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A review by almondcookies
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
1.0
This book was a struggle to get through. The characters were so poorly developed that one morning, after picking this up and reading from where I left off, I realised I had no idea who I was reading about. The more worrying part is, after attempting to reread a couple chapters, I realised I didn't care.
I found the storylines of the various characters repetitive. Moreover, as none of them were properly fleshed out or explored in detail, it was difficult to gain attachment for the characters.
The man who's anxious and afraid of putting his dog down; when he eventually does, he gets a new one, and is far happier.
The woman in an abusive marriage leaves her husband, finds someone new and starts her own business, and is much happier.
The ill, elderly lady, dying and estranged from her grandson, stops taking her medication and starts living life the way she wants... finally dies, but becomes much happier before she goes.
Can you see a reoccurring theme here? Let's just live life the way we want without caring about the consequences, is a fine way of living, if you're a character in a book and the author is willing to bestow a happy ending upon you.
Another thing that irked me is all the unresolved plot points. What of the frail old man? Of our main character's origin backstory (The few throw away paragraphs we were given were far from enough)
Even worse - what happened to the priest or how the townsfolk reacted to him eating all the chocolates the day after Lent ended? Considering he was the 'villain' of this story, I'm disappointed that his story in particular had less of an ending and more of a 'something embarrassing happened to him and he ran back to his house' wrap up. What kind of ending is that?
In addition, considering that the day after Lent was supposed to be the climax of the story, I found it extremely underwhelming. As a plot point, the houseboats being set on fire was far more interesting; it could have turned into something substantial, and at a few points in the book, almost did, but alas, it was not meant to be.
The last complaint I have is the clear 'good' and 'bad' characters in this book. There are two camps of people, the bad, 'Bible Groupies' and the good, 'Chocolate Eaters'. Precisely because there were clear cut 'good' and 'bad' characters in this book, it felt less enjoyable to read - there are no grey areas and those that are 'bad' have no chance of redemption. Such a book cannot be considered character driven, but it certainly isn't story driven either.
After that rant, the real question is, is there really nothing good about this book?
The saving grace was that I really enjoyed how Harris was able to paint the scenes so beautifully. Her descriptions of a religious country village, the delicate chocolate shop or the mouthwatering food was a delight to read.
Overall, there was little I enjoyed about this book, and would not be able to recommend it.
I found the storylines of the various characters repetitive. Moreover, as none of them were properly fleshed out or explored in detail, it was difficult to gain attachment for the characters.
The man who's anxious and afraid of putting his dog down; when he eventually does, he gets a new one, and is far happier.
The woman in an abusive marriage leaves her husband, finds someone new and starts her own business, and is much happier.
The ill, elderly lady, dying and estranged from her grandson, stops taking her medication and starts living life the way she wants... finally dies, but becomes much happier before she goes.
Can you see a reoccurring theme here? Let's just live life the way we want without caring about the consequences, is a fine way of living, if you're a character in a book and the author is willing to bestow a happy ending upon you.
Another thing that irked me is all the unresolved plot points. What of the frail old man? Of our main character's origin backstory (The few throw away paragraphs we were given were far from enough)
Even worse - what happened to the priest or how the townsfolk reacted to him eating all the chocolates the day after Lent ended? Considering he was the 'villain' of this story, I'm disappointed that his story in particular had less of an ending and more of a 'something embarrassing happened to him and he ran back to his house' wrap up. What kind of ending is that?
In addition, considering that the day after Lent was supposed to be the climax of the story, I found it extremely underwhelming. As a plot point, the houseboats being set on fire was far more interesting; it could have turned into something substantial, and at a few points in the book, almost did, but alas, it was not meant to be.
The last complaint I have is the clear 'good' and 'bad' characters in this book. There are two camps of people, the bad, 'Bible Groupies' and the good, 'Chocolate Eaters'. Precisely because there were clear cut 'good' and 'bad' characters in this book, it felt less enjoyable to read - there are no grey areas and those that are 'bad' have no chance of redemption. Such a book cannot be considered character driven, but it certainly isn't story driven either.
After that rant, the real question is, is there really nothing good about this book?
The saving grace was that I really enjoyed how Harris was able to paint the scenes so beautifully. Her descriptions of a religious country village, the delicate chocolate shop or the mouthwatering food was a delight to read.
Overall, there was little I enjoyed about this book, and would not be able to recommend it.