chocolat...joanne harris..anyone fancy

[eleanor2]

a book review....i am reading it to get me in the mood for my hols.i am fed up of football.off to bed to start to read chocolat.

[dragonfly]

I saw the film E... and didn't particularly like it.

[eleanor2]

i saw the film to d.f.soi wasnt sure i would be able to get into the book....but.....
i have only read chapter one and i am already in there.joanne is so descriptive.she opens the book describing a village in the middle of nowhere .they are a laid back hard working people.wrinkled by the sun like prunes.yet for carnival day they all come out in a flurry.just as they appear when its all over they disapear.like rain filtering in the ground.they are normally a drab people, they can see a newcomer a mile off.especially if they have any colour to thier clothing....oh you can tell there will be enmity with the local priest right from the begining.then she goes on to describe the old bakers shop she will be leasing.i love this descriptian.cus theres been no tidying and tarting up of the building.so you get a view of an old dusty run down spooky bkers shop.that has a sad and lonely feeling about it.you get to presume the former tenant died there.

[Gentian]

I have read Five quaters to an Orange, but my favourite of hers was "Coastliners". a lovely story. I didn't read "Chocolat", didn't like the film.
I've just started "The Return" by Victoria Hislop. I also enjoyed "The Island" by her.

[eleanor2]

i loved 5 quarers of an orange....will be looking out for coastliners..
but am very into chocolat already......her descriptive writing gives the book more heart than the film could.i just like her style of writing.it can be quite wierd but sure isnt boring.....come on somebody join me........it is a challenge......

[buecherwurm]

Sorry, can't join you, eleanor. No time for reading at the moment...............

[eleanor2]

what beuch you are my trusty reading companion....i will miss you.......
we have a middleish aged woman maybe a widow name vianne rocher with her young daughter anouk.they are awakened early by the church bells.get up have breakfast and start to work.to clean up this musty, neglected sad bulding.there first visitor is the priest.vianne is obviously a bit of a pagan.she has her salt and bread at the door post to keep out evil.then she shows indifference to the priest.tells him she doesnt attend church.i mean most people attended church in those days.not necesarily to worship God.but they attended.confessed did thier aves(i imagine hail marys)went away feeling clean to commit thier sins all over again.joanne harris does quite a synopsis on the priest and how confessions affect him.it does make you look at priests.they are only men.yet everyone goes confessing to him.he has to handle all these confessions.then see the people carry on committing these sins. then come back for more confession.i actually feel sorry for priests after giving this some thought. By her good looks and charm i imagine vianne gets the local men helping her to renovate the property.she then brightens the whole village with her lovely new painted front.filled planters and red awning.unviels her shop as a wonderful chocalatier.trouble is she has these tempting wares on display and its lent.oh dear this brings more confessions to the priest ...
we do see a lovely act of kindness as a woman who cant help stealing.has a box of these chocolates hid in her coat.vianne has noticed,says nothing.offers this woman a free gift.which stirs this womans emotions with...... maybe guilt. o.k i think we are intended to like this vianne.i am warming to her......but i dont know.........in a village like that i think all tongues would be wagging.the priest just presumes she's widowed.i wonder ....she seems something of a rebel to me.

[eleanor2]

arrr i have just recieved a book through the post.lollipop shoes.a r,mer sent it me all the way from canada.thanks somuch.look forward to reading it on my hols.

[eleanor2]

well its evident vianne is into some sort of witchcraft.she is totally against the priest and he her.she is independant and firey.wow she had a tough upbringing.a gypsy lifestyle i imagine.you have to respect that even tho she has been baught up.lying,stealing and cheating.she is determined to settle down and run an honest business.so she can give her daughter a decent life.mmmm we'll see.poor priest had a shock when vian addressed herself as madamesoile.which means she isnt married but has a child.truth is vianne slept with that many men she didnt know who the father was.it seems having a baby and the care of a now growing child has definately changed her.given her a sense of responsibility.

[eleanor2]

with vianne opening her shop on a lent sunday,she is in the bad books of the priest and some of the villagers.she is also being ostricised for having an illegitamite daughter.her daughter is sharing bits about witchcraft to other children.so children are being told by thier parents not to play with her.i also imagine with her being very smart and pretty.theres a bit of jealousy from the women.especially has the menfolk seemed eager to help her settle into the shop.i wonder how much of this is very fictional and how much from observations of a village life.i know 50 years ago some-one like this would have been frowned upon.nowadays they wouldnt be.but the experiences i have of French villages.is your lucky to see anyone out and about on ordinary days.i have walked through one village many times and hardly seen a soul.....i have never seen a priest at all.the only day there is any life is on a market day.when all of a sudden you are faced with crowded streets and hundreds of real old french folk.

[Gentian]

The film was on TV yesterday Ee, did you see it?

[eleanor2]

i did see it gen.but now i am reading the book i want to see it again....get a more vivid picture of the characters and settings.
oh dear i dont like mr muscat...seems hes a bit of a wife beater.thats why his poor wife is in such a state.selfish pig he ate her choclates that were a gift sent from vianne via him for his wife.some men are real brutes.

[eleanor2]

i am finding that joanne harris really likes to study characters.she discloses a lot of insight.i am actually finding as i read i am starting to think more about how we can ignore certain people.maybe because they are not like us or act odd.in the story with vianne once being a traveller herself.dragged up as a child in a very unstable way.suffering prejudice and poverty.being involved in petty crime used to get by.then she starts to empathise as an adult with the river gypsies.i can understand why we get annoyed with gypsies and travellers.but we have to see they are not all the same.they are individuals with feelings and emotions.then we get josephine the battered wife.she acts wierd as a person in the community.she doesnt like anyone and they dont like her.untill vianne befriends her.starts to give her a bit of self worth and understanding.trys to boost her confidence a bit.heres a dialogue."you must think i am stupid to have stayed with him all these years" her voice was dull her eyes dark and resentful.
"no i dont"
she ignored my reply."well i am" she declared stupid and weak.i dont love him.cant remember a time when i ever loved him. but when i think of actually leaving him.she broke off in confusion.actually leaving him she repeated in a low wondering voice. No its no use......
that is it for josephine....she has nowhere to go and no-one to turn to.i wonder if she does stay with her husband we will see.

[eleanor2]

oooooo then theres that caro clairmont.wot a snob.............i dont actually know were i stand.avianne is encouraging the river gypsies to stay.there is getting more and more.i really have heard tales of thier thieving cheating ways.avianne admits that is what her mother was like when she was young.yet avianne is trying to show everyone.there is a good side to them.mmmmm where do you draw the line.
i am touched by the old granny who is caros mum.all granny wants to do is see her grandson.now i can empathise with gran.the meeting off granny and grandson eventually in the choclatier shop is very touching.

[eleanor2]

enjoying reading my book.can see joanne doesnt like priests.maybe in the old days they had more control than today.josephine the battered wife has left her husband and is staying with aviasnne.avianne also looks after the gypsies and an old lady who is an outcast.so all in all this avianne is very very caring.mmmmmm portrayed a bit to caring if you ask me.i do like the care free spirit.of some-one who dares to go against the grain.

[eleanor2]

there is three main topics to think about here.
single parents
domestic violence
old people being given a choice to stay at home or to go into an old peoples home when they cant cope.
the book is really in swing now.i am starting to feel sorry for the priest.he misjudges others as well as himself.his withhoding food thinking it is holy his making him a bit delusional.we do see a soft side to him sometimes.i am dying to see if josephine the wife who is abused by her hubby eventually goes home or makes a new life.

[Crocus]

I had a look for this book in our library, but couldn't find it. There are books from Joanne Harris, but not this one. Will enquire about it next time I go. xx

[eleanor2]

i am finding it quite a strange book crocus but it does keep my attention.
i dont know what to think of vianne.she can be caring.is very antagonistic of the church,priest and anyone who conforms to society.is a good mother also is careless in her care .she then gets pregnant off a one night stand.like she has no scruples or desire what soever for her children to have a father or even know of a father.bought up as herself by a lone mother,with little stability or conformity to societies standards.it does give the impression later in the book that vianne was a kidnapped as a baby and bought up by her traveller mother.Armande the old sick diabetic.stops taking her insulin.a few days before her massive birthday party.where she invites closest family and friends.they eat drink and be merry.then she goes to bed to die of diabetic coma in her sleep.not a bad way to go.josephine the battered wife.shows her husband up for what he is.a useless bully who cant cope without her and without having her has his emotional scapegoat on which to put all his unworthiness.the priest is obviously portrayed as a mentally disturbed male from youth,he has delusions that everyone plus a statue mock him.joann harris even portrays nuns at the care home laugh at him.i dont think nuns would laugh at a priest.she might be trying to convey to us the extent of his paranoia.i think the end of the book where the priest breaks into the chocoalt shp and gorges on the chocolate very far fetched.as my old mother would say from the sublime to the ridiculous.

[Crocus]

I had a look in the library this morning, there are a few of her books, but not Chocolat. From the descriptions I read on the back of her books, it does seem as if Joanne Harris writes with quite a deep passion, very emotional? Also what you describe above of Chocolat seems as if quite 'heavy' emotions are coming out. Difficult and intriguing emotions so to speak, or am I wrong? x

[eleanor2]

not the norm emotions crocus i would say.

[Crocus]

Yes, I suppose so eh? xx

[eleanor2]

well joanne harris is a bit wierd in her writing.she has dabbled with paganism in her other books.but i am reading lollipop shoes and upto yet this book is out and out promoting witchcraft.i am finding the book interesting.just wondering where it is going.

[Crocus]

Hi Eleanor, I found the book in the library last week and have just started to read it. Joanne Harris definitely is a very descriptive author, one can actually see in your mind what she describes. I'm only where Vianne's little girl came home from school, being upset because Jeannot, her friend said that he's not allowed to play with her anymore because she's a bad influence, according to his mother. Will see tonight what happens next. xx

[eleanor2]

keep reading crocus.it is an entertaining book.you will slowly see witchcraft coming into it.lollipop shoes is full of it.i am waiting to see if their is a twist to the story tho.

[Crocus]

It's strange Eleanor, one has the feeling that something somewhere should happen. All can't be just right as rain. I've also a niggling feeling about the priest - he's attitude is not totally what I think it should and could be. I might be totally wrong but it will be interesting to find out.

[Catriona]

I started Lollipop Shoes but can't say I'm enjoying it much so far.

[Crocus]

It's quite an interesting name for a book. I haven't heard of lollipop shoes before!

[eleanor2]

crocus i think she way over dramatizes the eccentricities of the priest.
catriona i am more intrigued by lollipop shoes than enjoying it.joanne is in my book being much to explanatory of witchcraft than is healthy.i am just wondering if she is going to leave you thinking witchcraft is good or damaging.

[Catriona]

Eleanor - yes 'intrigued' is the right word I think for Lollipop Shoes. I can't decide if it's really fantastically written or a load of rubbish! But I still keep reading a bit more....

[Crocus]

Somehow this book kind of bothers me Eleanor, it's as if there's something between the lines which she tries to say, or not. The priest seems quite eccentric and I wonder why?

[eleanor2]

wait till later crocus.he is absolutely crazy......mmmmm a bit over dramatical.we all have wierd eccentricities.i imagine there are good priests and bad.but i have never heard of a priest being as crazy as this one .especially at the end.
in lollipop shoes it is starting to get disturbing ,but even more intriguing.vianne is up against a very evil,psychotic modern day real witch.it is actually showing .that you cant just dabble with witchcraft.you either have to leave it alone .or get eaten up by it.it destroys you what ever way you deal with it, if you dabble in it.

[Crocus]

Hi Eleanor, I actually struggled to read this book last night to be quite honest. What do interest me thought is the reason why Joanne Harris decided to bring in a character who is a priest, but has all these undertones which seems quite strange and scary in a way.
I wonder if she perhaps came across someone like this in her life and she decided to write about it? I'm usually more interested in the reasons why an author would decide her characters should be like they are. xx

[eleanor2]

i think she is anti religion.after reading lollipop shoes i am wondering how much she is into witchcraft.the book is extremely descriptive of many angles of witchcraft.i feel like soutergirl it all seems a bit to wierd.is she describing real forms of witchcraft or is she over dramatising or knowing witchcraft she could be under dramatising.but i am still enjoying reading as i said from an intriguing point of view.

[Crocus]

I thought as much because I feel the underlying tones of something different - it's as if Vianne is kind of distanced from the rest of the villagers, although she tries to be one through her chocolate shop. Being such an isolated village, one wonders if the chocolate shop is kind of a smoke screen? I actually feel sorry for her little girl though. I also wonder about Pantoufle.....a mystery friend? Oh and the black man....... it seems Vianne is fleeing from him in her mind, was it her dad, perhaps?

[eleanor2]

pantoufle is i think what is classed as a personal spirit guide.the black man isnt her dad she never had one.it is mentioned all through lollipop shoes.it is death or a bad stranger who will harm them i think.

[Catriona]

I've not read Chocolat, maybe I should have read it before reading Lollipop Shoes do you think? Might help me to make more sense of it!

[Crocus]

I'm intrigued who black man is, because Vianne seems to be quite cautious and aware of him. My sister had a imaginary friend and I thought perhaps Pantoufle might also be such friend. (The name caught my eye as well as we call slippers "pantoffels" in Afrikaans).

[eleanor2]

hi crocus in loolipop shoes it makes it more clear that pantoufle can be seen at times by vanne.it is what is known as a spirit guide.
catriona i think if you read chocolat first.you understand a lot more of lollipop shoes.wow in lollipop shoes i am nearly at the end.it gets very deep.there is real intrigue and danger here.i really am interested to see how this story ends.

[souter girl]

"Pantoufles" are slippers in French too

[Crocus]

I had a feeling it might be SG, so thanks for confirming it. XX

[eleanor2]

pantoufle is just the name that anouk gives to her spirit rabbit ...obviously because she knows the word from french.an interesting point crocus.

[Crocus]

Hi Eleanor, well, I'm now into March with this book, the preparations for Easter and things seems to want to turn a bit nasty I think because people put in some complaints with the priest and he doesn't seem totally innoccent.........

[eleanor2]

wow crocus the trouble avianne has from the villagers is nothing compared to what she comes up against in lollipop shoes by a fellow witch.in chocolat tho i think you will agree with me.when you come to the part of the priest really letting himsef down.it is seriously over dramatised and an unlikely happening of a priest.

[Crocus]

I've been feeling 'uncomfortable' with this priest right from the start actually - I think there's much more to him than what I know at the moment. At the moment I'm scared for Josephine as it seems her husband locked her up in the attic of the cafe! Or something.

Is Lollipop Shoes the sequal to Chocolat? x

[eleanor2]

yes lollipop shoes is the sequel.it is quite a disturbing book.it gets worse nearer to the end too.but i have finished the book today.the end is defiately.powerful,emotional and romantic.it did bring tears to my eyes.....
it goes very very deep into witchcraft.the epilogue is very disturbing about identity theft.oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo

[Crocus]

Oh dear, I don't think I'll be reading that - Chocolat is quite enough....