Chocolat

So first off, I wanted to say sorry! I've been incredibly bad about updating this and really it's only because I've been lazy. However, it's summer and I decided to be a little less lazy and write about this amazing book that was loaned to me.

Chocolat (By Joanne Harris) is a book unlike the movie in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I adore the movie (and for that manner, Johnny Depp in it :D) but the book was very good in it's own right. The premise of the book is this;

"When beautiful, unmarried Vianne Rocher sweeps into the pinched little French town of Lansquenet on the heels of the carnival and opens a gen of a chocolate shop across the square from the church, she begins to wreak havoc with the town's Lenten vows. Her uncanny ability to percieve her customer's private discontents and alleviate them with just the right confection coaxes the villiager to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness, but enrages Pere Reynaud, the local priest. Certain only a witch could stir such sinful indulgence and devise such clever cures, Reynaud pits himself against Vianne and vows to block the chocolate festival she plans for Easter Sunday, and to run her out of town forever. Witch or not (she'll never tell), Vianne soon sparks a dramatic confrontation between those who prefer the cold comforts of the church and those who revel in their newly discovered taste for pleasure. Hailed as "an amazement of riched few readers will be able to resist" by the New York Times Book Review, Chocolat is a timeless and enchanting story about temptation, pleasure, and what a complete waste of time it is to deny yourself anything."

I've got to admit, I borrowed this book thinking 'Wow! This'll be fun to learn more about the romance between Roux and Vianne! That'll be so cool!' Because despite how much I'm a pain about it, I love a good romance book like Pride and Prejudice. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. This book puts a whole new spin on the entire movie and concept, for while the movie is sweet and happy, this book is throughly bittersweet. It's beautiful how much more you understand the motives in each character, especially revealing much of Vianne's mystery, while creating more around her. But you also understand the nature of the Pere Reynaud (who was the mayor, count or whatever guy in the movie) as the book switches from his and Vianne's perpective. I loved how this book showed that no one is completely good and exemplifies how people are shades of gray, and how they grow. Watching Anouk throughout this book was fastinating, and probably could've been a book all on it's own!

I give this book an easy five, and reccomend it to all who know that chocolate come in many different flavors, not just sweet as Hershey's milk chocolate.