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Summary: If You Love Art History....
Review: ...this book will completely mesmerize you! I read it once and I'm ready to read it again. Chevalier has the gift of taking you into Vermeer's studio so that you believe you are there. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
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Summary: I Finally Read It...and I'm Glad I Did
Review: Everyone has been talking about this book. My co-workers, my family, and my friends all said this book is a must-read. I was skeptical, but took it along on a long car trip. I read the whole thing in one setting. It was charming. The fictional account of the Vermeer family made me like the artist even more. Adding the feelings and life of one of their maids made it even better. Consider me charmed.
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Summary: Griet smolders...
Review: ...in the presence of her master, Vermeer. Beautifully done. As rich, sweet, layered, and unsentimental as the master's masterpieces themselves. So, Colin Firth will play Vermeer? Smoldering, indeed. Anyone know who has written, or is writing, the screenplay?
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Summary: A step into history and the world of 17th century art
Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier Inspired by a painting by Dutch artist Vermeer, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING is a fictional account of how this famous painting came to be. Just as Johannes Vermeer painted this anonymous girl back in the 1660's, author Tracy Chevalier painted a beautiful picture of the world of 17th century Holland and the world of this young girl who eventually becomes the subject of one of his paintings. Ms Chevalier's story starts with the introduction of Griet, a young teenage girl who lives with her parents and younger sister in a very humble home in the town of Delft. She is helping chop vegetables in their kitchen when her parents receive a visit from two stately looking guests. Griet finds out soon enough that this couple is Johannes Vermeer the painter, and his lovely wife Catharina. Johannes notices how Griet is separating the vegetables by color and his observation does not go unnoticed by Griet. This first brief encounter between them is the spark that starts their new "relationship". Griet learns then that she is expected in a few days to start working for the Vermeers as their maid. Griet's father is no longer able to work due to an accident he had on the job, and now it is up to Griet to help the family out. Her older brother has already left home, and is learning to make a living at what their father used to do: Make tiles. A few days later, Griet is living with the Vermeer's and their children and servants. They live lavishly for these times, and Griet soon becomes accustomed to her new life. She returns on weekends to visit her family, but she has to stay with the Vermeers during the workweek. Griet has many duties as a maid, including doing the laundry and helping out with the children. She slowly bonds with the children, all except Cornelia, who seems to be a trouble maker and tries her best to get Griet into trouble with her parents. This becomes especially evident when, for some reason, Johannes decides to make Griet his assistant, on top of all the duties Griet has to perform as their maid. Because of Catharina's jealousies, his wife is not to know about this special role that Griet was about to play in the house. With the help of Catharina's mother, Griet finds ways to secretly help Johannes "grind" his colors and do other necessary things to help him prepare for painting, in the hopes that Catharina doesn't find out. Griet falls in love with his paintings, and with him. And soon, all she can think about is him. Since she is now his special assistant, she is privy to his private world of painting, a world that even Catharina is not allowed to trespass. Through the eyes of Griet the reader sees how Vermeer created his beautiful works of art, using a creation that was the forerunner of today's camera. A new world opens up for Griet. Because of this, Griet also knows that she is headed towards danger of losing her job. GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING in my opinion was a literary work of art. Maybe I was heavily influenced by the cover, which depicts the actual painting of this girl that Vermeer made famous back in the 17th century. Regardless of the reason, I personally enjoyed this fictional tale of the creation of one of Holland's most famous paintings of the renaissance era.
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Summary: Boring
Review: After all the great reviews of this book, perhaps I had unrealistic expectations...I read this book quickly, hoping that something, anything, exciting would happen. Ultimately, I was disappointed. Throughout the book it seems as though the author is trying to build the readers anticipation for an ultimate shocking scene, a scene which never materializes. I will give the author credit for building great characters; characters that you can truly like and dislike with good reason. The characters were believable, but the plot was just not there. My advice? Borrow it from a friend or the library, but don't spend your money...
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Summary: Radiant
Review: The author so adeptly puts the reader in Griet's place that by the time Griet was forced to choose her life's path on the village star, I felt as if I was there making the decision, dizzy, flushed, torn by the choices. My initial disappointment over Griet's choice settled into a sad acceptance of the limitations of the time and place. It is the same with the fighting vegetables and the hair...the hope and suspense they triggered ultimately dissolved into resignation: Griet's own artistic eye could never be appreciated, and Griet's love for the only man who appreciated her artistic eye and for whom she would have let down her hair--literally and figuratively--could never be realized. Chevalier skillfully weaves into Griet's story an account of the Dutch master Vermeer and of the social mores in Vermeer's time, particularly the role of women of various classes. She also uses "sight" as a device in various forms--I haven't thought them all through yet, but it would be worth re-reading the book just to find all variations and their intents, e.g., the father's blindness, the amplification of sight via the camera obscura, the suitor's inability to see the blood, etc.
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Summary: The Details Are Right but the People Are Not
Review: Certainly Ms. Chevalier got the details of 17th century Holland absolutely accurate but the people she creates are for the most part terribly fake. Too many characters were merely plot devices and do not seem psychologically valid human beings. The child Cornelia is like a cartoon villain, for instance. She may have been thoughtless and resented Griet, but her behavior had more in common with the Alexis character in "Dynasty" than it did with a child of such tender years. The relationship between Vermeer and Griet, though never consumated, is kind of skeevy; shades of that teacher in Seattle who had two children by her 11 year old student. By the time Vermeer decides to paint Greit, I wondered why she agreed considering how much extra trouble and work it meant for her. By the way, the the girl with the pearl earring actually was Vermeer's daughter. That makes a whole lot more sense than this novel does.Vermeer turns out to be a real big creep, which I doubt was actually true in real life. Given that he had 11 children, the reason for the low output of paintings is not surprising. It's a lot of work taking care of so many children, servants or no. I won't ruin the ending by revealing it here, but it makes absolutely no sense given his overt indifference to the way she is treated in his household. The major portion of this very slim narrative is about Griet's cleaning techniques and her trips to the market to buy either meat or herring. Frankly, given the circumstances of her employment, I imagine that the real-life Griet would have jumped at the chance to marry Peter instead of haranguing herself for being disloyal to her master. I'm sure sexy Colin Firth will do an excellent job of bringing Vermeer to life in the movie version, but I don't look forward to watching a 40-plus man come on to a teenaged Scarlet Johansen as Griet.
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Summary: One of my top three all time books!
Review: This is the first book I have not put down once I opened it in years. Not because of page turning suspense, but because I did not want to leave it's beautiful world. Not since I read Flower Drum Song and The Feast of All Saints have I been so satisfied.
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Summary: Well written, but not too good
Review: This book was okay... Very well written, nice descriptions, well developed charecters, belivible events ect...
But the book has little plot, no real story line and untimitly goes nowhere. Rather like everyday life. If you want to hear about everyday life (as I know some do) then you will love this book.
But if you'd enjoy some plot, a bit of story and something more then day to day stuff, then this book is not for you. It is also reletivly slow to develope into even appriciatable work. Something for anyone who reads this to know, this book is highly over rated and if you read with those expectations you will be dissapointed.
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Summary: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Review: This was a wonderful read. Chevalier transports the reader to 17th century Holland, and brings a work of art to life. I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction, rather than a historical biography.Girl With a Pearl Earring is the story of the young Griet, who becomes a servant in the home of the famous Johannes Vermeer. While Griet is championed, readers will also sympathize with each of the other characters, among them her impoverished parents, Mrs.Vermeer and her children, Griet's brother, and Vermeer himself. Chevalier's research of the geography and time period of which she writes is thorough. The story is realistic, helping readers to understand the setting in which Vermeer worked.
When the book is finished, there is the feeling that the story is not. As in many great books, readers feel that although they are privy to much, there is so much more that could have been written. This was a novel (no pun intended) way in which to further the cause of appreciating art, both painted and written.
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