I am the Clay by Chaim Potok
Book Description
As the Chinese and the army of the North sweep south during the Korean War, an old peasant farmer and his wife flee their village across the bleak, bombed-out landscape. They soon come upon a boy in a ditch who is wounded and unconscious. Stirred by possessiveness and caring the woman refuses to leave the boy behind. The man thinks she is crazy to nurse this boy, to risk their lives for some dying stranger. Angry and bewildered, he waits for the boy to die. And when the boy does not die, the old man begins to believe that the boy possesses a magic upon which all their lives depend….Published in 1992, 211 pages.
Description from book jacket
Research the author and the book using library resources
Information on the author’s life and works is available through our library’s online resources. Recommended online resources for I am the Clay by Chaim Potok include Literature Resource Center and MasterFILE Premeir – Ebsco. Enter your library barcode and then use the author’s name or the book title to search for full-text encyclopedia or magazine articles.
Discussion questions
Fiction discussion questions from readinggroupguides.com
Historical fiction discussion questions from readinggroupguides.com
Additional articles
“Chaim Potok (1929-2002)” a brief biography.
“Giving Shape to Turmoil: A Conversation with Chaim Potok”, with Michael J. Cusick. From the Mars Hill Review, Winter/Spring 1997.
“Chaim Potok, Novelist, Philosopher, Historian, Theologian, Playwright, Artist, Editor: Frequently Asked Questions” by William M. Allen. Including information on I Am The Clay.
“Have Thine own way, Lord”, is the Christian hymn which is frequently referenced toward the end of I Am the Clay. The hymn was written by George C. Stebbins in 1907. Read the text of this hymn.
“Chaim Potok: a Writer struggling with his Jewishness” Obituary. by Eric Homberger, Wednesday July 31, 2002, The Guardian
Readalikes
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Promise by Chaim Potok
War Trash by Ha Jin