I Am the Clay: A Novel

Unlike any of the other Potok novels I’ve had the privilege of reading, this one is about Koreans caught up in the devastation caused by the Korean War. The story focuses on a poor peasant couple and their numerous struggles as they flee their village toward safety, community, food, and everything else people need to give them life and hope.Along the way, they come upon a seriously wounded boy whom the woman nurses back to health. The boy accompanies the man and woman along their heartbreaking trek as they experience hunger, cold, snow, illness, and exhaustion. Hundreds (thousands?) of people die, and the acrid smell of their burning bodies daily assaults their noses. There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the smells, sights, and sounds of the horrors around them.The boy, the woman, and the man are referred to in that manner—no names. While that would have been unsettling in some books, referring to them as nameless helped me see their plight as that of thousands of other suffering souls who have existed. Expendable in the grand scheme of things, they (to me) represent all who have no vote and no choices.The hunger and near starvation showed what ends a starving person will go to in order to survive. A soup of melted snow and grass was often a meal. Once they dined on a dog. And one day the man scooped up and chewed and swallowed a couple of fish; he then brought the remaining four to the woman who put them into their soup. All three, including the boy, are resourceful in providing food and other necessities.The book reawakened me to the many differences between cultures. One in particular reminded me of far Americans have come in gender equality, and although “we’ve come a long way, Baby,” we still have issues. One day the woman, desperate for food to feed the family, jumped in front of a jeep, causing it to skid to a stop. She begged for food, and the officer aboard threw her a bag of rice. The old man thought she was crazy and was concerned that her “madness would cause her death one day and who will cook and mend and wash and help with the fields.” At another time, he said, “Hold your tongue, woman. We are returning home, where women know when and how to speak.”My husband asked, “Why do you read stuff like that?” I don’t know…unless it’s because I want to know about other people, especially those who’ve surmounted serious trials. Chaim Potok is a master of description and storytelling, and while I Am the Clay is not a novel you’ll “love,” it’s one that will touch your soul.

To be read for Korean War veterans. An anti-war story. Extremely repetitive and important only as part of the author's entire opus. Probably the least successful of all that he wrote.

Had read this book many years ago but after reading a nonfiction Korean War book wanted to revisit this gem of a book which tells the tale of the humanity or lack of humanity that is the tragedy of war.

Wow. I just finished this book. I've read many of Chaim Potok books and have enjoyed each one so much that I keep picking up another one. He is such a great storyteller. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about this one. Most of his books center on Judaism and this one seemed so different than his other writings. I wondered how he would manage a different culture. However, what I have learned is that certain themes are universal to humanity. Heroism in the face of extreme conditions is a theme that certainly holds true in the Judaic experience and in this book on the Korean War experience. Heroism to me is the ability to remain human and loving even under the most stressful and dire of conditions. The heroism of the characters in this book is so moving and heart warming. It is classic Potok. He leaves you thinking about the characters and their future long after reading his books.

An old Korean couple flees their village as invaders come from the north. Potok knows the glory and seaminess of human nature, and he gives it to us in his spare prose. These are scenes we know: the tension between a childless couple: "Woman, you are a roaring in my ears." Superstitious beliefs, exposed when the old woman saves a dying child who later saves them. Exploitation: in the refugee camp and later in the old couple's village, the old man is out for himself and yet has a certain affection for his woman. She is captured from time to time humming the tune, "Have thine own way, Lord, Have thine own way." She represents the glory possible when the clay submits to the potter.

A friend said she read this book many many years ago and couldn’t put it down. She said it really moved her. Needless to say I had to have it and I’m glad I bought it. I couldn’t put it down.

An other intense book by Chaim Potok. It is great how he brings the Korean spirituality and sufferig to live against the background of the Korean war and in contrast to western technology.

This is a riveting, well-paced book. It is a terrific study of human behavior, especially in the concern for another in need under dire circumstances. It is also an excellent portrayal of what occured behind the headlines in horror of the Korean War as the South was being overrun by the Chinese. Reading this story stimulated many emotional feelings, i.e. compassion, love, sadness, disgust. I hope Chaim Potok writes a sequel. I want to know happens to the central figure of the story as he goes on with his life.

great book

I love Chaim Potok and I've read every other book of his. But this book bored me from the beginning.lacked the internal dialog that is so wrenching in his other books

Good

Janet Hoare from my husband. I am a great lover of Chaim Potok