June 2012 Book Club "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier

Hi Everyone,

Summer is certainly spiraling to an end since some of us met in June. During our meeting, held in unison with the Butler Symphony Garden Tour, we very lightly discussed the title The Girl with a Pearl Earring during breakfast at Anderson’s Restaurant on Main Street. Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Barb K., Lori, and I were in attendance. Greg, Cheryl’s husband, an avid gardener and horticulturist also joined us for our tour.

For our garden excursion, we were blessed with a perfectly lovely day, pure sunshine and the pungent scent of summer roses.  Those of you that didn’t attend missed one of Butler’s most captivating events. As we strolled through one enchanting garden after another, we were mystified by the range of plant varieties, the ingenious landscaping, the creative yard furnishings, ornaments, and “animals,” but most of all the vivid displays of color. After sauntering through gardens all day, I felt like I had just returned from a relaxing spa or a mini vacation. I believe we all came away truly inspired from the tour, newly invigorated to spend time in our own gardens weeding, planting, and creating magical places of beauty and solace. Needless to say, the Butler Symphony’s Garden Tour, like their Christmas Home Tour will definitely be a mainstay on our book club’s calendar. 

As for our book title The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, I’ll give it 2 stars out of 3. It was certainly a quick read, I read it on my flight to Portugal and finished it on the beach. It wasn’t particularly thought provoking, but it did not lack in page turning capability. Most definitely more fiction than history, Chevalier builds a subtly provocative tale of forbidden love simply from the romantic images she draws from Vermeer’s great work The Girl with the Pearl Earring.  

 I would consider the book more of a psychological drama. Written in first person narration, we enter the thoughts of the main character, Griet. Forced into a job as a servant by her parents who have recently undergone hard times, Griet is quickly infatuated with her new Master, the famous painter Johannes Vermeer. The unspoken interplay that Griet exchanges with the artist while going about her duties looking after his home and family contains just enough sexual tension to keep you reading. Griet never fully tells us the seedy intensity of her feelings towards Vermeer, but we recognize the subliminal messages in lines like, “Sir, perhaps you should have me do other things, things that a maid does.”

Vermeer softy asks, “What does a maid do?” 

Griet tells us she had to wait a moment to respond, her jaw was trembling. She adds, “I forced my gaze up to his eyes. I felt as if I were burning, but I endured it - he wanted me to.” 

Griet is willing to bare all as Vermeer paints her portrait. The passage where Griet agonizingly forces a needle through her ear namely for the sake of pleasing her Master, is symbolic.  The throbbing pain yet erotic satisfaction Griet feels from the piercing is equivalent to her excruciating desire to lose her virginity to Vermeer. However, when her hair (again symbolic) which always remains hidden under a cap is exposed after Vermeer interrupts her in the changing room, Griet undergoes a psychological change. The incident represents the figurative end to Griet’s virginity. Once done, her tresses unleashed, she feels used and exploited. So what does she do? She runs out into the night to find her suitor, Pieter the son, and lets him take her virginity, literally, in the back alley of a tavern. 

The Girl with the Pearl Earring offered enough implicit information for me to enjoy a bit of passion and romance. Unlike Fifty Shades of Gray, our May title, Chevalier did not resort to dishing out the trashy stuff. There is something to be said for modesty, and I rather prefer it. Sadly, however, there are more people who think otherwise. Recently, Becky sent me an email concerning our May title; read my attachment to learn about the alarming content she discovered. After you read it, then say a prayer for the state of the world’s moral demise!

As for our August book club, upon receiving only a handful of responses to my text message yesterday, I rendered a date for this month’s book club. We will meet at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, the 22st, at my house. There is no assigned book for August; it is your personal choice. Just come and share any book that you enjoyed reading this summer. I do have a homework assignment, though.  Try to identify an object of symbolism in your book then if you can, find the object or a picture of it to bring with you. It is sure to help you remember the most important details of your title when it is your turn to share. Be analytical! In addition, bring your favorite farmer’s market style snack and we’ll celebrate the tastes and textures of summer. 

Finally, for those of you who requested a copy of our book club’s reading list; it is included as a second attachment to this month's email.  I look forward to seeing everyone and sharing not only our books but our stories of summer travels and events. 

God bless,

Tammy