Five Quarters of the Orange

Rating:
Summary: A Fraction Off!
Review: Because Harris wrote a book that Hollywood turned into a pretty fair romance - Chocolat - people now seem to think she is a "good writer." Five Quarters of the Orange is poorly writen. Actually, all of Joanne Harris' books are poorly written. Although the ideas behind them are somewhat imaginative, the tedious style and self involved characters spoil the read. Five Quarters of the Orange is full of spiteful, sick, egotistical people who are totally unlikeable. Framboise Simon continually boasts of her strong and independent nature with sayings such as "I had never liked to be touched." She is a cold and hateful person - as are most of the characters in this story. If one wants magic, better to stick with Alice Hoffman!

Rating:
Summary: Still waiting for another "Chocolat"
Review: I gave "Chocolat" 5 stars and "Blackbery Wine" 3 stars, so I felt that I had to give this book 4 because it is better than one but not as good as the other.

This book somewhat fell apart for me about halfway thorough. I started off loving it...it began wonderfully with such lovely language. I think the problem is that it was just too drawn out and lengthy. It felt like the author was getting paid by the word!

I think the framework of the story was good but it was too enmeshed in all the verbiage. I found myself skimming large sections in the second half.

The resolution/climax did not seem to warrant the weight and length of all that came before it. The hints of what was to come made me feel that the denouement would be more spectacular than it was.

Like another reviewer, I experienced some confusion, such as the several times two characters were doing the same thing, separated by 50 years. I found it unclear as to who was doing what and when.

I was inspired by the album that Framboise's mother kept over the years and have reolved to do something similar. What a great idea!

Rating:
Summary: less than expected, but still good
Review: I absolutely LOVED Chocolat and could not wait to get my hands on a copy of Five Quarters of the Orange ~ when I finally did, I was a little less than impressed. The story of the shocking and tragic scandal that drove the Dartigen family from their home in the small French village of Les Laveuses during the German occupation was doled out so slowly that by the time the truth was revealed, I hardly cared.

Five Quarters of the Orange definitely lacks the charm and wicked humor of it's predecessors, Chocolat and Blackberry Wine, but is probably worth a try if you're looking for a darker, more serious read.

Joanne Harris is unquestionably a talented author and I look forward to her next effort.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: This book sucked majorly. I'm sorry. If you think that informing on your Jewish neighbors to the Nazi occupying forces in your village is child's play, then maybe you will think that this is an okay book. I found nothing redeeming about that. The book is based on a premise that some readers will romanticize morphine addiction. This was one reader who didn't. The book magnifies the dysfunctional relationship of a mother and daughter and the plot alludes to a mystery being revealed toward the end (with movie offer fanfare, no less) but lacks coherence to evoke sympathy in this reader at least, or to draw compassion for such an uncompassionate group of characters. The Resistance movement against fascism and Nazism is alluded to in the book and what is particularly disappointing about the ending is that resistance is pronounced futile, which I found extremely irresponsible. To set the historical record straight, I would like to remind readers that the Resistance movement in Europe did much to stand against Nazism and fascism, and unless you were interested in dying in a concentration camp, Resistance was a good thing. This book is a disappointment that will only sneak by apolitical readers who were asleep during this century or have no concept of history.

Rating:
Summary: ...more than a story of the Occupation...
Review: Harris' newest novel is darker and more complex than either Chocolat or Blackberry Wine. The story--the reminiscences of elderly, embittered Framboise Dartigan--explores the events that shaped her childhood and her village during the German occupation of France.

On one level it's about the naive wartime collaboration of children and its consequences, but more importantly it's an exploration of mother-daughter relationships and how they shape the lives of multiple generations. This is a theme Harris first dipped into in Chocolat, but here the events and the emotions are sharper and more raw, and ultimately more revealing.

As with her two most recent novels, food and wine are woven into the story. The discovery by Framboise of her mother's cookbook, with its secrets and emotions never revealed during her mother's life, is the vehicle that forces her to confront and to put to rest the events that have dominated her life.

Harris continues to amaze, and Five Quarters is clearly her most fully realized writing. Though I found myself disliking Framboise more than a few times, the story has a depth and feeling that is hugely satisfying. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Orange-inal!
Review: Unlike "Chocolate," a delicious, sweet tale, "Five Quarters Of The Orange" is a full bodied, mature, red wine. Set against the backdrop of occupied France, Harris explores the pain of childhood, loss of innocence and having to comes to terms with both physical loss and emotional abandonment.

Children are cruel in their quest for survival and Framboise as a child of nine is no exception. In her early sixties she not only reflects on her past but is forced to confront it through circumstance. Through it all the sweet smell of oranges wafts through the story line, the bitter taste of its peel a punctuation to tragedy.

The result is a realization that non of us are perfect, we all suffer greatly and in that suffering very often flounder through the river of life. But possibly in the end, great love and forgiveness can come about through compassion and understanding. "Five Quarters Of The Orange" is brilliantly executed and a very entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: well-written page-turner
Review: In Five Quaters of the Orange, Joanne Harris blends history, personal tragedy, perserverance, and ultimately triumph, to produce a book rich with characters and events. From the first few pages, Harris had me wanting more, setting the stage for a long personal journey and tale to unfold.

At times the narrative was confusing, switching from the past to present so quickly that I had to turn back a few pages to get my bearings. Ultimately Frambroise proves to be a solid and trustworthy narrator, bringing us not only into her external world, but into her confused heart and mind as well.

Overall, it was a good read with characters that are well-developed and interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Five Quarters of the Orange
Review: Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris' newest novel, is enchanting and captivating. I have been a fan of Harris since reading the amazing Chocolat and the haunting Blackberry Wine. Her new book is about what happens to a family in France during the German occupation of World War II. The story is told from the point of view of the main character, Framboise. Harris deftly weaves the voices of nine-year-old Framboise, who is in the midst of the action, and 64-year-old Framboise, who is remembering what occurred and preparing to reveal old secrets. Harris' recipe for rich, satisfying writing is evident in Orange, as it is in her other novels. Strange and awful things happen, but Harris enfolds them in the rhythms of life lived close to the earth, making them seem natural and inevitable. I loved this book for the same reason I have loved all of Harris' novels. She tells a compelling story through realistic, complex characters, but it is the power and beauty of her writing that keeps me coming back for helping after helping.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely Patchwork Quilt
Review: Framboise returns to the village of her youth as an old woman, unrecognizable because of her age and using a different first name along with her married name. None of the villagers connect her, a 65 year old widow, respectable though peculiar, with the skinny kid that was run out of the village with her mother and two siblings some fifty years prior. She's Mirabelle Dartigen's daughter. . . if they only knew.

In her return "home" Boise must face the past and sort out what happened to her enigmatic mother. The album, with it's clippings and cryptic writing, leads her to discoveries about her mother that shock her and change her whole view of who her mother was.

At the same time, Boise relives her own life, especially that pivotal summer. This, side by side with her discoveries from the album, form a full picture of what did happen, answer some of her questions and give the reader a story told in patchwork that, when fit together, makes a lovely quilt of story.

The story is told in the first person, going back and forth from Boise's childhood to her current struggle with first the village and then her relatives. It transitions smoothly, the story is firm and real--and like the oranges that play such a crucial role, the scent of the story lingers for some time after the reading.

The main plot was a well-used one, and as such disappointed me a bit. Harris managed to make up for that, though, with her style which kept me intrigued even during the most obvious bits. Over all the novel was a good one and I look forward to reading for her other two novels.

Rating:
Summary: Dark but very compelling
Review: Mirabelle Dartigen is a brilliant chef whose legacy to her daughter Framboise is her talent and a notebook containing her recipes. She is also a widow who is plagued by blinding migraine headaches, and addicted to the morphine she needs to survive them. These debilitating, crippling headaches are always preceded by the smell of oranges, so she will not permit an orange in her house.

Tormented by pain, drug addiction and mental illness, Mirabelle attempts to raise three children alone in war torn France after her husband is killed by the Germans. She is not up to the task, physically or mentally, and the children are left to raise themselves.

Framboise, wild to begin with, has hardened toward her mother, whose afflictions have made her distant, mean and unapproachable. In order to ensure that her mother doesn't interfere with her plans, which alternately involve telling the town's secrets to a charismatic German who brings her and her siblings presents, and catching a giant pike thought to grant any wish to whomever catches it, Framboise steals an orange and places it in her mother's pillow in order to trigger one of her migraines.

Throughout the book, she uses oranges to control her mother, who reacts to the odor by shutting herself into her room for days in screaming, sleepless pain, while the children fend for themselves, and do as they wish.

Years later, the elderly Framboise, looking back and reading through her mother's diary-like notebook, gains some insight into the woman's agony and her own part in it. She has returned to her home after decades, hiding her identity from her town, which remembers her family as conspirators with the Nazis, and responsible for the murder of a German and the execution of several townsfolk. She lives among them because it is her home, but is terrified that she will be found out and recognized as "Mirabelle Dartigen's daughter".

The book alternates between the nine-year old Framboise, and the elderly Framboise. It also follows two dramas, the one during WWII where her and her siblings' best friend is a Nazi who trades chocolate for secrets, and the present day where one of her relatives is blackmailing her and threatening to expose her.

The complexity of the relationships and the characters is outstanding, and the story's suspense keeps building and building. The writing is excellent. This isn't a book to read if you're in the mood for something light. Pick this up in your deeper moments when you can shift into Framboise's dark world, which seems all the more frightening because it all seems so plausible.

Excellent book.