Chocolat Book Report Essay

Publishers First Published in Great Britain in 1999 by Doubleplay, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Black thread edition published 2000, Black Swan edition reissued 2007 Chocolat is a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris. It tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a small single mother, who arrives in the cut village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes at the beginning of change with her six-year- quondam(a) fille, Anouk.Vianne opens a deep brown shop, La Celeste Praline, right opposite the village church, and throughout the traditional season self-denial Lent, proceeds to gently change the lives of the villagers who audit her chocolaterie with a combination of sympathy, determination and a little magic trick. This s provokedalizes the parish priest, Francis Reynaud, and his supporters who are convert Vivian is evil.As tensions run high, the community is increasingly divided, and as Easter approaches, rough water the ritual of the Church against the indulgence of chocolate, Father Reynaud and V ianne Rocher face an inevitable scrap I personally really loved the nurse Joanne Harris really did a great job in creating an enticing plot with a good deal of strong and unique characters. My favorite is Anouk who although is sole(prenominal) six years old brings such life to the book and manages to give a bit of decrease heartedness to points where the book tolerate become heavy.This is a rattling(prenominal) tale of family and magic and hope. It is non your typical romance and rise worth the quantify. The book is a full of strong opinions and characters Ms. Harris manages to capture your attention with her delicious descriptions and fast contemptible plot. There really is never a boring moment in this book, its fantastic for any unmatchable who loves books that are thought provoking yet shut up sweet and fun. An Important moment in this book is when Vianne decides the hold the Easter coffee Festival.At this point in the book you begin to see the argument between Vi anne and Father Francis Reynaud through the chocolates and the church. Although the rivalry mostly comes from Father Reynaud, Vianne can feel the dis deal he has for her. Many of the t suffers family really began to divide at this point. We also began to see Reynaud began to go harebrained with his obsession for Vianne and the destroying of her chocolates. We see Reynaud change chuck up the spongee considerably throughout the book. Francis Reynaud, like any religious man in a small town, has a big influence on all the race of Lansquenet.He is quit oppressive with his views and tends to carry a actually much holier than thou placement towards his parish. At one point in the book he compares himself to a sheapard and how his flock need him Sheep are not the docile, pleasant creatures of the pastoral idyll. any(prenominal) countryman will tell you that. They are sly, occasionally vicious, and pathologically stupid. The easy shepherd may go through his flock unruly, defiant. I cannot afford to be lenient. His suspicions begin with the arrival of Vianne and Anouk and his initial strategy is to try and befriend the enemy.He offers her care in repairing the bakery merely she refuses politely, emphasizing that she has got it all chthonic control. He hopes that people will realize that she should be evicted on their own in fear of tarnishing his account. His plan works at initiative as concerned mothers begin to forbid their children from overhauling time with Anouk, as she plants unrestrained ideas in to their heads. Also business is not running very swimmingly at the chocolate shop and Reynaud begins to believe that it is just a press of time before they leave with the changing of the wind.We see him slowly began to cop for desperation that he is right that Vianne is evil and that he is still best than all his parishioners. He reaches boiling point when madness and rage hold in over his mind and he breaks into La Celeste Praline the morning befor e fate and gobbles down chocolate after over a month of fasting. His reputation is tarnished and respect vanished. He runs away and is never heard of again. Josephine Muscat first appears as a nervous introvert. She is quiet and slumps when she walks.She is gossiped about and pitied throughout Lansquenet, as the fact that her husband physically abuses her is one of the worst kept secrets around. She does not mutter a word about it and her thoughts are so muddied that even so Vianne, with all her power, fails to pull in what lies in her head. With time, Josephine begins to talk to Vianne more and begins to spend more time in the chocolate shop. Viannes influence and advice finally result in Josephine leaving her husband Paul and moving in with Vianne in the chocolates shop spare room.The more time she spends with Vianne, the more Josephines personality blossoms. She now walks with her head held high and has substituted her blue(a) wardrobe for a new, more colorful one. She spea ks with an audible, confident voice and can now look people in the eyes. A spark is snarl between her and Roux as they indulge in conversation and become walking(prenominal) when she moves to the chocolate shop and he settles in Lansquenet. She even faces Paul one last time on her own. She is transformed from the average, abused housewife to the confident, indie female as the novel develops.Joanne Harris is a very descriptive writer, which you find quite early on in the book. Although she does use quite descriptive writing she does it very well and it transcends into beautiful pieces of writing that are big(a) to follow We came on the wind of the carnival. A warm wind for February, load with the hot greasy scents of frying pancakes and sausages and powdery-sweet waffles cooked on the to plate right in that respect by the roadside with the confetti sleeting down collars and cuffs and rolling in the gutters like an cretin antidote to winter. Something really interesting about the author is that she mixes French with English. So while most of the book is English, songs, signs or names are still very much French. She also uses her chapters as a way to force a timeline for the book. At the begging of each chapter we receive a see allowing us to process where we are in the year. Joanne Harris is a popular British writer, who has written a total of fourteen books some of which were bestsellers. Joannes book Chocolat has been adapted into the Oscar nominated movie staring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.She lives with her Husband and daughter in Yorkshire and her hobbies include Mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quite subversion. She can speak both French and English and she was strongly influenced by Grimms Fairy Tales and the tales of Charles Perrault, as well as local folklore and Norse mythology. The cover for Chocolat I think it is very appropriate and gives you a successful looking into the plot before you even look into the book with the bright colours of Viannes clothes to the chocolate Easter eggs.By the time you finish the book you complete understand the symbolism of a woman sitting and holding a nest full of Easter Eggs. I think that this book would be fit to mostly older men and woman but it can contumaciously appeal to young adults as well. Personally I think it would trounce to heavy for younger readers and not all would understand the issues brought up in the book. The book has been made into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, standing(a) on its own the movie is absolutely fantastic a wonderful love story. Yet when compared along side the book it fails completely.Not only is the book completely different to the movie with a change of couples and villains but also with the plot line it just lacks the darkness found in the book. There is something captivating about the transition from Viannes thoughts to Father Reynauds and the slow build up of the plot through it. Also I hate the disregarded for the lesser characters in the movie half of the people in the book arent even mentioned in the movie And although many of them dont have huge significant roles they still help shape the story.