What a visual little book. The need for Griet to be obedient and silent as a girl, a housemaid, and later as a model, makes visual observation her key feature as the narrator. I did see the movie when it came out....it was slow and beautifully filmed....a perfect interpretation of this novel. I also enjoyed scrutinizing all the Vermeer paintings described in the book.

Λατρεύω αυτό τον πίνακα οπότε όταν έμαθα πως υπάρχει βιβλίο εμπνευσμένο από αυτόν έπρεπε να το διαβάσω! Τελικά μου άρεσε αρκετά αλλά όχι όσο ήλπιζα! Ίσως να είχα πολύ υψηλές προσδοκίες!

I don't know if it has to do with my vacation days or the fact that I really, but really enjoyed reading this novel, but is was almost impossible to put it down, even though I'm not a big fan of historical fiction and I've watched the film 2 times already. Speaking of it, I'm sure there were many details left out, it's hard now to tell which, but it was definitely an advantage to put a face on the characters.

My interest in art over the years was quite inconsistent and I started by liking the modernists and surrealists, and by the time I met Vermeer I considered the Dutch masters (and many others for that matter) to be too old and classical for my taste. It was only in the last decade that I acknowledged them and still cannot put my finger on when I began to like Vermeer. Truth be told, Girl with a pearl earring is not a painting I particularly like, I tend to favour those that are sunlit, usually set in front of a window, like this, this or this, which later led me to love in the most absolute way the Danish trio, Ilsted, Holsoe and Hammershøi and their "Sunshine and silent rooms".

But back to the book. I don't remember if the Protestants VS Catholics issue was much focused on in the film version, but it was quite interesting to follow it throughout the book, and from what I've read, Chevalier's first novel went even deeper into it.
I terribly liked how Vermeer was always he, him or his for Griet and the Master and Servant relationship was very much to my taste! And I'm back to the film: having Colin's face and voice in mind really helped, sometimes my imagination needs help with faces but mostly voices. And now I must choose something as gripping as this or else I will end up struggling to finish Fry's memoir.

چقدر از اعتماد به نفس گِرت لذت بردم! با اینکه از خانواده ی سطح پایینی بود و به عنوان مستخدم وارد خانه ی وِرمِر نقاش شده بود، هیچوقت خودش رو کم ندید. و چقدر سیلی ای که روز اول و آخر به کورنلیا زد بهم چسبید

I wrote a paper on artistic expression using Girl with a Pearl Earring as a source, since it is a painting, a movie, and a book. It provided me fascinating fodder, a really good read, and a good grade on my paper. This is a wonderful study in repression and tiny details. There are some beautiful passages. I absolutely love the study done of the character of Vermeer. At one point, a character tells Griet (the imagined Girl with a Pearl Earring) to be careful, since Vermeer does not see her, but rather the painting that she will make. The artist sees the world only as paintings, not as people. This is shown as incredibly selfish. He loves only those things that fit into his sense of light and shape and color and tone. He has no interest in that which does not add to his work.

And it is for one reason only I will say that the movie was better than the book: that we are able to see his imaginings in front of him, rather than have them described. The movie was an endless series of portraits in motion, and a huge motif and focus on Vermeer's eyes. Colin Firth is known for his ability to play the quiet loner (see: Mr. Darcy) and it's brilliantly done here. Well cast, director. Well shot. It's one of my favorite movies. I do warn that it is incredibly quiet and intimate, and not a lot happens. Many people may be bored by it. But I think if you read this book in the first place you're the kind of person to like the movie.

Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι κατάλληλο για όσους αγαπάνε τα ιστορικά μυθιστορήματα, τις πολλές πολλές περιγραφές στην αφήγηση και την ζωγραφική, ειδικά την τέχνη του Βερμέερ. Γραμμένο σε πρώτο πρόσωπο από την οπτική γωνία της ηρωίδας, που όπως είπα γίνεται με μια περιγραφική αφήγηση. Μιλά πολύ για τα τοπία, τους ανθρώπους, τη ζωή στην προτεσταντική Ολλανδία του 17ου αιώνα και φυσικά για τη ζωγραφική. Αυτά είναι τα καλά. Αυτό που δεν με κέρδισε είναι οι ήρωες, είναι πολύ ήπιοι και αθόρυβοι σαν χαρακτήρες, και μερικές φορές γίνονται ελαφρώς αντιπαθητικοί. Δεν ήταν τόσο καλό όσο περίμενα, αλλά χάρηκα που διάβασα για τη ζωή του Βερμέερ και για την τεχνική του, που έτυχε στη σχολή να το μελετήσω και να γίνει ένας από τους αγαπημένους μου. Ααααυτά!

دوست نداشتم انقدر زود تموم شه :(((
از اونجایی که عکس این نقاشی روی میزم هست و هرروز میدیمش،خوندن این کتاب و ماجراش خیلی برام جالب بود.و زیبایی قلم نویسنده و توصیف جزییات واقعا لذت بخشش کرده بود

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier is a stunning piece of writing. I listened to the audiobook from Recorded Books, narrated by Ruth Ann Phimmister, who I thought brought something delicate and beautiful to the story that might not have otherwise been there. I very much recommend the audiobook version.

This story is of Griet, a sixteen-year-old maid who enters the VanMeer household in 1664 to save her own struggling family. She faces many wordly obstacles for the first time: the hatred of other servant class members and their underhanded scrabbling for power and favor, her mistress's unfounded suspicion, even paranoia, which she embodies in accusations of theft, the lurid attention of powerful men who take what they want one way or another, and perhaps most importantly, her own characteristics to never stand for being abused. Her time as a maid, while transformative, is not definitive--or is it in a way? You'll have to decide for yourself, as the reader, when you encounter Griet's destiny, and her fate.

I loved this book, and I loved it especially because the whole time I read it, I thought to myself, "My mom would adore this book!" She is a fan of the classic painters and paintings. (Come to find out, she has read it, and did enjoy it very much.)

I was disappointed with the ending, as I found it anticlimactic for the character I had come to know in Griet. I am uncertain, however, that the frustration I felt at the end was not unintentional on Chevalier's part. It is indeed a remarkable novel and I recommend it.

Rating 5 stars
Finished October 2022
Recommended for fans of history, historical fiction, fine art, historical romance (maybe), domestic suspense, strong female leads, girl coming of age stories
TW violence against children, DV, SA, self harm, false accusations, classism, poverty, pregnancy, premature birth

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Opravdala potpisan primerak knjige

نقاشی، کاتولیک یا پروتستان ندارد، بلکه مردمی هستند که به آن می‌نگرند، و چیزی که توقع دارند می‌بینند. یک نقاشی در کلیسا مانند شمعی در اتاق تاریک است -از آن برای بهتر دیدن استفاده می‌کنیم. پلی است میان ما و خداوند. ولی شمع، پروتستان یا کاتولیک نیست. فقط یک شمع است.

از متن کتاب

”Era o zi senină, fără nori şi cerul albastru părea să-şi râdă de mine. Era una dintre acele zile când copiii aleargă ţipînd în sus şi-n jos pe străzi, când perechile ies la câmp pe porţile oraşului, plimbându-se pe lângă morile de vânt şi de-a lungul canalelor, când femeile bătrâne stau la soare cu ochii închişi. Tata se aşezase probabil pe banca din faţa casei lui, cu faţa întoarsă spre căldură. Mâine se putea să fie un frig cumplit, dar azi era primăvară.”

Have you ever seen the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer? No? Then, have a look at it:



Isn't it beautiful?

I hadn't seen it until a few months ago, in a class I was taking at the university called “film appreciation”. My professor wanted to show us the movie that goes by the name of this painting because he wanted to illustrate some concepts present in the movie and many other things. Well, at the end of the movie, in the credits (yes, I read the credits; besides, the music was amazing), it said “based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier”, so I told my self “why, it was based upon a book, therefore I should read it”, and that's why I decided to read it.

Girl with a Pearl Earring was an interesting book to read. First of all because it features a famous painter, Johannes Vermeer; secondly, because the story is narrated from their maid's point of view; and finally, because we get to see how society was back in the seventeenth century.

The story follows Griet, a young girl who gets a job as a maid in Vermeer's house. Since she first came to the house, she is hated by her mistress, Tanneke (the other maid) and Cornelia (one of the uncountable children Catharina had), but she gained something far more precious. She gained Vermeer's interest.

Our heroine –Griet— is one of those characters who develop in the course of the story. She starts from being completely innocent and shy, and grows from there. At the end, she's still innocent, but she has changed. She has a particular obsession in hiding her hair with a cap, because her not showing her hair makes her be herself. Without her cap, she is “one of those women”, and she is not like that.

Vermeer is great. I loved him and his dedication. I also loved his relationship with Griet. It's not a romance, mind you, but it was obvious he cared for her, and the same applied the other way round. His personality was very intriguing too: He was always so calm and isolated from the world, even when there were many people in the same room as him. It always felt as if he was alone, and I don't know, that made him stand out.

The writing is beautiful. Simply brilliant. You could feel as if you were present in 1600's Holland. The details were enough to please you, but they were not overwhelmingly enough to tire you. It was perfect.

I'm glad I gave this book a try, because it surely deserved my reading it. A good fast read that will remain with me. I hope someday, when I'm older, I cross paths with this book again, because I would want to re-read it eventually.