If I say the name Johannes Vermeer, I suppose that you’ll think about a work of art where a girl watches over her shoulder. The girl is in a dark room and tired. She has a blue and yellow cap so that her hair has been covered, and on her ear she has a big earring. The book which I read tells about the model of painting and her life.
Girl with a pearl earring is a historical novel written by US Tracy Chevalier and it has published year 1999. Novel’s story line is invited by Chevalier, so it’s not happened in 17th century in real life. Writer Chevalier has told that she had bought a poster when she was young and years later she wanted to create a life to the painting’s model. She got inspiration from the model’s look which she images ”ambiguous look”. When I look at the painting, I agree with Chevalier. Model’s face is unclear, she looks tired and innocent but yet hard experienced, tearful and full of thoughts. The novel is same kind of than the painting, full of many feelings and thoughts, but at the same time it is so empty.
Girl with a pearl earring novel tells about Griet’s life, the model of the Vermeer’s painting has appointed Griet by Chevalier. Griet is 16-year-old and she lives with her family in Holland. Her father has been recently blinded in an accident, so they need promptly money. Griet’s parents has to find her employment as a maid in Vermeer’s household. Living with Vermeer’s family isn’t bed of roses, for example Griet doesn’t get respect from the other maid and Johannes’ wife. Also because Griet is a maid, she is treated in ”maid attitude”. Johannes’ wife doesn’t trust her and Griet has to sleep in a locked room, which result in different things. Chevalier has created Griet’s life herself and reasons why the masterpiece was painted.
First when I had finished the novel, I thought that it doesn’t have any deep importance. It told just about Griet’s life as a maid. But now I have realized that it was some kind of growing up story. Griet was very young, unexperienced when she left home to the unknown world. Working and living in the big and unknown family made Griet to try new things which resulted in meeting new people. She faced a boy every day in a meat hall, and they made friends. One thing led to other which got Griet to think about her past and future. Troubles grew Griet mentally and now when I analyse the 16-year-old Griet and the Griet at the end of novel, she is so much more adult. She experiences both good and unpleasant things while living in Vermeers, what changes her personality harder.
Although novel sets in 17th century, I think this could be happened in the 2000s. Griet fights with difficult and unknown things. She scruples with things which don’t have true answers. She can’t ask opinion from her friends or parents, she just needs to ask herself what she wants for real in her life. Only way to make a decision is to hear her own heart’s voice. These things are normal today, teenagers want to be distinct and become independent, but at the same time they want to get care from parents. Young people want to get attention from boys or girls though they are not quit with their body. These things might result to uncertain decisions, which will be repented in the end. Difficult things, for everyone.
Back to the book review and my opinions. Like always, it is hard to describe my feelings in words because the novel doesn’t make me feel one certain emotion. I have meditated those many feelings and I have become to the result that the novel is not just like other novels I have read. It is not just the literature and story of a maid, it is more. It is like its cover, a work of art. The way you experience it depends on your attitude, view and artistry. If I wasn’t interested in the art and I wanted to read exciting novel which had a lot of happening, I would have other feelings. But luckily, I liked it, it was very compelling, time just flied because I felt like I was Griet. Chevalier has succeeded to express Griet’s feelings and milieu so closely. It is amazing to think that Griet lived four hundred years ago and the book has been written just ten years ago. Always when I opened the book and involved myself deeply in story, I felt that it was like a time travel to the past.
One negative point I want to say. If I had read this book in Finnish, I suppose that it could have been little bit boring. Now when it was in English it was easy to read, maybe because of it didn’t have any difficult plot twist or relationship problems. There was just normal life in the book which was easy to understand. Other thing which I’m not quite satisfied is the character’s names. There were so much other people and difficult foreign names that I wasn’t always sure who was who. Thus I didn’t get certain image of every person.
To summary my opinions, Girl with a pearl earring was good novel. At the same time so boring and flavorless, but still great plot. I appreciate Chevalier that she has dared to write so outrage and beautiful story about the model of painting.
Lähteet: Wikipedia