Chocolat
108. Chocolat by Joanne Harris (Fiction) 242 p.
World Lit Challenge: France
Most people have probably seen the movie, but although the basic plot is somewhat the same, the entire tone of the story was changed, while many of the characters and events were cut. It’s entirely understandable, since I’m not sure the book as it is would make a very good movie, especially a Hollywood movie. Both the book and the movie are good, but very different.
Vianne Rocher and her little girl, Anouk, arrive in the small French village of Lansquenet just before Mardi Gras. Vianne opens her chocolate shop, La Celeste Praline, just in time for Lent. Much to the dismay of Lansquenet’s priest, it is a success, and the unwed, atheist Vianne becomes popular with the villagers—much more popular than the Father himself.
I really liked the book. The two first-person perspectives, those of Vianne and the priest, are a perfect way to tell the story. They see things so differently that it isn’t the slightest bit boring to read about the same events twice over. Joanne Harris has a real talent for characterization: her likeable and unlikeable characters and equally fascinating, and she makes many of them endearing without sentimentalizing them.
I’ll have to re-watch the movie soon, and see how it compares. Plus, Johnny Depp!
Books read: 108
Pages read: 32,124
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Joanna Harris, World Lit Challenge
