Chocolat - Joanne Harris

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87 of 87 Ciao users found the following review helpful

whoopidoo

Why Do You Have To Be A Dietbreaker? 28/02/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages Chocolate - chocolate - chocolate... oh and there is a fabulous fairy tale of a yarn in there too
Disadvantages Diet-breaking!

Whilst browsing the shelves of the local library a while back I came upon a sale section where they were selling off a large selection of their books at half marked price. Along with a few others I came across Chocolat by Joanne Harris at the bonus price of 20p. I have wanted to see the movie that is based on this novel for a long time - I just never seem to have got round to it. So home I trotted with bargains galore and there they rested on the bookshelf for several months with all the rest of my ‘so much to read - so little time’ gems. Accompanying my daughter to an overnight stay at ... more
26 of 26 Ciao users found the following review helpful

hiker

Member since 28/03/2003

Reviews written: 515

Church , Chocolate & the Nature of Sin 31/07/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages Delicious exploration of humanity
Disadvantages Milk chocolate will never taste the same again.

“Now a Major Film” is the flag most likely to make me leave a book on the shelf – but I’d raved so much about Blackberry Wine that people were queuing up to lend me Chocolat. And they weren’t wrong. In the copy I read the publishers did the book one favour, despite the offending strapline, by not showing scenes from the film on the cover. The people you meet in here are fully conjured and need no actor’s intervention. [Sadly later editions will colour your views.] Shrove Tuesday. Carnival. A woman and a child have ‘blown in on the wind’. Into ... more
82 of 82 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Jonni_boi

Member since 22/03/2007

Reviews written: 232

MOUTHWATERING! Buy some chocolate before reading 27/10/2011

User recommends the product

Advantages Joanne Harris, CHOCOLATE, mouthwatering, amazing
Disadvantages make sure you have chocolate before reading!

I was given this book from a friend, and I wasn't too sure if it was going to be my sort of thing. After reading "The Evil Seed" I did kind of wonder if a book by the same author is going to grip me as much as the other book did, but I don't even know why I questioned it... I loved this book more than you could imagine, and it's definitely up there amongst my favourite books of all time. Joanne Harris is a British author who has written many books (most of them I have got and I'm just eager to read them). So far I have read "The Evil Seed", "Chocolat" and its sequel "The Lollipop Shoes". She ... more
38 of 38 Ciao users found the following review helpful

ithoughtyoudneverask

Member since 03/10/2011

Reviews written: 124

Indulge... 09/12/2011

User recommends the product

Advantages A gorgeously indulgent, complex novel
Disadvantages Might make you hungry!

Chocolat is a story about – well – chocolate. A young woman on the run, Vianne Rocher, and her six year old daughter, Anouk, stop in the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes during Lent and open a chocolaterie. The more religious element of the village (led by the emotionally twisted curé, Reynaud and a gang of uptight yummy mummies) see this as an affront; an attack on their beliefs and their righteous desires. One by one, the villagers warm to Vianne and are won over by her rich, indulgent wares at a time when Reynaud is preaching abstinence, fasting and self-denial. Chocolate itself ... more
74 of 74 Ciao users found the following review helpful

shewhosmiles

A Confection Of Bad Influence 02/10/2002

User recommends the product

Advantages Interesting, thought provoking
Disadvantages Not always believable

Unmarried mother Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk arrive in a small French village called Lansquenet-sous-Tannes on Shrove Tuesday and in the middle of a carnival. Six year old Anouk is wiser than her years and has an invisible rabbit friend called Pantoufle. She asks her mother if they can stay there after living as travellers and always running away from 'the dark man' who I believe is symbolic of anybody who can't accept and feels threatened by the existence of those who don't conform to their narrow way of life. Vianne too quickly to be realistic, opens a chocolate boutique cum café ... more
58 of 58 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Mattroberts

Ooooh, Get Me A Box Of Milk Tray, Will Ye'! 24/11/2003

User recommends the product

Advantages Great story, interesting, not what I thought it would be like!
Disadvantages Reynaud's somewhat confusing views!

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 ... more
41 of 41 Ciao users found the following review helpful

VickyVickster

Indulgent,sweet and sexy! 22/04/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages entertaining read,indulgent,sweet and good for you!
Disadvantages Dieters beware. you'll want chocolate within minutes off opening this book but you'll feel so revbellious by then you won't care!

I completely forgot to take a book to my mums with me the past weekend. I do so like to read before I sleep when I haven’t got the internet or a husband handy to tire me out instead! I didn’t have to worry as mum had a box of books sitting in the back bedroom ready for me. Well actually ready to go to the charity shop but to cut to the chase this is how I came across this book Chocolat by Joanne Harris. The copy I found had a large picture of a dark haired beauty of a woman offering a chocolate to the lips of a Johnny Depp looking fellow. The lady has a wicked smile on her lips and the guy ... more
23 of 23 Ciao users found the following review helpful

dreamerz

Every finger in the room...is pointing at me 27/07/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages A delightful enjoyable read with a potentially dark centre
Disadvantages A little too simplistic perhaps

“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 ... more
15 of 15 Ciao users found the following review helpful

sparkymarky1973

Member since 23/08/2006

Reviews written: 96

Don't forget to brush your teeth after reading 24/04/2008

User recommends the product

Advantages Full of emotion, leaves the reader with all kind of positive, happy feelings upon completion
Disadvantages none-leaves you almost as satisfied as real chocolate

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 number of times already....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 ... more
16 of 16 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Tonilouise

Much More Than Just Chocolate 10/11/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages Very readable, challenging and thought provoking,
Disadvantages None

When Vianne arrives in Lansquenet with her young daughter and opens a chocolate boutique opposite the church, Father Reynard immediately identifies her as a threat to him and his flock and to the traditions, religion and way of life that he holds so dear. Vianne’s shop cum café is a provocative distraction to the town folk and one which Father Reynard sees as seducing his god fearing congregation. After all, how can the church compete with such mouth-watering chocolate delights as are described here and how can it turn a blind eye to their calling when they are right outside his front ... more