Краткое описание
With dramatic force, with a simplicity that seizes the heart, The Chosen illumines-for us, for now-the eternal, powerful bonds of love and pain that join father and son, and the ways in which these bonds are, and must be, broken if the boy is to become a man.
The novel opens in the 1940's, in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Two boys who have grown up within a few blocks of each other, but in two entirely different worlds, meet for the first time in a bizarre and explosive encounter-a baseball game between two Jewish parochial schools that turns into a holy war.
The assailant is Danny Saunders-moody, brilliant, magnetic-who is driven to violence by his pent-up torment, who feels imprisoned by the tradition that destines him to succeed his awesome father in an unbroken line of great Hasidic rabbis, while his own restless intelligence is beginning to reach out into forbidden areas of secular knowledge.
The astonished victim of Danny's rage is Reuven Malther, the gentle son of a gentle scholar-one of the merely Orthodox Jews whom the Hasids regard as little better than infidels.
From the moment of their first furious meeting, the lives of Danny and Reuven become more and more intertwined. In a hospital room their hatred turns toward friendship. In his synagogue, before the assembled congregation, the formidable Rabbi Saunders makes deliberated mistakes in Talmudic discourse to test his son and his son's new friend. Through strange evenings at Danny's house it becomes increasingly apparent that it is only through Reuven that Danny's father can speak his heart to his own son and spiritual heir. And it is through the intensifying friendship between the two boys that the visions their fathers embody-the mystic and the rationalist-are brought into confrontation, and the mystery of Danny's cruelly austere upbringing "in silence" is gradually unraveled.
In scene after wonderfully compelling scene-in sun-splashed rooms of modest homes, in dark schoolboy battles that echo the passions of the distant war-life is created. As the novel moves toward its climax of revelation, all is experienced, all is felt: the love of fathers and sons, the communions and quarrels of friendship, the true religionist's love of God, the scholar's love of knowledge, the tumults and abrasions by which the human heart is made human-and how, despite the tensions between youth and age, a moral heritage is passed on from one generation to another.
Содержание
Chapter I
- For the first fifteen years of our lives, Danny and I lived…
- We batted and threw the ball around, and it was warm and…
- 'Well-' Mr Galanter said. He was no longer smiling. He always…
- The umpire called the strike in a loud, clear voice, and…
- 'Sure, Mr Galanter: Schwartzie said. 'I'm okay. ' 'You're…
- The next batter hit a 'high fly to the second baseman, who…
- We scored only one run that inning, and we walked onto the…
- I lost control of the next pitch, and it was wide. On the…
Chapter 2
- We rode to the Brooklyn Memorial Hospital, which was a few…
- 'It feels better. They put some drops in it. ' 'Good. Good.…
- The people beyond the beds immediately to my right and left…
- 'How are you, Billy? I'm Robert Malter. ' 'Hello, Robert:…
- I was quiet. 'I always wanted a bright boy for a son. And…
Chapter 3
- Asleep, I heard a shout and a noise that sounded like a…
- The rest of that morning I did nothing but listen to the…
- I looked at him and didn't say anything. 'I think I'll…
- Billy's father had come to see him again, and they were…
- 'You're pretty rough yourself, ' I told him. 'Where did…
Chapter 4
- My father came in a few minutes later, looking worse than…
- 'Sure, kid. Sure. Old Tony doesn't like fanatics, that's…
- 'I thought of it yesterday in the elevator coming up. '…
- I didn't say anything. I had a sudden vivid picture of Mr…
- 'I'm very grateful to you, Mr Malter. ' Danny said. 'For…
- I was nervous, and I could feel myself sweating. 'Yes, sir,…
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
- That night as we sat at the kitchen table, with the Shabbat…
- 'Now, Reuven, if everywhere around you there are forces…
- Many great rabbis came to mock him and went away converted…
Chapter 7
- The next day I met Danny's father. My father and I woke…
- 'I slept almost three hours, ' I said. 'That was some sleep.…
- Eight days later, they left. They bribed and bargained their…
- It was a large room and looked to be the exact size of the…
- I nodded, and tried another smile. My father had read that…
- The old man had a weak voice, and I could barely hear him…
- And then Reb Saunders began to speak. He swayed back and…
- 'The world kills us! The world flays our skin from our bodies…
- I Saw Danny nod his head. 'Nu, what is it? ' 'It is written…
- 'So Reb Saunders said. 'There is nothing more. Nu, what…
Chapter 8
- When I got back to school the next morning, I found I had…
- 'No. I can't stand that stuff. Why didn't you tell me you…
- 'What's this about dreams? ' I asked. 'It's true, ' he…
- 'How would I feel if someone gave you books to read which…
- Reb. Saunders wanted to know about my eye. I told him it…
- Reb Saunders looked at me and sighed again. 'Reuven, ' he…
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
- Danny and I were together almost every day during the first…
- 'Furcht' was 'fear', 'Schreck' was 'fright'. How was he…
Chapter 11
- For the first two months of that school year, Danny and…
- I stared at him and felt myself slide slowly back onto my…
- 'Thank God! ' my father said, his eyes wet with joy. 'What…
Chapter 12
- From the day I entered Reb Saunders' house to the day I…
- One morning at breakfast Reb Saunders came out of a brooding…
- 'Your eyes look bloodshot, ' I told him. 'They are bloodshot,…
Chapter 13
- By the end of our first week in college, Danny was feeling…
- I shook my head slowly. Reb Saunders had stopped inserting…
- I told him about Danny's misery over Professor Appleman…
- My father looked at me, then sighed quietly. 'I was a little…
- I checked the indexes under 'unconscious'. Some of the books…
- 'Well, we talked a lot about experimental psychology. He…
- In the lunchroom one day, one of the Hasidim accused a member…
Chapter 14
- For the rest of that semester, Danny and I ate in the same…
- By the time the fall semester officially began two days…
- It became clear as November went by that the United Nations…
- He had never called on me since that day in October. And…
- Between the third and fourth day, my mood jumped back and…
- 'So, ' Rav Gershenson said. 'You cannot explain it. You…
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
- I felt a little shiver hearing his voice. 'Welcome back…
- 'What's that? ' 'Well, it's the same as the difference between…
Chapter 17
- Our last year of college began that September. Over lunch…
- 'Danny is now like a person waiting to be let out of jail.…
- 'No one can help you with this, Danny. It is between you…
Chapter 18
- On the afternoon of the first day of Passover, I walked…
- 'Reuven, the Master of the Universe blessed me with a brilliant…
- 'You think I was cruel? Yes, I see from your eyes that you…