Chocolat - Joanne Harris

What can I possibly have to say about this book that hasn't been said already...not much I would think seeing as this has been reviewed before me a total of 19 times....still, I guess theres always room for one more person to add his or her opinion to the pot so without any further adieu lets get on with it shall we...? It would be fair to say that this is not the usual sort of book I read though actually this is not strictly accurate as it seems of late I have begun to read more and more books not normally in my remit. This is partly because of the Book-swapping site to which I belong (READITSWAPIT) and the forums there which actively encourage you to try ...  Read the complete review

When Vianne Rocher, her daughter Anouk (with Pantoufle - an imaginary rabbit) breeze into the small, religious, French town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes with the intention of opening a chocolate shop during the holy time of Lent, you just know that there's going to be some problems. Since Vianne is a single mother, you can imagine that the least of her problems might be her tempting confections on the town's citizens, who are trying to deny their weak bodies. You see, Vianne believes in magic - not just the magic of delicious foods, but also in the magic of life itself, and that isn't going to go down well with the pious mayor of the town, Reynaud, whose championing of ...  Read the complete review

I have just this minute finished reading Chocolat. From the moment I started reading it, I was intrigued. Not by it's language or even it's plot, but by it's meaning; it's message. It's an understatement to say that Harris doesn't write easily. She, at times, can make reading the book difficult, because you get lost in where she is, and what she's trying to say. Saying this, though, it was a pleasure reading it, and something I'll forever remember. I haven't seen the film - of the same name - so I didn't know what the story was about, at all. I knew it was set in France - hence the name - but new nothing about its plot. I ...  Read the complete review

“Is this the best book ever written?” questions the Literary Review on the front cover of my paperback edition of this book, a fairly audacious claim and one to be fair no book should have to bear. So in no way to prejudice the reader, ‘Chocolat’ is not the best book ever written, it is a light and at times delicious read, with a notable darker subtext buried in amongst a celebration of hedonistic pleasure but it’s hardly Booker Prize material. So now we’ve cleared that one up, perhaps I should move on to the review. Set over the forty day period of Lent in the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, “No more ...  Read the complete review

Chocolat sat on my bookshelf untended and unloved for nine months! Now if the church could call anything sacrilege this is it! If you have read the book, you will get the pun, if not then you will have to read the book. However, the recent interest in the film got me thinking. I have that book the one that everybody has raved about but looks so boring. A book about a chocolate shop in a small French village! YAWN. Well anyway at best a girls book. How mistaken can a man be? This is a divine book, beautifully crafted, dealing with a brilliant and difficult subject matter. If it were chocolate, it would be the best, in fact better than the best. ...  Read the complete review