Finally! The last post about what I read in my Honours English class this past winter semester has arrived... in the middle of the summer. Oh well, guess its better late than never.
My Life in France (2006) by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme and Julie & Julia (2005) by Julie Powell were the last two books we read for the semester. These are also the books that I wrote my seminar on. I'm debating on whether or not I want to post my seminar paper to the blog. It was a ton of fun to write, so the debate is a tough one. Perhaps it will appear on here one day.
Of the two books, I greatly preferred My Life in France over Julie & Juila. The life of Julia Child and her husband Paul - through their trials, tribulations and cooking in France, Germany, America and Norway - was leaps and bounds more engaging, educational and inspiring than the whiny, overly sexed and vulgar Julie in Julie & Julia. Julie's challenge to cook her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking was quite the feat, but she was mean and belligerent and just straight up WHINY. Whereas Julia was inspirational, honest, open and all around more exciting.
My Life in France was published after Julia's death in 2004 and was co-authored with Paul's grandnephew Alex Prud'homme. It follows Julia and Paul Child through the prime of their lives when they traveled the world after the second world war. It starts off when they arrive in France and thus begins a beautiful tale of Julia's love for not only her husband, but for France and French cooking.
I learned a lot from this book, particularly about France and French cooking (obviously), but about Julia as well. Someone I knew of, but had never really learned much about. I kind of wish I had earlier in life than when I was thirty. She speaks and writes with such passion about life, love and food. I keep using the word inspirational, but its not a misplaced adjective when it comes to Julia Child. Not one bit. There is a graceful flow to the story and stories within My Life in France that makes it a joy to read and really connects the reader to Julia and her experiences.
Not only is it a book about love and food, but it is also a kind of post-war novel that shows what France was like through Julia's eyes after being ravaged by Nazi Germany. Its also a feminist novel as Julia fights her way into the boy's club of professional chefs. She makes her way despite what everyone says and thinks about her not only as a woman, but as an American woman tackling the tradition of French cooking. The way she lays out her set backs and triumphs had me turning the pages, drinking it all in.
On the other hand...
Although funny, crass and unapologetic at times, Julie & Julia did not grasp my full attention like MLF. Julie Powell authored the book after her blog about her cooking challenge garnered national attention. The novel is a combination of memories, blogging, self-promotion and her unhappy relationships; with not only her husband, but family, friends and work as well. Seems like the only thing that did make her happy during the year the book narrates was the cooking, and even then she complained about it all the time.
The book drew a lot of sexual parallels between sex and food. Julie mentioned it multiples times and I want to say I flagged it some where between ten to fifteen times throughout. (This is an aspect that I drew on for my seminar and noticed was heavily played upon in the film adaptation.) Not only does Julie write about sex and food, but she speaks to her and her husband Eric's sex life, as well as those of her friends as well. The theme of sex permeates the pages of Julie & Julia, something I was not expecting.
I mentioned it before that I found Julie whiny. She complained numerous times about wanting to quit the cooking project and threw fits when things didn't turn out or when she felt Eric wasn't being supportive enough. (Btw, book Eric is 100 million times more supportive than movie Eric. Just had to get that off my chest.) Julie's family is also against her project and she has a tough time with her mother and trying to get her to understand. This is completely the opposite of the Childs, as Paul supported Julia through her entire foot-first dive into learning to cook, the cookbook and her TV show. So contrasting. It was very interesting to read these two books back-to-back.
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Now, about the adaptation...
Both novels were turned into one film; a kind of combined tale of the two women that interchanged times of each lives. The parts with Meryl Streep as Julia Child were fun, quirky and excellent. Streep did a fantastic job portraying Julia and paired with Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, it was adorable supportive magic on screen. The film took major moments, such as their arrival in France and eating the sole meuniere dish for the first time, and made you love Paul and Julia right from the start. There were also excellent montages of Julia in Le Cordon Bleu and her not taking shit from her male classmates, besting them all at even the most basic of techniques. The movie also incorporated intimate moments that were only hinted at on the pages of the memoir to show the vulnerable side of Julia and her loving relationship with Paul. The parts with the Childs were the highlights of the film for me.
For Julie Powell, the film really tried to tone her down even though she was still really whiny, but I didn't find her as mean or as sex-obsessed as in her book. Eric, on the other hand, went from a sort of sad, pushed-aside supportive husband in the book to an complete asshole in the film. SPOILER: he even leaves her in the movie she has a freak out about the cooking challenge, which does not at all happen in the book. I was disappointed because I have definitely seen Amy Adams in WAY BETTER roles. The actor who played Eric was a complete unknown to me, which is saying a lot because I can place a lot of actors in other things they've done - not this guy.
Overall I enjoyed the movie to a certain extent. I watched it many times while I prepped for and wrote my seminar paper, so I doubt I will be watching it again anytime soon. It is still on Netflix if you haven't checked it out yet, its worth at least a cursory watch for Streep and Tucci alone. I remember saying to my husband that I thought Streep's voice acting was annoying, not knowing that is actually how Julia Child spoke in real life. I felt dumb. I would love to see a remake of just My Life in France starring those two and it just being about them. I would watch the shit out of that. Can someone please make that film? Pretty please?
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