I read Harris' Five Quarters of the Orange & Blackberry Wine back to back, so I shalll review them together. They are very similar, actually; a little too much. Both feature lead female protagonists that have strong, proud, independent, walled-away personalities, unwilling to accept, let alone ask, others for any sort of assistance. In both, they are not the lead character, but as the focus of the protagonist, they are as, if not more, important. In Five Quarters of the Orange, this bold female character is Mirabelle Dartigen, the mother of present-day narrator Framboise Simon. In Blackberry Wine, Marise d'Api is the strong female lead, writer Jay Mackintosh's unfriendly, closed off, and mysterious neighbor. Like in all Harris' novels - the singular touch that ensures my return interest in her novels - both novels contain a food that serves as a saving elixir and the irreplaceable addition of magic and whimsy. The former uses an orange, the scent of which inexplicably increases Mirabelle's anxiety spells (for some time, admist verbal and sometimes physical abuse from her, Framboise surreptitiously leaves orange peels to seep through the ventilation so as to earn a reprieve). In the latter, the elixir is fruit-based wine, specifically a set of vintage '75s, which Jay Mackintosh finds in the remains of Pog Hill decades ago when he returns the summer following his unannounced disappearance.Five Quarters of the Orange tells a multi-generational story with lies, secrets, family database, but with redemption, love, healing, and perseverance shining throughout. Framboise, having had a tenuous relationship with her less than ideal mother (abusive, actually) all her life, she is surprised to uncover redeeming secrets written in code in a beloved cookbook that belonged to her. Her childhood took place during the Nazi occupation, causing more than typical difficulties in her young years. Along with her siblings Cassis & Reinette, they begin associating with a German Officer named Leibwitz. For varying reasons, each idolizes, to the point of compromising their integrity by becoming informants, providing information Leibwitz utilizes to blackmail their neighbors. They rationalize this by convincing themselves as well as each other that this is harmless; it is only words, after all, and it isn't like the Germans are murdering anyone. (Although one evening there is one somewhat accidental related death.) Framboise falls the most for Liebwitz. By, in fact, actually falling in love with him. Which leads to the event that has remained hidden for years, decades, in the family. The event that changed each of their lives forever. When he tells young Framboise that he can no longer see her, likely ever again, she cries, imploring that this not be so. When he refuses her pleas, she desperately convinces him to swim out to a dangerous area of the lake, simply to spend more time with him. He is caught in a root underwater and drowns. The three of them, Cassis, Reinette, and Framboise, surreptitiously make the body disappear, and never discuss the incident again. Their mother, despite showing no real love for them their entire lives, covers up for them when she finds out. They never know until present day that she even knew.All these events lead to the entire city shunning the family, and following one situation too many, they flee in separate directions, barely in time escaping death by the neighbors' wrath and need to designate a scapegoat. Of course, there is also the love aspect, a childhood friend, Paul, whom she eventually lets in. Together they learn to heal. If not forget, but to accept the past, their indivual secrets, and Framboise finally makes amends with her mother.Blackberry Wine I liked far less. Jay honestly seemed like an immature adult, left in the past. Worse yet, he is aware of it, yet quite nonchalant to the idea of changing. His personal relationships are minimal, he hardly allows himself aspirations, avoiding any real work. Honestly, none of the other main characters were that much better. His love interest, Marie A'pi, is a negative, closed off person for most of the novel. The ghost of Joe is more lovable, but honestly his presence was perplexing. I am typically a fan of magical realism, but the ghosts/spirituality aspect was not smoothly embedded into the story. it definitely stood out, causing the reading to seem off-kilter. Kerry, his initial love interest, was written like a bitch, clear and simple. All the other characters in the new town, neighbors to Jay, were not very deeply explored. Relatives to Marise (similar to the neighbors in Five Quarters of an Orange) were cold and unwilling to be understanding, believing only what they want to believe.The only character that was well-written for me was his childhood friend during his Pog Hills days. Gilly was courageous, spunky, and had a spirit that was lovable rather than unattractive. Marise's daughter, whom Jay initially mistakes for her, comes close to bringing back the spirit. In all, two fun reads, but I am still searching for a book from Harris in which the depth and overall significance of her words and stories match the way she has perfected the tone of magic and whimsy.
Някога пили ли сте къпиново вино? Казват, че не е най-изтънченото. Че има нещо простичко във вкуса му, но все пак запленява...и ти се иска да отпиеш още, а после и още. Тази книга е съвсем като заглавието си. Има нещо на пръв поглед обикновено. Описанията, историите, героите- приятни, но не ярки и запомнящи се. Но. Но някак успяват с една особена магия да се настанят из мислите ти, да се усмихваш, научавайки още и още за тях. Една сладка, топла и ароматна меланхолия витае от първата до последната страница. Детинската наисвност на един пораснал човек. Такава наивност обаче, която е приятна. Стопляща. Романтика и идеализация. Едно бягство от света и намиране на себе си в мъничките простички неща. Книга, ярко контрастираща на съвременното ни забързано ежедневие. Която те кара да се отпуснеш, да помечтаеш, да си позволиш едно мисловно бягство, да видиш, че има място, където дори ходът на годините не успява да убие невинността, невинност,която по един своеобразен начин се открива дори в по- загрубелите с времето герои. Книга-картичка. Това бих казала. Картичка от някое вълшебно, закътано място. Така добре нарисувано, че ти изглежда приказно. А на гърба на тази картичка- история за вълшебниците, живеещи там.Послевкусът след "Къпиново вино" е сладък. Леко отнесена усмивка, летен вятър в косите. Да я разлистиш сред зима е стоплящо. И превръща януарските нощи в очакване, в копнеж по юли. Това вино обаче не е за всеки. Наивността, която се харесва на едни, навярно би била отегчителна за други. Действието се разлива някак бавно, с една "лятна лежерност". Описанията, топли и меки, като жива картина, са преобладаващи. И на моменти дори за мен, която имам слабост към по-описателни книги, бяха тягостни. Финалът, след всички тези описания, ми се стори някак прибързан, с твърде малко думи. И все пак- достойно отговарящ на цялата "лятна вълшебна сладост".
What do You think about Blackberry Wine (2003)?
I prefer tea….I have mixed feelings about Blackberry Wine, unfortunately more negative than positive. For the first ten chapters I despised this book: I didn’t care about the characters, couldn’t care about the plot and wanted nothing more than to just get through the thing so I could move on to another story. Even though the chapters are short, fifty-seven pages is more than I want to wait for a story to get interesting.Blackberry Wine describes the life of Jay, a one-hit-wonder in the literary arena who fell victim to the freshman curse and now lives as a writer of trashy sci-fi novels and part-time fantasy-conference attendee. One day he impulsively buys a farmhouse in France that brings back childhood memories and moves in, hoping to find what he thinks he’s lost. Via astral projection, his friend/mentor Joe, visits the farmhouse to continue giving the advice he started in Jay’s youth. Jay the adult reverts back to the child he was time and again in his bitterness at being abandoned by the old man’s sudden parting, continuing the legacy. Blackberry Wine is written as a piece of commercial fiction, but has definite elements of fantasy that feel out of place. This inconsistent tone added to my discomfort.One of the reasons I had trouble with this book is because of the way Jay is written. Personally, I thought he was schizophrenic, but I don’t think that was the author’s intention. He seems like an intelligent person, but has the insight of a fifteen-year-old boy coupled with a dog’s manic need to defend his territory (or in this case, Jay’s righteous indignation). Jay’s lack of maturity and poor decision-making ability mark him as a victim, a martyr, so I had trouble caring about him.This book jumps back and forth in time about every other chapter which I found distracting. The copious descriptions were a bit much and repetitive: how many times did I have to hear about the canal, or that something was yeasty- an odd word to be given such prominence? And don’t get me started on the magically animated bottles of wine….On the upside, once the story warmed up it was engaging. Jay’s garden renovation and the relationship with his neighbor and her daughter were nice, the practical peculiarities of Joe added color and interest and the French townspeople formed a nice backdrop. All in all I thought Blackberry Wine was flawed, but it did have moments.
—Chris Eastvedt
Não há qualquer dúvida de que gostei do que li, ou não fosse fã confesso da escrita e imaginação da autora, mas pela primeira vez, num livro de Joanne Harris, não senti satisfação do principio ao fim. Aliás, foi precisamente aí, principio e fim, que surgiram as grandes dúvidas.A história começa abruptamente e abruptamente acaba. No espaço de poucas páginas, damos por Jay a tomar uma decisão impulsiva que o leva a abandonar a vida que leva e a lançar-se em algo que ele próprio não sabe o que é. No final, em pouco mais de três folhas a narrativa é encerrada, quando parecia haver potencial para bastante mais.Pelo meio temos o verdadeiro sumo do livro, a mistura que lhe dá real cor e cheiro. Passado entre meados dos anos 70 e o final do século XX, andamos sucessivamente a saltitar entre Pog Hill Lane em Inglaterra e Lasquenet em França. Seja a acompanhar Jay nas suas peripécias de criança ao lado do transversal-ao-tempo Joe, ou a visitar com ele Lasquenet, todos os momentos são preenchidos e saborosos. Conhecemos personangens "marcantes", como Marise e Rosa, outras não tão marcantes, Zeth e Kerry, mas ficamos com a impressão que podia ter sido servido algo mais delas. Na realidade, sendo verdadeiramente sincero, não considero que cheguem a ser marcantes. Deveriam ter tido mais peso na história e não aparecerem apenas de passagem. No fundo, todos ficaram entregues à condição de acessório e foi passada a ideia de que nada mais importava senão Jay e os seus devaneios Joeísticos.A subida de Jay nas impressões gerais da população de Lasquenet, contudo, é interessante e chegamos a sentir-nos embebidos por toda aquela calma e "fofoquice", tão típicia de lugares pequenos.Quanto a Lasquenet propriamente dita, poderá ser uma qualquer aldeia junto a um rio, com pretensões de crescimento, carregada de nostalgia e com medo desse mesmo desenvolvimento. Pitoresca q.b., com habitantes cliché (facto que não os torna desinteressantes, de forma alguma!), cheia de virtudes e defeitos.Chegados ao fim, ficamos com a sensação que estivemos a ler um livro extremamente bem escrito sobre o quotidiano, que versa sobre a infância, sobre a vida adulta, sobre impulsos, crenças, magia e... sabores, sobre tudo e sobre nada. Talvez lhe falte um pouco de sal. Acabaram-se os Especiais, acabou-se a história!PS - Considero a tradução do titulo do livro mal conseguida, pese embora não destoe do conteúdo. Preferia um Vinho de Amoras ou Vinho de Amoras Silvestres, ao invés deste Vinho Mágico, um tanto ou quanto infantil.Rating: 3.5/5.0
—Filipe Miguel
Похоже, у Харрис такой фирменный стиль - маленькие городки, Франция, обыденное волшебство, цыгане на заднем плане, матери-одиночки с дочками, непонятые окружающими, и несколько секретов в шкафу. Во всяком случае, *Ежевичное вино* и *Шоколад* этим всем очень похожи.*Ежевичное вино* - роман взросления. Запоздалого возможно, но взросления. Главный герой пытается разобраться с собой (уже довольно длиииительное время) и в себе, в чем ему, незадачливому английскому писателю, очень помогает одна французская деревенька, парижанка с рыжеволосой дочуркой, несколько бутылок фруктового вина, обладающего волшебными свойствами, и вздорный астральный старик-шахтер, посвященный в магию семян (и жизни). Милая книжка. Летняя и легкая. Такая себе кавер-версия "Вина из одуванчиков".
—Telans
