Stories by Chaim Potok just… get to me.
My Name Is Asher Lev. The Gift of Asher Lev. The Chosen. The Book of Lights.
Now this one.
Davita’s Harp
Like Asher Lev, Davita is an unusually gifted person who, as the story develops, struggles to spread her wings within the strict Hasidic community. It rewards some parts of who she is (her love for learning, tradition, community), but not others (her femininity, her imagination and independent thinking). The way Chaim Potok writes about orthodox Judaism always makes it appealing to me. There’s something very attractive about the tradition and structure and ritual and belonging of it. But he writes honestly, showing how its rigidness creates the possibility of legalism, exclusiveness, fanaticism, and even hypocrisy.
There’s something very truthful and brooding about the story. I marvel at the characters Potok has created here. Some of them became so dear to me by the end: Jakob Daw, a writer and political activist and surrogate uncle to Davita; her father, Michael Chandal, a journalist aflame with passion for the communist cause; her aunt Sarah, who’s essentially a missionary — a Christian who walks her talk. I came to love these characters with a wholeheartedness that was unexpected to me. (For those who’ve read it: the ending nearly destroyed me! That scene on the beach. My oh my.)
Then there’s Davita’s mother. What a multidimensional character! Is she wonderful — or terrible? On the one hand, she loves and respects Davita, even telling her at one point, “Read whatever you want. You’ll find your way.” On the other hand, she’s an overpowering presence, a hurricane of a personality driven by her wounds and her ideals, and dragging Davita along.
Besides the gripping, complex story, and the amazing characterizations, I find myself reflecting with awe on the mastery of Potok’s narrative. Every story has a narrator. But this book (also My Name is Asher Lev) made me try — unsuccessfully — to imagine how a writer could get so completely and convincingly inside the mind of a child narrator and unspool a tale with such perfect pacing and suspense.
Not that many books make me cry, but this one did. I seem to write a lot of raves on this blog. That’s because I don’t often finish books I don’t like. But this is a rich, memorable book, with far more to it than I can do justice to, well worth the effort its heaviness required me to work through.
What a treat to find your outstanding blog! I read widely and feel as if I’ve stumbled into a great feast here. Yes, there’s something about Chaim Potok that pulls you in like few others.
I am most grateful for your homeschool tips. I’ve been thinking about using the Wise Bauer history book for my rising second grader, as we’re feeling a bit stifled following the Sonlight guide.
Likewise, the Usbourne books we used were visually compelling, but I don’t think much of it stuck with my little man.
It will be great fun to stop by here and see what you’re doing, for yourself and your children!
btw…have your head about Michael Ward’s new book on CS Lewis called “Planet Narnia.”?
It is must reading for Lewis fans: http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Narnia-Seven-Heavens-Imagination/dp/0195313879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242444860&sr=1-1
I also loved Alan Jacobs biography, “The Narnian.”
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book, Janet. It has been around 15 years since I read it, so I don’t remember much except for that it made an impact on me then. I need to re-read it. I don’t think I’ve read any more of Potok’s works besides this one. Do you recommend My Name Is Asher Lev?
I cry in almost every book I read. I’m a sap. : )
I have never read anything by Potok and have only heard of The Chosen. Thanks for this review, he subject matter sounds very interesting.
Jim, thank you for the encouragement, and for the heads-up about the new book on Lewis. I’ll definitely look that one up!
Interesting that you had the same experience with the Usborne books. I’ve only homeschooled for 2 years so far, and next year will be my first time doing it with more than one student. I really enjoy blogging about it, and comparing notes with others out there in cyberspace.
Amy, YES, I recommend ‘My Name is Asher Lev.’ It’s in my top ten list of best books ever… maybe even top five.
Thank you for a lovely post on what sounds like a powerful book. My husband loves Potok’s books, but I have yet to read one. I’ll add him to my TBR list.
Oh, I am so glad you loved it! Your review is great.
I started Asher Lev yesterday as was taken with Potok’s ability to narrate as a very young child there too. They are definitely great books.
I found Davita’s Harp in the basement of America’s Attic in Johnson City about a month after I moved here. Struggling to find a community made this book really a challenge because, like you say, there’s that duality of the Jewish community. It hit on my existential struggle and freedom in being independent in many different and new ways. I felt Davita’s Harp lacked the pull of others I’d read of Potok (The Promise, The Chosen, Old Men at Midnight, My Name is Asher Lev), but it had one quote that has haunted me. “Sometimes one could do strange and hurtful things out of loneliness. Loneliness was to be prevented like one prevents the spreading of a plague.” Thanks for this review, Janet.
Yes, that’s a powerful quote — I was struck by it too.
I can imagine how heavy the book must have felt, reading it at that time. I found that it weighed on me too, dealing as it does with war, loneliness, loss.
I have always been enthralled by Potok’s novels, since I first read The Chosen in high school. What a wonderful review- you’ve reminded me of so many reasons why I love his books. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, and now I feel a need to revisit soon!
[...] (A Curse Dark As Gold)64. Sarah N. (Chasing Vermeer)65. Sarah N. (The Sweet Life in Paris)66. Janet (Davita’s Harp)67. Margot (Long Time Coming)68. Margot (The Good Earth)69. FleurFisher (Yellow)70. Margot (Royal [...]
[...] Swap on the recommendation of one of my favorite book bloggers, Janet of Across the Page. Her review of Davita’s Harp by Chaim Potok, which I read many years ago as an undergraduate student in a young adult literature [...]
[...] to read The Chosen after reading Janet’s review of Davita’s Harp. I read Davita’s Harp many years ago as an undergraduate student, but [...]
I just finished the book, having discovered it in a recycled book store. I do think I should correct one statement in your review though, I do not believe that the Jewish community Davita embraced were Hasidic. They were orthodox, but there is no mention of Hasidism that I recall.
Thank you! I appreciate the correction.