triangle seminal with Jewish potentiality and freighted with Jewish responsibility. But he was also born with a gift.

His grandfather and father were also world-reknowned for their service to the Rebbe(s) and the Ladover community, and this probably set him apart from many of the other children. When adults treat a child differently because of who he is, it tends to rub off on the other children too.

Secondly, his home life contributed as well. His father traveled a great deal which probably made his son somewhat of an oddity among the other children. And when his mother became strangely ill he became an object of pity in the community which tends to have a chilling effect on making friends.

Thirdly, his interests and his talent was also a barrier to his peers. Children just don't tend to make friends with that weird kid who paints all the time. And he didn't seem to share their interests (whatever those were) so he ends up being a loner.

Fourthly, the book is written from his perspective, so despite what efforts the other children or their parents may or may not have made to be inclusive, to him those efforts went completely unnoticed.