Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful coming of age story, July 21, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Davita's Harp (Paperback)
I have heard this book criticized because a male author is delving in to the mind a girl growing to adulthood up. They say that Ilana Davita does not ring true as a female character. I could not disagree more. So much about Ilana rings true. Much of her I recognize in myself. I too am the child of parents of strong ideology and had to find my own way. The cruel response of both teacher and classmates as she expressed her parents views about Stalin brought tears to my eyes. I recall a similar experience in my own life. It is a beautiful story of a girl longing for a feeling of belonging and finding it in Jewish faith. I recommend this book without reservation. Chaim Potok is a wonderful author, (he also wrote The Chosen which is my all time favorite book) and I think he created a believable, precocious, hurting girl who finds faith and healing and perseveres through hardship and injustice.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A coming-of-age novel, both smart and kind., July 2, 2005
This review is from: Davita's Harp (Paperback)
Davita's Harp blends historical fiction, politics, religion and issues of immigration & identity together with the story of a young girl coming of age. The result is an agreeable and very readable novel.
Davita is surrounded by people who are unable in one way or another to negotiate compromise. The communist beliefs of her parents, the extremely divergent religious views of her extended family, her environment at school-- none of her potential role models offer her a strong basis for building her own identity. Eventually, however, Davita does begin to choose a road for her life and she does it with her own unique flavor and on her own terms. Her story is lovely, and very inspiring.
I would recommend this book highly as a gift for high school students, particularly girls. Davita makes a wonderful role model and it should be meaningful to young people struggling with issues of religion and identity-- any religion. One of the key messages of Davita's Harp is that it is possible to choose for a religion and community without sacrificing your other beliefs. It is unique in that it shows religion both as a steadying force and as an evolving imperfect system. I can certainly think back to a time in my life when it would have been very helpful to see a way forward that was more than the choice between inside and out.
Additionally, the period prior to World War II is a largely forgotten moment in time. The view on post-depression labor relations, the Spanish Civil War, and the treatment of the so-called premature antifascists makes for fascinating reading.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An engaging and beautifully written novel, July 16, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Davita's Harp (Paperback)
Most critics that I've read often say that Davita's Harp is good, but not Potok's best. However, this has turned out to be my favorite of his novels, and definitely one of my favorite novels, period. It's beautifully written, with a sensitivity and bittersweet-ness that only Potok can create. Though it's definitely scholarly with a lot of dense subject matter, Potok doesn't make it over our heads. He was the kind of writer that seeks to make us understand without preaching, rather than to show us how much he knew, and the result is a lyrically written, wonderful story of the joys, sorrows, and trials of the human spirit
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