Rating: 
Summary: excellent book , okay movie
Review: This was an enchanting tale of a mother daughter duo that was able to come into a quaint French town and transform many of the village people. This story was enticing because it showed realistic community struggles during the Lenten season which affected all the people. The details of each bonbon created are irresistable and you must have a supply of chocolate at hand while reading. Harris did a wonderful job with the portrayal of Vianne, a mother who was able to help all who came to her shop, not just to buy chocolates. This novel is all inclusive from stories of the river gypsies and the Catholic Church to the problems with sin and temptation. Chocolat is an easy read yet there are a number of characters that are well developed and have major parts throughout the entire novel. I would recommend the movie but not until you have read the book. However, there are many differences and the movie portrays the main characters in a different light.
Rating:
Summary: A page-turning, good read
Review: This is a really, really good book. It sucked me in and I couldn't stop reading. I highly, highly recomend this book. The movie is also really good, too. A must read.~Atalanta
Rating:
Summary: Yummy magical realism
Review: Vianne Roche and her daughter waft into a village in rural France, a village ruled by the stern priest, a village beset by little upsets between its people. Vianne opens a chocolate shop, and it quickly becomes clear that she's part good witch, possessed of the power of Cure by Chocolate, able to select just the right piece of confection to heal what ails the individuals who come hesitantly into her store.
The battle lines are drawn as Lent with its strict self-denial drawn near and as a contingent of sybaritic gypsies moors up on the riverbank. And there's a seductive King of the Gypsies who woos Vianne.
This is a tale of good vs evil, sin vs. hedonism, joy vs. guilt - and it's not to be missed. Then go ahead and rent the movie, which is equally stellar.
Rating: 
Summary: An okay read.....
Review: In "Chocolat," Vianne Rocher, a single mother, arrived in a small French village with her 6 year-old daughter, Anouk and opened a store selling chocolates. Vianne had always been moving constantly, first with her mother, a witch, then with her daughter. Settling down in a place was a new concept for Vianne and she wanted some stability in her life. Unfortunately, the village priest, Father Reynaud saw Vianne as somewhat of a bad influence to the villagers and considered something like chocolates as temptations, which the villagers should avoid. Despite the hostility of the priest, Vianne was determined to settle in that village. This book deals with temptation, love, friendship and also hate. I like the secondary characters of this book as the author is able to describe their characters vividly. I feel that this is an okay read as sometimes, there are things which I feel is a bit hard to believe; such as the threat that Father Reynaud felt of Vianne. In addition, I also wonder about the time period of this book. At times, the setting seems to be in the nineteenth century but references to Disneyland eliminates that possibility. However, it is still an interesting read as the author writes very eloquently and smoothly.
Rating: 
Summary: Sticky cloying confection
Review: I found this novel quite absurd. We're supposed to believe that the opening of a chocolat shop in a FRENCH town causes a furore and the enmity of the local priest. Ridiculous. France is bursting with chocolat shops, they're everywhere you go, and I don't believe any priest would give a damn. If the woman had opened a brothel or an opium den or soemthing then I could undeerstand the priest getting upset, but a chocolat shop? It's too silly for words. The priest is an absurd caricatur baddie, he might as well be wearing a hat with 'villain' on it.The book is full of heavy-handed church bashing, we are constantly having it rammed home how free-spirited and liberated the heroine is in contrast to the nasty, oppresive priest. This is an extremely silly book.
Rating:
Summary: Read the book before you see the film
Review: I saw the film before I read the book. Ms. Harris is a wonderful storyteller. She is descriptive to a fault. Her prose is smooth as silk, and she is capable of pulling emotions from her readers. Underneath the guise of bringing some joy into the dour lives of the villagers in this tale, I could not help but feel that Vianne took some satisfaction in destroying certain peoples' lives. The town priest's, Reynaud, for example. Everyone has secrets in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. I suppose since I saw the film, and the intentions of Vianne in the film were harmless I thought the book was going to be the same. It was not. Vianne had a load of baggage. Though her facade was lighthearted, inside she was battling many demons. In one instance, the author alluded to the fact that Vianne might have been a kidnap victim and the woman she thought was her mother might not have been. Yet, the topic wasn't explored any further. Why bring it up? And the character of Roux, the gypsy, had me totally confused. Was he attracted to Josephine, Vianne's friend, or to Vianne? Both, obviously. At least the filmmakers made that point clearer. After all this grousing you would think I didn't enjoy the book. Not at all. I thought it was beautifully written, and I would gladly read anything else by the author. My point is, perhaps we should not make judgments about the course an author takes in the telling of the tale. Perhaps we should simply read it, see how it unfolds and accept it as it was meant to be, one person's story. However, being human, we bring our own preconceptions to the tale when we sit down to read it. That's why those other reviewers were disappointed. The story didn't go the way they wanted it to. It didn't go the way I expected it to go either (after seeing the film first!)but it's still an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Tying up loose ends
Review: If it were not for the few mentions of satellite dishes and cars, this book could have easily taken place two hundred years ago in a small Paris town. The backbone and detail of this story is wonderful. Vianne has been running all her life. It was how she was brought up and how she's been bringing up her daughter. She has a secret desire to stop running and settle down in one place. She has a passion for cooking and specifically chocolate making, so it seems only fitting that she setup a chocolate shop. Many of the local townspeople and especially the local priest find this to be an act of defiance as the shop opens as Lent begins. Through much of the book Vianne struggles with her own demons. Memories left by her mother still haunt her. It doesn't help matters that the priest despises her. The story started out strong, but lost something along the way. The most climactic moments of the book happen halfway through and then the story just fizzles out, tying up loose ends. I was very unhappy with the ending, although all-in-all, it was a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: This Chocolat Is Too Bitter
Review: This novel starts out with promise. A woman and her daughter move to a staid, old-fashioned village and open a chocolate shop across from the local church. The 'voice' of the novel alternates sporatically between that of the heroine, Vianne Rocher, and that of Pere Reynaud, the town's spiritual leader. Both characters were intriguing and extremes - Vianne hedonistic and full of life and Pere Reynaud, pious and self-sacrificing. I hoped the relationship between the two would prove to be a tempering experience, thus moving them both toward a more realistic center. Instead by book's end Pere Reynaud has become a grand buffoon while Vianne has won the accolades of the entire village. Lansquenet-sous-Tannes seems so rooted in the past that it's incongruous whenever something modern, like a VCR, is mentioned. Although the heroine's oft repeated wish is to be able to finally stay in one place, by the end of the story her wanderlust has returned. A good thing too - if she leaves town her friend Josephine need never learn that she slept with her boyfriend on a whim and is carrying his child. For a woman who often allows her six-year old daughter to go play by the river alone it will be beneficial to have a spare in case of the inevitable accident.
Rating:
Summary: amusing and worthwhile
Review: Though the book appeared a few years ago, and the film version eclipsed it, it does furnish an amusing read, with a modicum of twists and turns and reasonably interesting characterization. It conveys village life, for most of us an alien concept, and does have dramatic tension as well as character evolution. It does transport you to a different world, but without extracting a large toll. Certainly it is better than watching TV or for that matter, most films.
Rating: 
Summary: Devour it...
Review: I must admit I was soon swept along by chocolat and its evocotive descriptions. I think it kept me reading, mostly, because I wanted to see what could possibly happen next, and it is written beautifully.
And although vianne is the heroine, shes still not perfect.
Though I was a bit dissappointed with certain developments on the romance front- I just thought, why! Also felt the ending could have been a teensy bit more generous.
BUT, I'm nit-picking, its DEFINETALY worth getting this book, and devouring it, I m glad I did.
|
