Girl With A Pearl Earing

In the class-conscious, plague-stricken world of 17th century Delft, a young girl named Griet goes to work as a maid in Vermeer’s household. Soon she is entangled in the subtle, cutthroat rivalries in the charged atmosphere of the painter’s household when she becomes his assistant. Under his tutelage, she awakens to the rich and diverse possibilities of visual perception... Dive through the historical lens of Griet’s world to learn gorgeous lessons on the art of seeing. Chevalier deftly finds beauty in the squalor, tragedy, and romance of ordinary life.

I have always been fascinated by the evolution of books to film. Two completely different art mediums (which people always seem to forget and expect a popular book to be literally translated onto the screen) I thought it might be interesting to do a comparison between a film and a book and after hearing an interview with Chevalier on NPR a few months ago about this book, her inspiration for it, and the transition it made into becoming a film, thought this would be perfect.

I've always wanted to read this book after seeing the film years ago (I was so inspired by the film, the lighting, the methodical pace, the way it portrayed the bleakness of life and how one can rise above it by only changing your perception)

I'm sure many of you have seen the film, but if you haven't (or need a refresher, or just want to see it again), I hope it's not too much to ask that you watch it and read the book before our book club reading. I know you'll love it.