Sonderbooks Book Review of Old Men at Midnight

****Old Men at Midnight*

by Chaim Potok

Reviewed November 11, 2001.
A Sonderbooks' Best Book of 2001
Alfred A. Knopf. 2001. 273 pages.

This is a new book by Chaim Potok, and, as usual, it is excellent. Technically, it’s a sequel to Davita’s Harp. (Probably my favorite. I found it amazing that he could put us into the head of a girl as well as he does boys and men.) However, you don’t need to read the first book to like this one.

The book isn’t so much about Davita as it is about three men she encounters and whose stories she hears. The first is a sixteen-year-old European survivor of WWII. The second is a former KGB colonel, and the third is an American Jew who fought in WWII, and is now old.

The book is about remembrance and the importance of telling one’s stories. All three stories are about war, and so are not pleasant, but the author has an amazing ability to pull you in. An excellent and thought-provoking book.

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***Old Men at Midnight

by Chaim Potok

****Old Men at Midnight*