- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st Edition edition (3 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007119860
- ISBN-13: 978-0007119868
- Product Dimensions: 20 x 13.4 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 872,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Praise for THE DISCOVERY OF CHOCOLATE:
‘As intoxicating and addictive as the substance it describes. The novel is a triumph of inspired imagination’ Financial Times
‘A work of engaging simplicity which reads well, has plenty of light and shade and never patronises the reader. The potent appeal of chocolate…is vividly captured. Mouth-watering descriptions of food litter the text’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A sensual delight…elegantly written and unashamed fun’ Joanne Harris, The Times
‘His treasure of a book, fantastic and delicious and dreamily erotic by turns, will transmute your yearning for the bitter water into a craving from which you will, quite happily, never recover’ Simon Winchester
Max Davidson, The Sunday Telegraph.
'Runcie has taken a small nugget of history and polished it to delicious effect, capturing the flavour of everyday life in long vanished societies.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
No book collection is complete without this little treasure. I read it whilst staying in spain and it gave me a whole new perspective on italian art, the love of parents, the short sighted and the love between a man and a woman.
Anyone looking at this book now is highly recommended to buy it!
Anyone looking at this book now is highly recommended to buy it!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I purchased this book in Sydney after reading a review on an international flight between the US and Australia. I had just spent a magical week on Heron Island and was looking to extend the magic as long as possible! In a sense, the book found me, with it's tender story about a thirteenth century mother, desparate for a child, who finds an abandoned baby and takes him home.The story makes a grand entrance with a Roman Catholic backdrop (with great humor and historical acuity)....only to pick up people of other faiths along the journey the child is destined to make. The journey and quest of the boy is to find the colour of heaven and he must travel to a distant place, discovering questions and possible answers as he journeys. The story is more philosophical than theological, but also has appeal from artistic, historical, scientific, and geological perspectives. I gave my copy to a friend grieving the death of her husband, ordered another copy for a woman who always wanted to be a mother and never had a child, and a new copy for myself. The book is not yet available in the US, too bad. PS. The book surpassed my goal of extending the magic....I changed favorite colors, from purple to blue (Heron Island Blue!)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A simple story of discovery, beautifully told. Runcie gives us amazing description and thought-provoking insights without wasting words which means this novel is accessible and (sadly) a really quick read. On one level this is a great story of one young man's search for love and the meaning of life but there are moments when Runcie makes us all stop and think and question love, life, death and religion. An unexpected treasure
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An enjoyable journey of art, religion and love but ultimately...
This story by James Runcie has a promising premise. It is the story of a journey undertaken by a young man in the 13th century to seek out the precious stone Lapis Lazuli which is... Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2009 by joc66
Voyage into the trite
What a great start to a book. A vivid picture of Venice at the dawn of the 14th century, crammed with merchants and craftsmen. Then it all rapidly goes downhill. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2007 by Christopher M. Partridge
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