"Leave your mouth open."
I was so surprised by this request that my mouth remained open of its own will.
I blinked back tears. Virtuous women did not open their mouths in paintings.
I did not know what to think of this book
but the author writes so beautifully.
It's about a story behind a painting of a girl with a pearl earring.
The painter is Johannes Vermeer. First, I would like to tell a story. I bought
this book long before I heard the author, Tracy Chevalier speak at TED onYouTube. She tells of watching paintings on museums and coming up with an idea
to tell stories behind those paintings. A story behind a painting, pretty
clever! I was so surprised when she talked about the book, Girl with a Pearl
Earring. I was like "I had that book on my shelf!"
I did not know what to feel about this
book really. It felt like I understood the protagonist (Griet) completely but
at the same time I did not. I find the girl shallow and so limited even though
she was clever, perhaps because she was a maid and a bread winner in the family
or maybe because of the culture itself.
I find it shallow of her to think that she was ruined after her
master had seen her hair. A hair she kept hidden for so long.
I felt it was stupid to run and give herself up to Pieter just
because of a hair exposed. I never thought that hair could be that powerful or
crippling. Well maybe but to be ruined by a hair! It's supposed to be a woman's
glory.
I also think that every character in here is a prisoner of their
own circumstance. They do things because that is what is expected of them. That
is what the society expects. Or what they themselves expect. The rule is to
remember who you are and to look after yourself, to cross the line maybe the
start or end of a drama.
My Favorite Part
She looked at me, and then she did the
worst thing. If she had sulked or shouted, I would know I had mastered her.
Instead she laughed.
I reached over and slapped her.
- This is Gariet first day as a maid where she slaps Cornelia when she was just a little girl.
As I brushed past her she said in a low,
eager voice, "You could give them to me." Her greedy eyes were
laughing.
I reached over and slapped her.
- This was 10 years after
the incident and Gariet, no longer a maid, met Cornelia again who was now a
grown woman. This is my favorite because it felt like Cornelia deserved every
slap.
Conclusion
The whole novel was a struggle of some sort.
I felt like I was struggling too. It's not easy to be a maid and
it is not easy to be a woman of their time, 1664, Delft.
The book left me confused and I do not want to say that it wasn't
worth my time. But I am sure that I would not want to read it again for a long
time.
