Girl with a Pearl Earring

Rating:
Summary: a masterpiece
Review: i finished girl with a pearl earring in one sitting. it takes place in the 1660s in the netherlands and is narrated by the clever and beautiful Griet, a daughter of a blinded tilemaker who for monetary reasons becomes a maid in Vermeer's house and later becomes the subject of one of his most famous paintings. it was delicately and superbly written.
tracy chevalier, like vermeer, sees things in a way that is original and crisp. however, also like the celebrated painter, she overlooks somethings. the book is like a painting, but the description wanes as the plot sped up. also, so many things went wrong. it seemed as if the author was trying too hard to throw things into griet's path. she never explains why cornelia is so devious or characterizes Frans, Griet's brother, as much as she could have.
the words were extradorinarly vivid without being wordy. the ending is also satisfying though bittersweet. but what really makes this book a masterpiece is how open the book is to interpretation. at the end, you can argue that protagonist succeeded or you can say she didn't. "sometimes it seems one thing, sometimes the other" (90). only a master empowers the reader and that fact catches the reader's eye like a pearl and makes chevalier's weaknesses less apparent.

Rating:
Summary: MY FAVORITE BOOK...
Review: This was an awesome book. Though I am only fourteen years old, I thought that this book was awesome. It has become my favorite book. It was interesting to get the view of the girl in the portrait, THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING. If you enjoy reading about someone else's life experiences this is the book to read.

Rating:
Summary: More detailed than the movie
Review: I saw "Girl with a Pearl Earring" a couple of months ago because I loved Scarlett Johansson in "Lost in Translation". I loved the movie adaptation but it wasn't without its flaws. I didn't discover the flaws until I read the book by Tracy Chevalier. I found myself liking the book slightly more than the film because the book went into greater lengths to explain why Griet left her family to become a maid for the house of Vermeer. Due to a tragic accident which left her father (a tilemaker) blind and unable to work to support his family, Griet is hired by Catherina and Johannes Vermeer to help clean Vermeer's studio as well as with the household duties of laundry, cooking, and going to the market for food. This is not a actual account of Vermeer's life but rather a fictional story about Vermeer's portrait of the girl with a pearl earring. What I got was a 1600 soap opera (which isn't a bad thing per say). Catherina was this insecure, jealous, always pregnant housewife. She was reluctant to hire Griet but she did nevertheless. Maria Thins is the patriarch of the family. It is her house that the Vermeers live in. Johannes is your typical brooding artist. His middle daughter is a mischieveous, wicked daughter who had an axe to grind. Master Van Ruijven, Vermeer's patron and a lecherous man. Pieter, the son of the Vermeer's butcher and Griet's wooing suitor. And of course there was Griet, a quiet farmgirl who didn't really have a choice in the matter when she was employed by the Vermeers. It doesn't take very long for Johannes to become captivated by Griet which doesn't go unnoticed by his wife Catherina. Everything goes down hill when Johannes starts working on his famous painting. After reading the book, I wished that the film didn't begin and end the way that it did and began/ended the way the book had. I enjoyed the film but I enjoyed the book even more so.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, pleasant read...
Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring is a wonderful and pleasant read. Not too challenging or thought-provoking, but an imaginative story that I think most people will enjoy. Tracy Chevalier has come up with an interesting concept. She takes an enigmatic Vermeer painting -- The Girl with a Pearl Earring -- and weaves an interesting and well-written story about it.

Griet is a young woman whose family's financial luck has changed after an accident leaves her artisan father blind. She is hired as a teenage girl to work in Johannes Vermeer's household as a maid. But her own artistic gifts and sensibilities get the artist's attention. Griet soon begins to secretly assist him with his work. Griet ultimately models for the painter, and doing so creates conflict in her life...

I found this an interesting read, perfect for a lukewarm spring day when you are searching for something substantial to read. I had a difficult time getting into this novel at first, but I soon warmed up to it. I love the historical references and Chevalier's lyrical writing style. I hope the film version has done this wonderful novel justice. I recommend The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Captivating Story
Review: Set in the mid sixteen hundreds in Delft Holland, Girl With a Pearl Earring is an excellent novel for any reader. This book was a New York Times Bestseller, and also the winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Authors Award. The author, Tracy Chevalier, does a wonderful job telling the story of Griet, a young girl growing up in Delft as a maid for the well to do family of a famous painter.
Griet's family comes upon financial hardship after her father has an accident, and is no longer able to work. She is forced to go to work at the young age of sixteen. Griet goes to live with Vermeer, a well know painter and his wealthy family to work as their maid. Griet does not have it easy at the Vermeer house, and she is forced to work long and hard days. She also has to contend with problems of the Vermeer's many children. Fascinated by her master's paintings, she develops a strange relationship with the painter. Eventually she becomes his assistant, helping him with his work. Vermeer grows fond of the girl and values her opinion about his paintings, this makes things difficult for Griet with the painter's wife and the rest of the women in the household. Griet not only has to contend with Vermeer's jealous wife, mischievous children, and powerful mother-in-law, but also his wealthy male friends and their unwanted advances. Griet is torn between her love and fascination for the painter and his work, and the butcher's son Peter who tries to win her hand in marriage. Griet knows that Peter's family business would be very beneficial to her impoverished family. Girl With A Pearl Earring is a captivating story of love, art, the importance of family, and the changes that young Griet goes through as she becomes a young woman.
After finishing Girl With A Pearl Earring, I felt as if I knew Griet, Vermeer, and the other characters in the novel. Chevalier's character development is exceptional. She makes it possible for the reader to relate to each one of the characters on a different level and for different reasons. Whether you liked a character in the novel, or not, Chevalier made it possible for the reader to understand why they behaved as they did. As a reader you could sympathize with each character, and relate to them.
Another aspect of this novel which made it interesting was all the different themes that the novel represented. The author had a focus on love, religion, deceit, money, social status, family, and art. This made the novel very interesting.
Girl With A Pearl Earring was based on the life of Vermeer, who was a real Dutch painter in the sixteen hundreds. This story was based on him, and the events of his life. The Girl With the Pearl Earring was an actual famous painting of Vermeer's. Tale has it that he was inspired by one of his maids, such as Griet, to paint the portrait. Chevalier told the story simply and clearly making it very interesting and easy to follow.
The Author of Girl With A Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier, was born in Washington D.C., and she holds a graduate degree in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Chevalier currently resides in London with her son and husband.
I would definitely recommend Girl With A Pearl Earring to anyone. I am sure you will find it a interesting, intriguing, and a somewhat sad at times, tale of life, love, family, social status, deceit, and art. Chevalier leaves the reader with an expectation of things to come throughout the novel, which makes it difficult to put this book down. The reader will fall in love with Griet and everything she goes through as a young maid. Tracy Chevalier is a new author who made a place for herself as an author I would definately recommend.

Rating:
Summary: IT'S Fiction -
Review: After reading some of the "negative" reviews, let me just re-state the title - "it's fiction". If you don't like character studies, a genre in literature many of us learn about in high school, you will not like this book. Most of Chevalier's books are character studies with mediocre developed plots. She is interested in the psychology of the characters, not necessarily the total historical accuracy of say, Dutch art history. That is not her focus. I like her books mainly because she is so good at developing characters to the point that reviews state that Griet is "immature" or a "practical tramp". This is not a masterpiece of literature, but it is a very good book and an enjoyable read with some umph to it. In comparison, I know many people who enjoyed the DaVinci Code for its action sequences and esoteric presence, but I would not necessarily rate it better or worse than this book for historical accuracy, if that is your pet peeve. These are not classic works of literature. Read for enjoyment and use a book like this to spark enough interest to pursue increasing your knowledge-base about Vermeer and Dutch life in the 17th-18th century, if that is what you want to do.

I would also recommend the movie, but only as a visually stimulating work, again not "quintessential" film making, but enjoyable from the perspective of framing it like a Vemeer painting (in the eyes of this amateur anyway).

Rating:
Summary: Bad book? good book?
Review: I read the book entitled Girl With the Pearl Earrings written by Tracy Chevalier. Well depending on what type of person you are will alter you opinion of this book. I liked this book, it had a great story line, interesting characters and most imporant in was easy to follow. This book takes you with it. It makes you think your right there wittnessing everything that happens, any book that can do that has to be a great catch.
This book is based around the life of a young women decending in the world. She is sent to a family where she is to be there maid. She helps an older women clean, cook, and tend to the children. The family she stays with is very wealthy. The father is a well known painter and makes plenty of money off his work. There are five children, two maids and a grandmother living with the couple. the mother of the children is very mean and irritable. She likes no one, and loves to be alone. The father is very reserved and stays most of his time in the studio. As the story goes on Griet, the main character gains a special bond between the painter towards the end of the book it is her she is painting. If you can imagin what it would be like to be a wealthy women having your husband painting pictures of the young maid, when he wouldnt even paint you, you can imagin the conflict that is cause in this what was once calm home.
This book truly is something to read. I wont by anymeans give the whole story away but i will say it is worth the read. In my mind i give it from one to five a 3.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, I found it boring...
Review: Actually, we read this in our book club and nicknamed it "The Practical Tramp". Outside of a mildly interesting view of the era, the characters weren't all that likeable or relatable.

Rating:
Summary: Subtly Wonderful
Review: The great description of Vermeer's paintings are used throughout the book. Once you start Girl with a Pearl Earring, it is impossible to stop. You must read the book to really understand beauty in paintings and in life. What started out being a book to read for school, ended up being a book to love and cherish.

Rating:
Summary: Shimmering Subtlety
Review: "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is nothing short of brilliant. I was compelled to read it--I couldn't put it down, and read it in two days. Ms. Chevalier has woven a tale, based on speculation, that is not only fascinating and beautiful--but also entirely plausible. The author's subtle use of color and light to lead us to an understanding of the title character's inner conflict; burgeoning sexuality; and spiritual struggle (in the wake of this newly-aroused sexuality) is as delicate as Griet herself--and as passive-aggressive-forceful as VerMeer. This is an amazing read--I want to give a copy to everyone I know.