Potok, Chaim (Vol. 7) - Potok, Chaim 1929–
Potok, Chaim 1929–
Potok's reputation as an American Jewish novelist was established with his first novel, The Chosen. In this as in all his fiction, the central motivating force is traditional Judaism. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 17-20, rev. ed.)
Chaim Potok is, above all, an intelligent writer. He has the ability to dramatize ideas. He makes us experience them directly, passionately, as though they were actions rather than ideational constructs. His primary concern is the spiritual and intellectual growth of his characters—how and what they come to believe.
Like all of Potok's novels, "In the Beginning" is a Bildungsroman. As in the others, the narrator here is a brilliantly gifted Orthodox Jewish boy who eventually accommodates himself to modern life. The setting, too, is familiar; this time it is the Bronx. Potok has a talent for evoking the physical details of this world: the tree-lined streets, the...
[The entire page is 1792 words long]
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