Chocolat

Chocolat....Delicious, but...

Chocolat is a very well written story, and it paints a clear picture in your mind. The characters and the plot are put together beautifully. It's thought provoking. It's wonderful. It's a great book.
But....
The book is almost always better than the movie. Almost. There has never been a time in my life when I have found a movie better than it's book. I think I just found an exception. For example: Roux and Vienne's relationship. In the movie, it was perfect. In the book.....it was a one night stand. Where was the magic? Where was the beauty? Where was the love? Uggh! That really disappointed me. Maybe in the next book, they will redeem themselves, but until then....
Also, in the movie, there's more drama. Not so much that it's ridiculous, but enough to make you reach out to the characters. Like in the boat scene. While watching the movie, I really felt for Vienne, and was genuinely scared for Anouk. It made the characters more real. But in the book, they didn't have as much of that. I'll give Joanne props for Charly and Guillame, but as for everyone else...I don't know. It just didn't have as much as an impact on me as the movie.
But hey, don't let me curve you're thinking. The book beautifully crafted. There was a lot of thought and creativity that went into it. And without it, I wouldn't have an amazing movie to compare it to.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Chocolat

I loved this book (and the movie as well) and didn't want it to end. All in all, the story is about prejudice, fear of the stranger, and people who rush to judgement, told in a uniquely fanciful and magical way. Joanne Harris's descriptive talents reach the central nervous system of the reader to actually cause salivation when she creates the confections in the book! There is good character development and depth. The characters become real humans with real loves and hates, each attempting to live out lives that either become what they "should be" or discover what they "can be" if they become open to knowing those who are different. Love in the end seems to triumph even in the midst of tragedy. The ending is somewhat open-ended which is a perfect entree to book club discussion. Please read this book!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

My Favorite Book

'Chocolat', the beautiful and captivating story i read a few years ago, still stands as my favorite book. Joanne Harris writes with powerful and colorful imagery in this story about love, self-confidence, friendship and of course chocolate. Don't forget to read the sequel also, 'The Girl With No Shadow' (US), 'The Lollipop Shoes' (UK).

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Chocolat, je t'aime beaucoup!

Delicious. Scrumptuous. Succulent. Tantalizing. Intoxicating. C'est tres magnifique!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It doesn't matter if you saw the movie first.

If you saw the movie first, it's OK. You will be enchanted reading this lovely fable. You will also find you have to get up presently, make a good cup of coffee and get a piece of that chocolate you were trying to forget. Just forget about forgetting chocolate for now.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a wonderful, wonderful book.

Chocolat was simply amazing. The characters all have such allure and sophistication, even the antagonists! I absolutely adored this book. Do yourself a favor and read it, you won't be disappointed.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

In one word...'Charming'

The book and film are so alike. The story is so charming. The kind of story that leaves you all fuzzy and warm inside :-D

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Delish

This book was a fun read. Really makes you take a look into just how shallow some people are. Even people who are most admired can be different then they seem....in the end all humanity cares about is themselves....this book did make me crave chocolate a little too much!

For Lovers of all things French!

The author does a wonderful job of evoking breath-taking images of rural France, and the characters she describes are unique and add color to an already vivid story. Perfectly balanced between humor and drama, it is a story every lover of France (and chocolate) must read. You will not be disappointed!

Richly Satisfying

Chocolat / 978-1-101-19994-7 Chocolat is easily one of my favorite novels - the escapism is fantastic, the food descriptions are mouth-watering, the plot and prose are beautiful. I can hardly believe that a novel so richly packed with meaning could be so relatively short. Harris' prose here is at its finest, as we follow the narratives of Vianne, the free-spirited chocolate-creating witch, and Reynaud, the guilt-stricken oppressive village priest. Each narrative is uniquely told, with personality quirks inherent to each, and each narrative can be subtly imperfect - Reynaud slowly descends into madness, as does his precise narrative; Vianne's fear of weakness and displacement causes her to falsely claim that she never cries, causes her to state a yearning to move on which does not exist, and causes her to doubt her own importance to her lover Roux - creating a tantalizing problem for the reader: do we believe Vianne or do we believe Roux and his actions? The problem is - like Vianne's chocolates - delicate and bitter-sweet, with possibilities abounding on either side. Although this is a novel featuring a single mother, and a non-Christian at that, I do not believe that this novel represents an attack on any particular way of life. Vianne states, early on, that the goal of life is "to be happy" (without, of course, hurting others in the process). Though the antagonist is a priest, it is clear that he has his own individual demons, and it is *not* his office within the church which makes him evil. Several villagers are held up as examples of genuine Christians who do not flaunt their belief purely for power or social standing. Nor is this some kind of screed against men - Vianne, Josephine, and Armande are aided time and again by kind, emotionally strong men who value these women for their strength of character. Indeed, if I were to call this style of writing anything, I would call it 'humanist' - it is clear that Vianne is no less a valuable person for being a female or for being a witch; no less is Guillaume a valuable person for being a male or for being a Christian. All these people, Harris seems to be saying, are people and thus deserve love and a little bit of kindness in their life and, she suggests, the right and privilege to decide when enough is enough. (Whether or not the reader agrees is left gently to the reader - Harris is not preachy or didactic.) I highly recommend this book for anyone - this is a book that spans gender, religion, age, and country. (Note: Chocolat is best enjoyed with a tall glass of milk and dark chocolate truffles near at hand!) ~ Ana Mardoll

movie was great so decided to get the book

my wife loves this writer ever since we saw the johnny depp movie. this book is only part of a series with the main characters

A story of a woman and her daughter-

A woman and her daughter move into a town and open a chocolate shop (yum- I was hungry the whole book) :) The priest is very unfriendly towards her, she ends up making a few friends- reliving her past with her mother. Very french- I love her name. This book was hard to get into but had a good ending.

tantalizing....

Chocolat is a tale of prejudice, bigotry....and chocolate? It's the tale of a beautifully pagan chocolotiere and a handsome red headed river gypsy who the town priest preaches against.

When the enchanting Vianne comes to set up a chocolate shop in a provincial Paris town, all hell breaks loose thanks to Pere Reynaud, the parish priest. Vianne refuses to go to church, she has a daughter out of wedlock, she tells all kinds of pagan stories and she wants to have a chocolate festival on Easter morning. She gets under Pere Reynaud's skin at every turn. All she really wants though is to make people happy. And she does. Chocolat has some beautiful characters and the pastoral setting was charming. The descriptions, especially of the chocolates, was mouth-watering and tantalizing. What I didn't like was the ending. Too much was left unsaid. There was not enough closure for my taste. Besides that, the book was a very enjoyable read. I think I enjoyed the movie a bit more though.

Word of warning: have lots of chocolate handy while reading this. ; )

The Chocolate Shop of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes

Chocolat was deliciously crafted just as the chocolates in Vianne's pretty shop. Writing with the preciseness of a Frenchwoman, Ms. Harris made me feel like I was in Lansquenet, drinking chocolate while watching the life of the dreary little town go on by. Vianne Rocher is a beautiful woman full of passion and wanderlust who drifts into a small French town to open up a chocolate shop and to teach people how to be happy. What better book is there to read on a rainy day, in the bath, on the deck of a ship, or on a comfortable sofa? Just like the marzipan and chocolates of La Praline in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, this book is something which one can really sink his teeth into.

Honestly, Divine!

I think that Joanne Harris must have had a deep insight into human nature. This was worth the read and more. The characters leave one with the sense that one has met them before, certainly in current life, if not past. Truly, I wholly enjoyed Chocolat, and have read it many times.

Fall In Love Every Time

This book does it for me every time. Stumbled upon it one rainy afternoon in the local library and what an adventure. Love the book, love the movie.

Mystically Charming

Chocolat is an enchanting novel with a rustic and magical aura. Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk, along with her imaginary rabbit Pantoufle, are carried to a small French village by the calls of the wind. She sets up a chocolaterie that gains notoriety from the not-so-pleased priest, Francis Reynaud, who believes temptation strays from salvation. Vianne along with whimsical characters Josephine Muscat, Armande Voizin, and Roux as well as the other gypsies on the river Tannes, help cast a charming light for the plot. The ending gave one hope for more, which made the tale less satisfactory. The sensuality of the chocolate recipes just adds to the enjoyment of the book. However, the movie in my opinion was much better. It gave a sense of resolution to the entire ordeal. The novel had a good versus evil struggle while the movie seemed to show the struggle more realistically, as a brawl between clashing ideas that are not understood.

Wonderful

Full of Magic and romance. It is much better than the movie to my suprise. You will fall in love with the characters. And hate the others. A very good read.

Everyday Magic

This tale is beautiful, tantalizing, dare I say magical. All the allusions to folk magic and mysteries weaving themselves through Vianne's worldly, ever-shifting life give her an enigmatic appeal, especially to those familiar with her magical jargon. You feel her character and respond with sympathetic, yearning emotions. She is the utter embodiment of everyday magic and all the worldly knowledge of countries and languages and cultures that I so fervently wish to possess. I recommend reading this book so much I can't express it. Vianne's charm, the priest's hypocrisy and yielding to pleasure, Anouk's bright candor, Armande's vivacious and life-giving personality, Roux's softness concealed with rough suspicion... all of these characters make Chocolat and Lansquenet-sous-Tannes the brilliant things they are and which nothing else could be. I only hope to aspire to be like Vianne Rocher, minus the troubling memories and feelings of having to get away, get away... but it might be wonderful to escape when the wind changes.

Well written

I really enjoyed reading this book, but when I got to the end I was a little disappointed because I was hoping that Roux would get together with Vianne and it didn't happen.