I'm going to be on a 4 day holiday, over the weekend, and although I'm keeping my plans open, I'm going to read novels by Chaim Potok. I will probably save my very favorite book of all his books for the last, which is titled The Chosen.
The first time I read The Chosen, I was a sophomore in high school. The story of David and his struggle with his father, life at school and at home and conflicts within his family, has stayed with me since long ago.
Here's an excerpt from the very first page:
"When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him.
In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters his difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all that the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them.
It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one..." (Karl A.Menninger).
