Book Club: Chocolat by Joanne Harris

I belong to a wonderful book club. In the time I have been with the group, we have read all the way through Austen, the Brontes, science fiction, non-fiction and classics from every decade. This very evening, we will gather to discuss one of my all time favorite books Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Many of you will know the book from the Oscar nominated film adaptation, starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. I myself discovered the book after I watched the movie and what a wonderful discovery it was. The book is a much darker creature than the movie. In the book version, the antagonist is the priest, not an aristocrat. Additionally, many of the events that happen in the story are not resolved neatly or at all in the book. In spite of these differences, I believe the book is all the more delicious for its darkness. In honor of this great story (regardless of what medium you use), here are some readalikes for Chocolat by Joanne Harris.

Five Quarters of the Orange: A Novel by Joanne Harris
If you've polished off Chocolat and are hungry for more books in the same style, I recommend continuing with another Joanne Harris book. In this story, you'll discover the same rich language and symbolic use of food and cooking. After many years, Framboise Simon returns incognito to her childhood village in France. She does her best not to let anyone know that she is in fact Framboise Dartigen, the daughter of a woman the entire village still holds accountable for a tragedy that occurred during the German occupation. The reader will jump back and forth with Framboise as she looks from her present to her past to discover what happened during one fateful summer.

 Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Sarah Addison Allen is one of my new favorites. Although she doesn't have the same amount of darkness in her stories as Joanne Harris does, Addison Allen captures that feeling of magical realism. That is, Sarah Addison Allen makes her stories dance on the edge of the fantastic. None of the characters overtly practice magic. Rather, like Vianne in Chocolat, magic trickles through their lives and manifests itself in particular talents or places. In Garden Spells, the town of Bascom, North Carolina is home to Claire Waverley. Claire, like all of the Waverleys before her, has a special talent. Claire's talent lies in cooking - magical things happen if you eat her meals. Claire is content with her quiet life, until her sister Sydney and Sydney's daughter Bay come to town. Unbeknownst to Claire, they are running from something. It will take all of the Waverleys combined talents to help Sydney stop running and aid Claire with letting go and healing past hurts.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
This is the story of the De la Garza family, which consists of Mama Elena and her three daughters: Gertrudis, Rosaura and Tita. They live on a ranch near the Mexican-United States border. This story spans a number of years, but primarily takes place during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1929). Early on in the story Tita falls deeply in love with a neighbor, Pedro. Unfortunately, Mama Elena forbids the marriage, citing a De la Garza tradition that the youngest daughter remain unmarried at home to care for the mother until the mother's death. Pedro instead marries Tita's sister Rosaura, in order to stay close to Tita. Tita consoles herself by working hard in the ranch kitchen. However, when Tita cooks she unwittingly transfers her emotions into the food. This is a beautifully written, sensual story.

 Pomegranate Soup: A Novel by Marsha Mehran
Three Iranian immigrant sisters (Marjan, Bahar and Layla Aminpour) flee to the tiny village of Ballinacroagh, Ireland seeking safety. In order to support themselves, they open a restaurant celebrating the food of their homeland called the Babylon Cafe. At first the villagers are cautious, but soon the three sisters win over friends with their strength, kindness and their exotic cooking. Youngest sister Layla also begins a sweet romance with a young local man. But when a combative and close-minded villager threatens the sister's hard won peace, it's up to the young women and their new allies to prove that they belong in this new place. This is another story that celebrates magical realism through the medium of food.

For more Food Fiction, check out this awesome list, courtesy of Bellingham Public Library.
    

Read like "Pride and Prejudice"

I have wonderful friends. One of the ways my friends show they care is that they will often send me geeky videos, websites, memes, pictures, etc that they think I'll enjoy. Just the other day, one of my friends sent me the following awesome video:

If you haven't already seen this video, this is the official "video blog" of one Lizzie Bennett. Complete with crazy sisters and an overbearing (southern belle) mother, Lizzie talks her way through the arrival of the rich, handsome new neighbor Bing Lee and his mysterious (and apparently hot) friend Darcy. Thus far, this YouTube series is a very clever spoof on "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

Since the book was written, there have been countless adaptations of books, movies, stage and television shows. There have been the good (Colin Firth), the bad ("Pemberly Ranch" or "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre" anyone?) and the decidedly odd ("Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts"** - no, I'm not kidding). Everyone has an adaptation that they love and in honor of the above video, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field by Melissa Nathan
This book was one of my first adaptation reading experiences. In this book, Londoner Jasmin Field is a columist for a woman's magazine. At the beginning of the story, Jasmin is coerced into auditioning for a role in a stage production of "Pride and Prejudice" that will raise money for charity. To everyone's surprise (including her own) Jasmin scores the leading role of Elizabeth Bennet. Playing opposite her as Mr. Darcy is wealthy, talented, Oscar-winning and arrogant actor Harry Noble. In addition to starring in the play, Harry Noble is also acting as director and financier to the production. Of course, sparks fly between Harry and Jasmin and the classic story is played out in the modern setting, with a complete cast of characters. I think what I liked best about this version is that it is just different enough to make me feel as though the author wasn't adapting sentence by sentence. The characters have their own quirks and personalities, while still being true to the original story. I also liked some of the adaptations to modern technologies, for example, Harry Noble saves Jasmin's family reputation by keeping them out of the tabloids.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel
Funnily enough, I didn't like reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" at all. Instead of being amused by the changes to the story, I found myself being put out by the tweaks to some of my favorite lines from the book. Reading that book, frankly, felt like some sort of evil, zombie-loving editor had gone through and added sentences or paragraphs that all looked wildly out of place. I kept visualizing the original graceful prose written in cursive, with the new additions scribbled over it in red crayon (some of the jokes were quite juvenile). Having said all that, when I picked up the graphic novel edition I was completely entertained. I enjoyed the heck out of the illiustrations of the Bennet sisters wreaking havoc on the invading zombie hordes. This story was made to be in graphic novel format - with minimal text and lots of action packed pictures.



By the way, the original "Pride and Prejudice" has also been converted to graphic novel format. If you have reluctant readers in your life, or you just want to have a graphic novel reading experience of this Austen classic, I would absolutely recommend you pick up "Pride & Prejudice" by Nancy Butler. The cover for the book is especially clever, as it has been made to look like the cover of a magazine.

Bride and Prejudice (2005)
All right! One of my first movie suggestions. "Bride and Prejudice" is a Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and it is, simply put, a blast to watch. Lalita Bakshi is one of four sisters in a family living in Amritsar, India. When Lalita and her family attend the wedding of a friend, they meet London barrister Balraj and his good friend Will Darcy. Darcy is wealthy, arrogant and gives Lalita the impression that he is very disdainful of India and Indian culture. Initially, Lalita can't stand Darcy but as the story progresses her impressions of him change. This leads to misunderstandings, wacky capers and eventually happy endings all around. In addition to a well-done adaptation of the classic story, there are several song and dance numbers that are quite fun to watch.

**I just have to share the summary for "Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts" - I've not read it but I'm half curious to after reading this hilarious blurb from NoveList. "Imagine that Jane Austen had written the opening line of her satirical novel Pride and Prejudice this way: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a good romp and a good wife - although not necessarily from the same person or from the opposite sex." In Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts Mr. Darcy has never been more devilish and the seemingly chaste Elizabeth never more turned on. The entire cast of characters from Austen's classic is here in this rewrite that goes all the way. This time Mr. Bingley and his sister both have designs on Mr. Darcy's manhood; Elizabeth's BFF Charlotte marries their family's strange relation and stumbles upon a secret world of feminine relations more to her liking; and, in this telling, men are not necessarily the the only dominating sex. And of course there's some good old fashioned bodice ripping that shows no pride or prejudice and reveals hot hidden lusts in every page-turning chapter".

Library Fines

We've all had that disagreeable experience. You meant to return that book, you truly did. But life happens, and here you are, book in hand and that smug so-and-so behind the library circulation desk is telling you that money is owed. I have been in both positions - both the individual with the late fees, pleading for mercy and the person behind the desk cringing as the amount due is revealed. Today I thought (being the generous individual I am) that I'd give you the benefit of my experience and write a little bit about how to deal with library fines.

1. Don't blame the person behind the desk
I understand, believe me. It's frustrating when you get a bill you weren't expecting. The person behind the desk may be disagreeable. Maybe it's the last straw to a truly rotten day. Whatever the reason, I urge you to resist snarling at this person. After all, this person was probably blithely mowing their lawn or watching a favorite TV show while the soulless computer was tallying up your library fines. Ultimately this is the person with the power to help you out and you want them on your side, so be civil even if you can't bring yourself to be nice.

2. Be honest about why the items are late (even if it's just 'I forgot') and ask for a break
As I've grown to adulthood, I have been amazed at what people can get simply by asking. This includes forgiveness for library fines. Much of the time, if you're upfront and ask for it, the person behind the desk will waive some or all of your fines. Sometimes, there are even policies or programs in place that can be used to make your fines go away (like Food for Fines). Whatever you do, don't make up a story. While amusing, these little works of fiction will not get results beyond a good chuckle in the library staff room (alien abduction or government confiscation of library materials are among my favorites).

3. Don't ask too often or for minuscule amounts
I once had a person come up to me and complain for over 20 minutes about a 10 cent library fine. By the end of the 20 minutes, both of us were out of temper and my attitude went from "how can I help you" to "you are paying that dratted library fine". Library workers are more than happy to help you out if you're in a fix, but if you are in a fix every single time you're in the library (or if your fix is incredibly minor) the helpfulness tends to diminish. If you tend to accumulate library fines (I'm pointing to myself furiously), pick your moment to appeal for mercy. Also, note that most libraries allow you to accumulate a certain amount (say, 10 dollars, but check with your library) before your use of the library is limited.

4. Don't demand ownership of an item if you've paid fines in excess of what it costs
I was truly surprised the first time this happened. A family brought a book from a popular children's series back quite late (I think the fines were 5 dollars). The book had a $3.99 price on it and once the fines were paid, the family asked for the book, since they felt they had paid for it. Fines are not based on the price of a library item. Fines are like parking tickets. You pay because you did something with your vehicle you weren't supposed to do. If you have fines, it's a fee because you didn't bring your item back, not payment for the item itself.

Even Charlie Brown has to pay fines

5. You've begged, pleaded and were MORE than nice, but the gargoyle at the front desk is still making you pay
There comes a point in every life where you must own up to your mistakes. I'm afraid, my friend, that this moment has come for you. There comes a point where you simply must pay your library fines. You may have done everything I recommend, but at the end of the day, you didn't bring your item back when it was due. If you talk to any library worker, you'll find that most (if not all) of us have had to pay library fines (and if that's not sad, I don't know what is - we WORK here for goodness sake). We empathize, believe me. So, take a deep breath and pay up.