I know almost nothing about art

I know almost nothing about art, but even I can tell that Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer is a brilliant painting; 'captivating' is probably the best word to describe it. One presumes that Chevalier agrees with me, and this is what lead her to write a novel about the painting, its subject and its creator. So,Graceful A-line Beaded One Shoulder Red Prom Dress is the novel as captivating as the piece that inspired it? 


Chevalier is probably one of the best-known historical novelists of the last ten years, with this book always in the foreground when she is discussed.New Strapless Chiffon Short/Mini Beaded Cocktail Dresses As far as historical information goes, I think she does okay with it. I had a pretty clear picture of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century by the time I was done with the book (whether or not its accurate or not is another matter), but I felt at times that there wasn't that detail that critics proclaimed about on the cover. 

The characters, I feel, are never truly developed. Vermeer himself remains a mystery throughout, even to the protagonist and narrator, Griet, who appears to have some connection with him. Griet meanwhile,New A-line Strapless Chiffon Pink Beading Long Prom Dresses is what I would describe as a stock teenage girl character. She is similar to many characters I've read before, and yet she does not really advance on that. 

The narrative style is one that I would have adored at 14, but by now find to be pedestrian. This is first person narrative at its simplest (and blandest) and I don't feel that we gain anything from it - the novel may just as well have been in third person and would not have suffered for it. It may even have benefited from it. 

The structure is interesting. Split into parts that represent years, rather than having chapter breaks makes it difficult to find a stopping place at times, and it is this more than anything else that makes a page turner of the novel. Meanwhile, the entire thing seems to be building to the inevitable moment when Vermeer will paint Griet. The scenes are handled with less intensity than I had hoped for from the build up, and once the painting is finished,Simply Chiffon Square Evening Dresses Chevalier seems to want nothing but for the novel to be over too, and closes it down rather too quickly. 

Perhaps the fact that little is known about Vermeer's life would imply that a fictional version of it would be easy to tell. Sadly, the gaps in knowledge seem to be too big to fill.Noble Unique Capped Sleeves Scoop Column Prom Dress 

At the end of the novel, I had discovered how this work came about, the girl staring out from it, but still had almost no real idea of the man behind it. It is, in my opinion, a failure in this respect.