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Harp
Set in the context of the zeitgeist and idealism of the late sixties, Harp is about love, longing and coming of age. The three main protagonists - a young man travelling in a Europe-less-travelled including the Iron Curtain, a young woman who has a calling to music, and another young woman who has loved and lost once - provide the frame of this narrative about journeys we make across countries, even as we embark on a private quest within to know ourselves better, and to seek what it is we really want from life. Moving through India, Europe and USA, Harp follows the lives of these three young people even as they engage with the cultural, sexual, student revolutions, and the music of the sixties.
418 pages, Paperback
Published April 12, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 29, 2016
This is a lovely tale of the serendipitous meeting of two souls from completely different universes. A heartwarming love story set in the times of communist Poland of the late sixties and seventies, Harp explores the world of Ashok as he travels through India, Europe and USA. How he falls in love with a Polish girl Lauren and the complicated relationship that they share. The writing is so good that one can really feel Ashok’s anxiousness and excitement as he travels into the world unknown. The book offers an interesting mix of characters and takes the reader through their remarkable evolution. It is racy and it is colorful. The story is really refreshing as it stirs away from your regular love story. The twists & turns in this very unique story simply makes it difficult to put it down.
August 11, 2017
A romantic fiction that was set in the 1960's which would make you go back to those days and people like me who were not even born by then have had the chance to get to know the first hand information of hos the world was back then - especially the Europe.
Author has meticulously penned the story including most of the intricate information pertaining to love clubbing with the lifestyle of Europe. The story revolves around 3 characters but predominantly on the protagonist Ashok. The other two being Lauren and Aparna.
Ashok was born in a industrial family and leaves to Europe for higher studies, mostly to implement the learning in his dairy company. He goes across various countries and cities which includes Paris, Wroclaw, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and UK among others. He ends up meeting different women across these places which includes Nicole, Barbara, Vera, Hanna and Irina but most importantly he meets Lauren and falls for her.
Luckily for him, his love gets reciprocated but destiny had other plans. He could not stay there forever as he has come back to take care of his father's business since he was getting old and lot of issues started coming up in his company after the independence where the rules were really strict and regulated.
What I liked the most is about touching upon the local lives in each and every location with minute attention detailing from the food to how the people over there behaved. The novel is a real bulky one but I am sure those who love reading a lengthier novel would not find any difficulty in going through this in full and the price tag for such a beautiful novel is very much justified.
It kind of made me connect with my own life incident as well but jut that I wasn't there but had my own phase of life where my ex girlfriend was from Kiev and we could not continue any further due to the distance and culture(something similar to the one portrayed in this novel) even though our parents knew about our inclination to each other. So I could very well feel and place myself in the place of the protagonist Ashok.
In the meanwhile, Lauren has to move away from her place for a better life and she meets someone and so as Ashok who ends up meeting Aparna.
What happens in the end is what this novel is all about. Give it a read. You will find it a real soothing one, especially if you have had an experience of the protagonist at any given point of time in your life.
Author has meticulously penned the story including most of the intricate information pertaining to love clubbing with the lifestyle of Europe. The story revolves around 3 characters but predominantly on the protagonist Ashok. The other two being Lauren and Aparna.
Ashok was born in a industrial family and leaves to Europe for higher studies, mostly to implement the learning in his dairy company. He goes across various countries and cities which includes Paris, Wroclaw, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and UK among others. He ends up meeting different women across these places which includes Nicole, Barbara, Vera, Hanna and Irina but most importantly he meets Lauren and falls for her.
Luckily for him, his love gets reciprocated but destiny had other plans. He could not stay there forever as he has come back to take care of his father's business since he was getting old and lot of issues started coming up in his company after the independence where the rules were really strict and regulated.
What I liked the most is about touching upon the local lives in each and every location with minute attention detailing from the food to how the people over there behaved. The novel is a real bulky one but I am sure those who love reading a lengthier novel would not find any difficulty in going through this in full and the price tag for such a beautiful novel is very much justified.
It kind of made me connect with my own life incident as well but jut that I wasn't there but had my own phase of life where my ex girlfriend was from Kiev and we could not continue any further due to the distance and culture(something similar to the one portrayed in this novel) even though our parents knew about our inclination to each other. So I could very well feel and place myself in the place of the protagonist Ashok.
In the meanwhile, Lauren has to move away from her place for a better life and she meets someone and so as Ashok who ends up meeting Aparna.
What happens in the end is what this novel is all about. Give it a read. You will find it a real soothing one, especially if you have had an experience of the protagonist at any given point of time in your life.
August 24, 2017
Please visit http://www.guptakaushal.in/2017/08/bo... to read the complete review of the book.
Being a coming of age story, the book Harp, also takes the reader on a journey across various countries and in the midst of all these explores the social mindsets and the economic conditions in India and abroad, the challenges faced by the people and the revolutions that keep playing hide and seek with its existence.
Harp, may not be a regular love story, but it will hook onto you. It is heartbreaking for a few while comforting for others, it makes you believe in it while the simple essence of the story being truth and hope.The story of the book Harp is about the second chances one deserves, one longs for and the one wastes.
The book Harp by author Nidhi Dalmia connects the various strings of human life from love to music, travel, survival, countries, culture, reforms and existence in itself and how we humans try and hit the strings perfectly and probably that's why the name HARP!
Being a coming of age story, the book Harp, also takes the reader on a journey across various countries and in the midst of all these explores the social mindsets and the economic conditions in India and abroad, the challenges faced by the people and the revolutions that keep playing hide and seek with its existence.
Harp, may not be a regular love story, but it will hook onto you. It is heartbreaking for a few while comforting for others, it makes you believe in it while the simple essence of the story being truth and hope.The story of the book Harp is about the second chances one deserves, one longs for and the one wastes.
The book Harp by author Nidhi Dalmia connects the various strings of human life from love to music, travel, survival, countries, culture, reforms and existence in itself and how we humans try and hit the strings perfectly and probably that's why the name HARP!
February 27, 2017
What a refreshing love story this has been! For me this book especially has been about choice and determination to fulfill one's dreams, going through inner conflicts and changing oneself in order to find one's better half, a better place to live one's dreams. The coming of age is definitely challenging for the characters, beautifully "drawn"yet so different through their senses. What put me off a little from the very beginning was the simplicity of the style, subjectively of course. I tend to prefer a bit of complexity to the language and ideas altogether. Other than that the book is a quaint gem to be discovered, with historical background galore.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 30, 2018
The only reason I picked up this book is the main character Ashok and his travel journey to Europe and USA.
Not impressed with the characterization, could have been improved. I was waiting for the story to begin throughout the book.
However what i liked about this book is the writer has done a lot of research on the culture, lifestyle, food, art and penned down every little detail on how people live, behave and believe in different parts of the world.
overall an average read.
Not impressed with the characterization, could have been improved. I was waiting for the story to begin throughout the book.
However what i liked about this book is the writer has done a lot of research on the culture, lifestyle, food, art and penned down every little detail on how people live, behave and believe in different parts of the world.
overall an average read.
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August 31, 2021Rather long and tiresome
meandering novel about a young man dithering between various girlfriends. Interspersed with a lot of totally unnecessary detail.about the manufacture of powdered milk.
meandering novel about a young man dithering between various girlfriends. Interspersed with a lot of totally unnecessary detail.about the manufacture of powdered milk.
June 9, 2016
Harp is a mainly the story of a young man, idealistic and unanchored, as he finds his way through Europe as a student and then in India. Europe in the 60s was an age that immediately brings to mind the carefree lives of the young ones, living life to the fullest. It's an age that I could never relate to, just borrowing from arts and movies, and I waited for the pages to unfold in the glory of that experience. It did not fully whet my appetite and I was left starving for a setting, for the protagonist to build a story upon.
He meets Lauren in Poland, and their love connection is heady. Their lives intersect, pull apart and then intersect again, and I wished for her character to be worked on more. It would have been interesting to see what else made her apart from being in love with this man. To that extent, her conversations with the other girl were about Ashok, and nothing else.
The story jumped along haphazardly and the writing was hard to relate. There were snippets of other lives that came in and went but the lack of characterization of the main protagonists was the place where I could not hold on any longer. A better choice of words (and editing) could have worked in its favor.
It seemed like a book that was hurriedly put together. There is a story in there somewhere, but without fleshing out the sequence, characters and the flow, it felt like a first draft.
I could not continue and had to abandon it mid-way, coz life is short and my book list is long.
He meets Lauren in Poland, and their love connection is heady. Their lives intersect, pull apart and then intersect again, and I wished for her character to be worked on more. It would have been interesting to see what else made her apart from being in love with this man. To that extent, her conversations with the other girl were about Ashok, and nothing else.
The story jumped along haphazardly and the writing was hard to relate. There were snippets of other lives that came in and went but the lack of characterization of the main protagonists was the place where I could not hold on any longer. A better choice of words (and editing) could have worked in its favor.
It seemed like a book that was hurriedly put together. There is a story in there somewhere, but without fleshing out the sequence, characters and the flow, it felt like a first draft.
I could not continue and had to abandon it mid-way, coz life is short and my book list is long.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 12, 2016The blurb of the book mentions about the story of 3 protagonists and their journey into different locations to search their own self and love. So I jumped into the book with great excitement since I love books which can take me to different places. However, as I started reading the book, I struggled to follow the storyline. For one, it seemed like the characters and the storyline was not well researched. The characters seemed lost like me as a reader. None of the characters were sketched in out in enough detail for me to relate to or feel close to them.
Finally, the book just could not maintain my interest long enough and I gave up on it midway.
It was sadly not a book I could relate to or keep my interest long into.
Finally, the book just could not maintain my interest long enough and I gave up on it midway.
It was sadly not a book I could relate to or keep my interest long into.
August 5, 2016
Set in the late sixties, Harp is a love story of Ashok who travels the world from India to Europe, of Lauren a young Polish musician who he falls in love with and of another young woman back in India who has loved and lost once. Ashok’s travels through communist Poland makes for the most interesting part in this novel as this is the first time that it has been explored in an Indian novel let alone a love story. It is gripping and it is really hard for one to put the book down before knowing what happens to Ashok and Lauren. It is a coming of age story written amazingly by the author. It truly transports you to the picture postcard cities of Europe. A well-constructed book with great characters and a captivating plot, Harp is truly a period book and a timeless classic.
December 2, 2016
Set in the late sixties, Harp is a love story of Ashok who travels the world from India to Europe, of Lauren a young Polish musician who he falls in love with and of another young woman back in India who has loved and lost once. Ashok’s travels through communist Poland makes for the most interesting part in this novel as this is the first time that it has been explored in an Indian novel let alone a love story. It is gripping and it is really hard for one to put the book down before knowing what happens to Ashok and Lauren. It is a coming of age story written amazingly by the author. It truly transports you to the picture postcard cities of Europe. A well-constructed book with great characters and a captivating plot, Harp is truly a period book and a timeless classic.
September 24, 2018
I find this book very mediocre, the writing skill is also average. The book revolves around three principle characters who are struggling with love, responsibilities and belonging.
April 23, 2017
Harp is the story of love and longing .The hero of the story is a young man Ashok, who belongs to an industrialist family background, he embarks on a journey wanting to learn more about dairy production , their field of business . His quest takes him through India, Europe and USA where he meets an attractive and lively musician Lauren and falls in love with her.
Though the description of the book says that it is a romantic friction , I appreciated it far more as a travelogue with beautiful insights and glimpses into political state , bureaucracy and culture of the Scandinavian countries .
Our generation that has an easy access to internet and mobiles will find it very sad that in the sixties just to be able to talk to someone in another country , you had to book a trunk call and an operator would be listening in to your conversation .Phones calls did not come cheap not there was a possibility of calling someone immediately.One had to wait for hours to get connected sometimes.
The author paints such a vivid picture of the scenery of various country as Ashok sets out for his travails in foreign lands, meeting all sorts of people .
I immensely enjoyed that part of the book that described the music and culture of various european countries from Paris to Amsterdam to Warsaw etc.
The romance in the story holds the interest till the end ,you empathise with the characters and their strives .Most characters are well etched out .
The writer uses a lot of sanskrit ,Hindi ,French and Polish words in this and so the book has a glossary at the end to help the reader .I think those words could have been added as a footnote so that the reader is not compelled to move back and forth to look up words .
Though the description of the book says that it is a romantic friction , I appreciated it far more as a travelogue with beautiful insights and glimpses into political state , bureaucracy and culture of the Scandinavian countries .
Our generation that has an easy access to internet and mobiles will find it very sad that in the sixties just to be able to talk to someone in another country , you had to book a trunk call and an operator would be listening in to your conversation .Phones calls did not come cheap not there was a possibility of calling someone immediately.One had to wait for hours to get connected sometimes.
The author paints such a vivid picture of the scenery of various country as Ashok sets out for his travails in foreign lands, meeting all sorts of people .
I immensely enjoyed that part of the book that described the music and culture of various european countries from Paris to Amsterdam to Warsaw etc.
The romance in the story holds the interest till the end ,you empathise with the characters and their strives .Most characters are well etched out .
The writer uses a lot of sanskrit ,Hindi ,French and Polish words in this and so the book has a glossary at the end to help the reader .I think those words could have been added as a footnote so that the reader is not compelled to move back and forth to look up words .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews