About the book
Why do some people dislike the book so much? I love both the film and book and have heard a lot of complaints about the book. Any thoughts?
"Everything I do, I do it for you."
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MovieChat Forums > Girl with a Pearl Earring (2004) Discussion > About the book
I loved the book and enjoyed it alot more than I did the film, not that I disliked the film but I felt as if there was a few things in the book that could have been added to the film that would have made it more eventfull or interesting.
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I read the book too, and liked it. Not the movie as much, but that's the usual way it goes. Who couldn't like this novel? Unless they were looking for forensic science and a serial killer...
Susana Miranda, whatever happened to you?
I have to agree; in many cases the book rivals that of the film. I was disappointed that they changed the ending, the novel had the Scooby Doo ending - 10 years pass, Greit and Pieter marry have children, she learns that Johannes Vermeer has passed away and left his family in financial ruin, she is summoned to the Vermeer home and is given the pearl earrings by Catherina as a final request from Johannes.
The film just….ends. I didn’t know what to make of it, to me it kind of implied that she was living with her parents again…alone not married to Peiter, and the earrings were given to her as compensation for her sufferings. Also missing (unfortunately) was the subplot of Frans her brother, the death of her sister and her relationship with her parents that somewhat breaks down over time. The novel paints the picture of how lonely and isolated Griet’s life really is.
The movie plays out like a love triangle, the novel…I don’t know about the other readers but I concluded that you didn’t really know how Vermeer truly felt towards Greit until the she received the Pearls Earrings. That it was all in Griet's head until that point.
And how could they exclude the final SLAP!!! (I was waiting for that in the film)
>>And how could they exclude the final SLAP!!! (I was waiting for that in the film) <<
I haven't read the book, so I have to assume the wife slaps Griet in the end? Funny how wives always blame the other woman for the husband's transgressions. Like Griet had much of a choice in that life of her's. She could barely keep from being raped in her own courtyard by Vermeer's patron.
-Jane
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No, Griet slaps Cornelia again.
After the death of Vermeer, Griet is summoned to his house, where she's given the pearls and told that he willed them to her. She takes them reluctantly, for two reasons: women in her social position don't wear pearls, and she can't explain to her husband why Vermeer left them to her. Pieter doesn't know Vermeer painted her portrait (she's never told him because he'd be jealous), or about the brouhaha it caused in the Vermeer household. Also, then as now, it is inappropriate for a man to give expensive jewelry to a woman who's not a relative or in a romantic relationship with him.
As she is leaving, Cornelia stops her and sneers, "You could give them to me." That's when Griet slaps her.