About this title: This historical novel about the painter Vermeer is deeply immersed in he world of 17th century Holland. It concentrates on the triangular relationship between the Vermeer, his young model who is also a serving-maid in his household, and his jealous wife, Catharina.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton Books
Date Published: 01/2000
ISBN-13:9780525945277ISBN:052594527X
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 233 p. read more
"To sum this book up, I would say it was a nice story that ambles along nicely. Its set in a time when things seemed so simple, even though life was clearly hard.
Griet was a natural artist who would never realise her talent, or maybe even recognise that she may have one... sorting the vegetables into colours as she chopped, and not allowing the colours that clash or 'fight' to sit next to each other . She was brought up with a simple family life and had no aspirations beyond that, except for a desire to run off in whatever direction the arrows in the circle at the centre of the market pointed her in.
To suddenly become the bread-winner of the family, along with her brother must have seemed such a responsibility. It was very sad that the family lived nearby one another, but hardly saw each other because of their work commitments. When the plague forced a physical barrier, it re-enforced the perception of 'so near but yet so far.' At that point, she sought out her brother Frans, who was rebelling against the pressure of having to follow in his fathers footsteps at the tile factory... and no wonder, it sounded an awful place for a young lad to be.
Griet's new life as a maid is one that I just can't imagine ever being able to accept myself. To have to 'know my place' would be the main thing I would struggle with. Not being able to defend myself, even when it is a child (Cornelia) who is stirring the trouble... or a much older man who is intent on rape?! Its unthinkable!!
I don't believe that Johannes Vermeer and his wife Catharina had a happy marriage. They lived separate lives under the same roof... although they clearly 'bumped' into each other every now and then considering how often she fell pregnant!! He had his studio, which she was not allowed to enter (why?) and she had to run the house. Were the endless pregnancies to show the outside world what a happy family they were? "No problems here... we're thriving" kinda way? I don't know, Catharina is a proud woman.
Maria Thins is a likeable character, despite her being so shrewd. She used Griet as bait for Van Ruijven's commission without thinking twice about it. At the end of the day, maids were dispensable second-class citizens.
Tanneke is very loyal to the family... but to spend all your days slogging your guts out for the same family, in the same house for little thanks or reward is a waste of a life and I'm glad that I don't live in times when that would be expected of me.
Pieter is so sweet. A typical lad really... I was shocked and stunned at Griet to allow him a snog and a grope (and eventually more..) down an alley!!! Good grief, SURELY there were picnic areas or SOME place more romantic in Delft??!! Anyway, its sweet that he noticed her at the meat market and pursued her. No bloke these days would bother his arse going to the effort of attending church and Sunday dinners with the parents these days.
I can understand her crush on Vermeer (or as we more intimately know him... 'he' or 'him' or 'his') because he's the figure of authority within the household.. he has power, he is talented, he is well-known and respected by the whole town... and she is the young girl that gets to work beside him in the attic while his wife is not even permitted in the studio. I can also understand that he might have had a fantasy about her being the young, unattached, innocent girl who would seemingly do anything for him. Leaving her the pearl earrings in the will was a lovely gesture, but one that he surely knew would cause trouble so why, along with asking for her portrait back from Van Ruijven, did he do it? Did he really have deeper feelings for her? It just didn't seem to me that it was anything more than a fantasy with a bit of jealousy thrown in whenever Pieter appeared at the door.
However, what really got me confused was that after his lovely gesture from beyond the grave she took the pearls to the pawn shop!!!!!! Eh???? She decided to keep 5 bucks from the loot and hide THAT in a secret place Pieter wouldn't find.. I just don't see the logic!!
Overall, a good story though, and nicely written."
And I enjoyed it, too. I was being a bit sceptical before, actually I only read it, so I could watch the movie afterwards, but I was surprised in a good way.
I was captured by the narrative pretty soon and it read very lightly, very easily. I was longing for such a book for some time. Reading it was as easy as watching TV, but still it was good literature and not a cheap action tome. The first-person narrator was done very well, I thought, Griet is a composed and exact obsever and story teller. The language was simple, but pretty (and only every 50 pages I kind of stumbled over a weird, seemingly modern word ;) ), the details in colors and shapes were desribed in a perfect way. One also got to know the characters pretty soon and pretty good, even though in some cases, like Cornelia, it seemed a little blunt and overdone.
So, all in all I really liked it and can now watch the movie. Even though from the description of the movie I guess they changed a lot of the story - or rather only details, because so much story isn't there. But in the book all of the things that lead to Griets "sacking" just sort of happened, the interpersonal relations all were very obscure, fragile and not exactly black-white, and I was wondering how this can be translated into a movie. And from what I read of the movie so far, those things were changed, adjusted to mainstream, perhaps. I also wonder, how much of the graphic details they changed, that wouldn't be bad, only weird probably, to see things that were described exactly in colors and details, in a different form then."
"I quite enjoyed this book. I'm an art lover and that's what drew me in. I was impressed with the creative idea of writing a story based on a work of art, and I think the author wrote an interesting and believable story."
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