Angie
Written on Aug 23, 2014
One of my favorite things about Chocolat was that it was told in alternating POV. One of which, of course, was Vianne, and the second was the priest, but told in letters to some unknown recipient (at least in the beginning it's unknown). I just really love letter, diary, and other types of epistolary narratives. However, this format also made the religious themes quite obvious and I usually don't have a problem with them, but it was a bit overbearing. Vianne does not attend church nor believe in God, and Pere Reynaud is completely convinced that she's there to tempt everyone and lead them into sin with her chocolates. It's too much of a stretch, since she's nothing but polite in the beginning, and he's nothing but rude. He's also the ultimate hypocrite, saying he can't get involved in ruining her, and yet he uses other people to do his dirty work.
I really don't have much I want to say about Chocolat. I enjoyed it, but mostly because I liked seeing familiar scenes from the movie, rather than enjoying the book itself. It was a nice, relaxing read and I liked most of the characters (Armande being my favorite). I'm also just a fan of small towns being shaken up by eccentric new comers, and the subtle magic definitely added a little something extra. But, overall, it just wasn't my thing. I much prefer the film adaptation.
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