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Davita's Harp

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 3,102 ratings · 201 reviews

For Davita Chandal, growing up in the New York of the 1930s and '40s is an experience of joy and sadness. Her loving parents, both fervent radicals, fill her with the fiercely bright hope of a new and better world. But as the deprivations of war and depression take a ruthless toll, Davita unexpectedly turns to the Jewish faith that her mother had long ago abandoned, findin...more

Hardcover, 371 pages

Published February 12th 1985 by Alfred A. Knopf (first published 1985)

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Feb 27, 2013 arcobaleno rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteraturastraniera

Fantastico
Un romanzo scoperto per caso, ma che mi ha permesso di leggere pagine toccanti e fiabesche nello stesso tempo. Ambientato durante il periodo della guerra civile spagnola, vi viene rappresentato, attraverso gli occhi semplici di una bambina, un mondo drammatico di guerre e persecuzioni, di odio e violenza: Davita riesce a sopportare la realtà quotidiana grazie alla fantasia e all'immaginazione, così da trasformare il racconto in un succedersi melodioso di suoni e di immagini. Ciò che ri...more

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Sep 19, 2008 Skylar Burris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: judaism, general-fiction

This is a moving, haunting, and occasionally ambiguous novel that is ultimately about the value of sacred discontent. At first it may seem as if the message is that religion is an opiate of the people, soothing them and comforting them and preventing them from confronting the naked evil of the world, but that is not the thrust of the novel. The characters in Potok's story reminded me that if religion is a crutch, it is far from the only one. Potok made me recall Herman Wouk's assertion that "spe...more This is a moving, haunting, and occasionally ambiguous novel that is ultimately about the value of sacred discontent. At first it may seem as if the message is that religion is an opiate of the people, soothing them and comforting them and preventing them from confronting the naked evil of the world, but that is not the thrust of the novel. The characters in Potok's story reminded me that if religion is a crutch, it is far from the only one. Potok made me recall Herman Wouk's assertion that "speaking of crutches--Freud can be a crutch, Marx can be a crutch, rationalism can be a crutch, and atheism can be two canes and a pair of iron braces. We none of us have all the answers, nor are we likely to have. But in the country of the halt, the man who is surest he has no limp may be the worst-crippled."

Potok shows the reader that we are living "in the country of the halt," and that if we don't realize we are limping and allow ourselves a crutch, we will remain permanently broken. But he also shows us that being religious should not mean being complacent, and that our discontent with the world is a sign that we were made for something more. And here I am reminded of what Richard John Nuehaus wrote in his meditation Death on a Friday Afternoon, and this I think sums up the message I felt was subtly and emotionally painted for me by Potok's book:

"For paradise we long. For perfection we were made. We don't know what it would look like or feel like, but we must settle for nothing less. This longing is the source of the hunger and dissatisfaction that mark our lives; it drives our ambition…This longing makes our loves and friendships possible, and so very unsatisfactory. The hunger is for nothing less than paradise, nothing less than perfect communion with the Absolute—with the Good, the True, the Beautiful—communion with the perfectly One in whom all the fragments of our scattered existence come together at last and forever. We must not stifle this longing. It is a holy dissatisfaction. Such dissatisfaction is not a sickness to be healed, but the seed of a promise to be fulfilled…The only death to fear is the death of settling for something less."

The end fell a little flat for me (was that partially the point?). And there were times when the narrator simply was not believable as an eight to ten year old girl. There were some slight sterotypes in his portrayls of devout Christians and orthodox Jews, but Potok did clearly try to find some balance there. Nearly five stars, but not quite. (less)

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Nov 27, 2007 Nathanial rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Potok's use of recurrent images borders on overt symbolism, and yet retains an internal coherence beyond that of religious iconography or surrealist leaps by having his narrators tell you exactly what the images mean. This is probably what makes Davita's Harp a childrens' book, even thought it explicitly and graphically addresses child abuse, rape, mutilation, murder, and warfare. A 'story within a story' conceit allows the close, first-person narrator to recall images that her storyteller frien...more Potok's use of recurrent images borders on overt symbolism, and yet retains an internal coherence beyond that of religious iconography or surrealist leaps by having his narrators tell you exactly what the images mean. This is probably what makes Davita's Harp a childrens' book, even thought it explicitly and graphically addresses child abuse, rape, mutilation, murder, and warfare. A 'story within a story' conceit allows the close, first-person narrator to recall images that her storyteller friend had introduced, and to subsequently adopt that adroit identification with non-sentient creatures in later crises. While I tend to distrust such happy endings as this one - Potok's pace shifts from near-languid observation of nervous breakdown to a self-consciously mute record of marriage and conversion - the range of strategies and stances that his characters employ make this book a continual favorite.

We read narration mainly through the eyes of Ilana Davita, the precocious daughter of Communist parents in 1930s Brooklyn. Her characteristic narrative stance is that of one who has recently experienced the events, and yet still can't recall the over-arching context of the earliest ones (only isolated details, incidents, and gestures); part of the building drama comes in watching this character reconstruct her memories through the evidence that she later gained, where what-must-have-happened lies between the lines of what's actually remembered. The storyteller character (Jakob, an early lover of Davita's mother) comes for extended visits to the family, where he tells Davita stories of horses and birds with a melancholy, secretive personality mirroring his own. Much of the joy in this book emerges in watching the Davita character question these stories and eventually make her own meaning out of them. Potok's deliberate pace, where the thoughts and consequences of one step can occupy two pages, also allows for us to guess the hidden implications that Davita may not explicitly divine - especially as he returns to these questions at various points in the story; the differing juxtapositions of these divinations - where what-Davita-guesses meets up with different parts of what-we-guess - can make repeated readings of this book a rewarding exercises.

Repeat readings can make Potok's machinations more clear - and, while at times the layers of suggestion and emphasis offer a pleasure that the narrator herself shares (often while thinking of Jakob's stories or reading his letters), at some points the intent of Potok's elisions become less clear. Like Jacob wrestling with the angel, we readers are at times unaware of what's at stake in a scene. When Davita's mother remarries, the narrator and a secondary character "look at each other shyly, not sure what to say." I'd like to think that Potok does this on purpose - steps back from the story to allow us to step in - especially since, at another point in that chapter, Davita and that same character communicate their happiness in a small series of glances, smiles, and gestures. This is such a shift from the previous pattern of foreshadow-action-exposition, though, that I'm left a little confused.

Such shifts may very well be deliberate, intended to allow us to exercise the skills that Davita has displayed. It may mark, in this instance, an example of the character's maturation. Also, it may be evidence of Potok's own awareness of his project's range of concerns and interests; regarding an earlier novel's marriage, in fact, his narrator concluded that "In some instances, it is best to either say very much about a subject, or to say very little at all." Still, the suddenness of the shift in Davita's degree of attention towards her mother (which was previously nuanced, complicated, and subtle) here seems to become merely a touchstone for the mother character's further conversion to orthodox judaism. This is where I as a reader reach the boundary of my own comprehension.(less)

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Jan 07, 2009 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jewish-literature-challenge, war-through-the-generations-challen

When we meet Ilana Davita she is around 8 years old, in the late 1930s. She lives in New York City with her writer-activist parents in a non-religious household. The subject for which her parents have nearly radical zeal is, we learn through Davita's listening in to conversations and nightly meetings, communism. Her parent's decisions and activism, their friends and political struggles lie at the heart of Davita's young life - they move frequently and her nights are spent in a strange dream of "...more When we meet Ilana Davita she is around 8 years old, in the late 1930s. She lives in New York City with her writer-activist parents in a non-religious household. The subject for which her parents have nearly radical zeal is, we learn through Davita's listening in to conversations and nightly meetings, communism. Her parent's decisions and activism, their friends and political struggles lie at the heart of Davita's young life - they move frequently and her nights are spent in a strange dream of "Spain" and "Fascism."

Before I read this book I had no sense that the second World War played such a vital role within the context of the story, and the communist movement within America at the start of the war is a perspective I have never read about before. Davita's entire life is shaped by involvement of people she loves within the War - either first-hand or through political leanings that taint the reputation and limits one's freedom.

What I particularly loved about this book is Potok's firm grasp of a young child's voice - their understandings and misunderstandings. The entire tale is told from Davita's point of view and we often share her frustration as she understands that very important things are happening and all she can do is wait to be told or try to figure it out for herself.

The characters in this story are deep and vivid. I loved Davita's depth-less thirst for knowledge - about the meanings of words, about the war, and, eventually of Judaism and the Torah. Her decision to become religious on her own, despite her mother's disapproval, felt very real and was a thread throughout the book that I found particularly engaging. The other characters - her parents, the friends of her parents - and even Davita's own friends, never felt false or caricatured. Each person was flawed and yet full of different strengths that Davita used to help find her own way through the trauma of war and of growing up in a tumultuous time.

Davita's Harp is amazing, it has an almost mystical quality about it. The harp itself, which hangs on a door and is an omen of both good and bad - but mostly is a tinkling constant throughout her childhood, becomes a haven within the story-world that Davita retreats to when life becomes more than her imagination can handle. Because her world is sometimes incredibly harsh and confusing, her search for truth and good occasionally becomes a struggle against those she loves and respects the most.

This is a story of the uselessness of war, the truth that can be found between the lines of stories and the pages of books, the beauty and reality of Judaism and the reconciliation of a girl with the world that she was born into. A triumph. (less)

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Jan 28, 2013 Biz German rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The architecture of the core themes of this book was so well constructed. I guess I don't think about the authors of books very often as I'm reading them. I typically think only about the stories and the characters. But the contents of this book were so beautifully written and so masterfully unfolded that I found myself thinking often about Potok's incredible skill in writing it. I loved the three birds. I of course loved the harp. I loved Davita's trueness to herself, her searching and her cour...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Alvin Steingold rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone interested in serious fiction by a great writer

Recommended to Alvin by: NY Times Book Review

I've been reading the novels of Chaim Potok for ages but one gets tired of The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev.

After sepnding quite a bit of time on the latest volume of Caro's massive biography of LBJ I decided it was time for a little pleasure reading. I had fond memories of Potok's Davita's Harp which I first read when it was published in 1985. I located a used copy and dug in. I was not disappointed.

It is a well written rather melancholy story of a young woman growing up in the 30's. Her mot...more

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Apr 14, 2009 Jeremy Eisenhauer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book I read within days after I finished Asher Lev. Chaim Potok has become somewhat of an obsession in our house hold ever since James Moes got me to read Asher Lev.
Davita's Harp had me even more hooked than Asher Lev did. At first I was wondering if the stories were going to entwine because of the setting and time, because of the age of the characters and both Davita's and Asher's similarly unique ways of thinking and speaking. Obviously Potok has found a brilliant way to portray the thou...more

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May 29, 2012 Jeanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Story told by a 6 year daughter of Michael & Annie. Michael who was raised Christian and left his faith due to a crime he witnessed and his wife Annie that left Judiasm. They both turned to ideals (communism) and their daughter tells the story of their passion to change the world while trying to find more about of her self. As a young girl, she very tuned into current events because of her parents and is very concerned about the world around her. She has a aunt that is a practicing Christian...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Travis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I truly do love Chaim Potok, but this book was mostly a disappointment for me. Maybe it's because my expectations were so high, because of how much I enjoyed his other books, and because this one had gotten some high praise (as listed in the first few pages). But, I was ultimately disappointed with the last third of the book. I felt that it started out strongly, but ended in a way that I didn't really like. I guess it just went in a different direction than I thought it would. So, if you've neve...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Lisa N rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book got off to a really slow start for me, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It was depressing throughout and left me with a sort of bittersweet feeling. I could really empathize with Davita, and her character was touching. I could not embrace her mother Anne at all. I found her shallow and unbelievable. I found it implausible that she would return to Judaism after professing atheism and being a spokesperson for the Communist party. I also found it unlikely that Ezra Dinn would m...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-timefavorites, literaryfiction

It's sad to me that everyone reads THE CHOSEN in school, and not this amazing gem of a book. I barely remember THE CHOSEN, but I could rhapsodize for hours about DAVITA'S HARP. The characters are wonderful and real, and Davita's search for truth, for knowledge, and for family is heartbreaking and lovely. The daughter of two left-wing activists, Davita's sudden fascination with the Hasidic world her mother abandoned is baffling to her parents and their friends. But to a child whose life contains...more

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Jun 03, 2008 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

This is a beautiful story of a young girl growing up in the 1930's. Davita's parents are activists in the communist party in America. The book explores some ideas on the importance of religion and history and finding what is important to you. It is also just a wonderful story of a child growing up.

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Nov 23, 2009 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once again I find that Potok's writing strikes a chord in me. He has yet to fail to bring me to tears as I become completely involved in his characters' lives. This one is from the perspective of a girl who discovers the power of faith and the hope it brings to a life that is otherwise difficult to understand. It's fantastic. Potok has an amazing ability to weave historical elements into his stories of Jewish life and in that way make statements about the importance of religion as a grounding fo...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Skeller2483 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jan 18, 2013 Rayna Forman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had not read Chaim Potok for many years. I found this book on my shelf and finally started to read it. This is a really interesting book about a young half-Jewish girl in the thirties and forties. Her family is politically leftist. The book is written from a child's viewpoint and explores her feelings about religion and politics. There is a lot of discussion about the Spanish Civil War and the effect it has on her own family in America. There is also much discussion about women's place in Orth...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Cordova rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

I read and loved two other books by Chaim Potok -- The Chosen and The Promise.
Davita's Harp, by Chaim Potok is a new kind of his writing. He tells the story about a young Jewish/Gentile girl growing up in the 1930's in Brooklyn in a home filled with political trauma. Her journey out from the darkness of her mothers (A Jew) political trauma and ordeals and how she makes peace in her journey to find her own way-- finding roots in Judaism and growing to taste the unfair sexism in the Jewish Yeshiv...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Mar 29, 2009 Philip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Perhaps I really like coming of age stories, but this is one of my favorite books. I would never have read it, or maybe any Potok, had not someone in my book club chosen it. Interesting that many of the women give it higher reviews than the men, but as a man, I found it also touched my heart. I thought the evocation of the 30's, the Spanish Civil War, the somewhat "naive" leftist/Communist idealism of that time were all very well portrayed. The struggle to come to terms with spirituality and hyp...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Chaim Potok fans...

Shelves: fiction

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Feb 12, 2012 Beverly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-group

This book is written in an interesting way. It's from the viewpoint of an 8 -11ish year old. So the sentence structure is simpler than Potok's other books. However, this is a very smart girl with parents who don't protect her from the horrors going on in the world, so she does have thoughts you wouldn't normally attribute to such a young girl. I thought it was a really good book, but I still kind of wish I hadn't read it. Reading how the Orthodox Jewish community in NYC during the 30s treat this...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Ardesia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: xxx

La storia di Davita è una di quelle che restano dentro. Durante la lettura a volte mi sono sentita come tradita nelle aspettative, ma ora ogni tanto mi soffermo a ripensare all'arpa eolia e ai due uccellini che vi hanno fatto il nido, alla visione del mondo di Davita e al suo modo di vivere con naturalezza e caparbietà le cose che ama. L'ho vissuto come un romanzo sincero: un pezzo di mondo narrato con garbo da una bambina, senza l'artificio di 'effetti speciali' per creare sensazionalismi inuti...more

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Jul 17, 2010 Jenny rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel tries hard but didn’t quite work for me. As always, Potok does a great job of examining the tension between different parts of the Jewish and intellectual communities. The historical details in this book, set before and during World War I, are gripping. But the rest of the book is very flat, and the protagonist, a little girl, never really rang true for me. I got the feeling that Potok was terrified of being sentimental, and so he went the other direction and made Davita a little wood...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Natalie Banta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought Chaim Potok could have done more with the female issues in the book. I felt like it just kind of ends with this idea that reconciling feminism and judaism is futile. My favorite thing about Potok's books is his characterization of children's relationship and love for their parents and vice-versa. Illana's relationship with her father was just beautiful. This book made me think about the importance of thinking about what takes you away from your family. Whether it is religious devotion...more

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Oct 14, 2008 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very interesting, and lots that, due to my ignorance of Judiasm, I didn't understand.

The story begins with Ilana, the daughter of radicals supporting Communist ideals, moving from apartment to apartment because of her parents 'meetings'. This is after WWI and prior to WWII. Her dad, a former Episcopalian, is abandoned by his family, except for his sister, when he marries a Jew no longer practicing her religion who also has radical ideas. The parents are enlightened and naive at the same time....more

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Sep 17, 2008 Traci rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, historical-fiction

Why doesn't this allow for half stars? I wanted to give it 2.5, but instead I decided to round up, and give it three. For me, this book is not even comparable to The Chosen or My Name is Asher Lev, two of his books that I love. It's not even comparable to their good but lesser sequels, The Promise and Gift of Asher Lev. For me this ranks with his most recent (and last novel) Old Men at Midnight.One thing that drove me crazy about this book was how long it took for it to go anywhere... It seemed...more

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Sep 22, 2010 Tara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It has been several years since I read this, so it might be unfair to write a review after so many years have passed. I had heard a number of rave reviews about Potok's work by various friends, so when I found this in a used bookstore one day, I picked it up. I was intrigued with the description on the cover of a young girl returning to her Jewish roots. But I had the wrong expectations. All through the book, I was waiting for Davita's conversion or a change of heart, but I found none. All I saw...more

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Sep 03, 2009 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, historical-fiction, 2009

Ilana Davita Chandal is growing up in the city of New York in the late 30's. Her mother was raised Jewish and her father Protestant. However, both have left their childhood faith behind and are active leaders in the American Communist party. Ilana Davita struggles with many different issues, but mainly religious and political ones.
Could be good for advanced teen readers. Has weighty issues, that can be confusing without a solid political base. Excellent writing from Potok, although I prefer "My...more

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Dec 18, 2009 Misha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think Potok is an amazing author and I've loved all of the books he's written. This one was probably my least favorite. I give the book 4 stars because I think he writes fully about complex emotions, behaviors and actions. I was driven nuts by the mom, seems like in all of his stories someone has a mental breakdown. There were parts that were not needed, a few sexual descriptions that didn't add anything to the story. I can see the purpose in him doing so, but I still do not think it was neede...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoy reading books written by Chaim Potok. They are not necessarily easy or entertaining, but I love his thought processess, his development of characters that I can associate with, and I am most impressed with the vast amount of knowledge he shares with his readers.
From this book I discovered many subtle things about myself and about things that I am interested in at this point in my life. One poignant lesson I learned was that there are many truths out there that seem threatening to...more

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Jun 05, 2008 Kressel Housman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: left-wing Jews considering a more traditional path

Shelves: jewish, fiction

My rating is based on my enjoyment of this novel when I read it, but it was such a very different stage in life for me, I don't know how I'd like it now. It's the story of Davita, the daughter of a left-wing and literary Jewish mother and a left-wing activist father. There's also an uncle of sorts in there, a prototype of Chaim Potok - a Yiddish writer. Besdies Davita, he was my favorite character, speaking in beautiful but undecipherable parables. In spite of her left wing background, Davita be...more

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About Chaim Potok

American author and rabbi. Herman Harold Potok was born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Poland.

His parents, Benjamin Max (d. 1958) and Mollie (Friedman) Potok (d. 1985), gave him a Hebrew name, Chaim Tzvi. His Orthodox education taught him Talmud as well as secular studies.

He decided to become a writer as a teenager, after reading Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.

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Quotes from Davita's Harp

“…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.” — 107 people liked it

“In our time... a man whose enemies are faceless bureaucrats almost never wins. It is our equivalent to the anger of the gods in ancient times. But those gods you must understand were far more imaginative than our tiny bureaucrats. They spoke from mountaintops not from tiny airless offices. They rode clouds. They were possessed of passion. They had voices and names. Six thousand years of civilization have brought us to this.” — 4 people liked it

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