January 10, 2006
Unchosen : A Review (Sort Of)
(The follwing review is half-baked. This is what you get when only two people ask for a review.)
The first thing that struck me, and it may be irrelevant, is that Beacon Press publishes the book; Beacon Press is a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Hella Winston does a wonderful job. She does a wonderful at job at giving us a look at the world through the eyes of her characters. I know many people who fall into the category of Hasidic Rebels and the book gives an accurate account of their lives, from their point of view. She accurately portrays her characters feelings and battles and she chose an interesting set of characters. I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend it to anyone chasidish who wants to understand the rebels.
Any serious reader will find him/herself asking if some of the characters' issues do not stem from their society or community but stem from other issues such as disorders that exist in the outside world as well. I think that to an extent Ms. Winston is guilty of portraying some of these issues as stemming from the community, but she is definitely not as guilty as most of us make her out to be.
As an anthropological subject, shouldn't the book have the opposing points of view as well? I was surprised to see no interviews with the people within the community who are fighting the trend. I was even more surprised that she didn't write about the ones who have rebelled, gone all the way, and then came back. I think that to the outsider reading the book such a character would have been very insightful. I think it would've given the book another dimension that it desperately needs. After portraying such a good picture of leaving the fold, a reader wants to know how one can go and come back. I have a friend who grew up in chasidish Boro Park, left the fold in his late teenage years and ended up 'living the life' in Eastern Europe. Why did he come back? How is he accepted? What did he learn?
Another thing I was thinking about was along the lines of what the rebel wrote. Is Hella now friends with Malkie and her characters or was it all good for the book and is now gone?
Posted by notepad at January 10, 2006 04:30 PM
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Comments
the unchosen is a disgusting book full of l"h... about afew, ok, not a few nuts who, when non jews read it, they think its about every chassidish jew, and it just adds fire to thier anti-semtism....
Posted by: rinx at January 11, 2006 02:43 PM
One thing to remember about this book is that it is not an academic piece of writing (the author has made it clear that her dissertation, which deals with the same subject matter, is a more scholarly work that deals with some of the issues it raises. Also, while I think it might have been interesting to hear from others, this book is really about the rebels, from their perspectives. There are a number of books that look at this issue from the point of view of those who do not rebel, and this is an effort to look at the other side. I also know from attending several of the book readings that the author has remained very friendly with everyone involved in the project. Many attended the readings in the New York area.
Posted by: InterestedJew at January 14, 2006 10:42 AM
yes... I did always wonder what made people go "off", since there were so many books talking about why people go "on"... But I guess those who go "off" are more embarrassed to wtite about experiances since they know they are wrong...correct?
Posted by: rinx at January 22, 2006 05:25 PM
nice review:)
Posted by: rinx at February 12, 2006 12:44 PM