chocolat chocolate yum

Chocolat, Joanne Harris
*
I will admit that I stocked some nice dark chocolate for this read.    If you are about to read this novel, I recommend stocking up yourself.  Splurge and get the good kind.  Some hot cocoa or a mocha would be in theme too.   It seems that the townspeople of Lansquenet are always eating and drinking chocolat. Perhaps you have seen the movie…I confess to watching the movie before reading the book.  I saw it when it first came out.  And it was good, but as usual, the book is better with less romance and more character.  Chocolat is a fairy tale and an ordinary tale all in one.  I liked that the novel’s romance unfolds within each person rather than as affairs.  It is far more important that the characters come to enjoy who they are individually, only then can they see others beauty.I wasn’t as impressed with the darker aspects of the novel as being scary but the character of the priest is rich.  Father Reynaud is a caricature of himself.   And it is his fault that he falls into the stereotypical bad guy.   Harris creates him to be the antithesis of Vianne Rocher.  The interesting aspect of this is that he has the potential to be so wonderfully human, but he must constantly flatten himself with piety and martyrdom.  He resists the reality of himself.  I believe that this character struggle is the moving force within Chocolat. 
Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk, are accused of being the stimulants of change, blowing about with the wind, but it is just this trait that makes the two of them static.  Vianne takes only measured control of her life, doling out consistency and future in allotments, a cooking class here, a shop there, perhaps they will stay or maybe the wind will change again.  Vianne acts as if she has no say in when she will go, as if the wind really does decide for her.  I would say that hope for some bit of permanance manifests itself in Anouk. 

But, I am not writing a paper on this, so I think that’s all I will say on the matter.  
Chocolat is worth reading, it’s not brilliant, but it is good.