My Life in France by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of My Life in France
Book Review: makes one want to be a vegetarian
Summary: 2 Stars
Julia Child was totally cold hearted about animals and indeed, how they were sacrified or slaughtered. Looking for meats for new recipes,she was delighted to come upon a rabbit soaked in its own blood. She had no qualms about cutting up a lobster while it was still alive.
Her "cookery" obsession permeated her life and some of the pictures of France when she lived there are vivid. Julia too frequently peppers the text with French expressions, probably to reinforce how "French" she thinks she is. All the descriptions of the food, along with the constant reminders of her relentless bent for research and shopping, become tiresome. Julia Child is candid about who she is, but she is hardly likeable.
Book Review: not what I expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I very much enjoyed Julia's descriptions of beautiful France, wonderful food, painstaking work, and life with her devoted husband, Paul. She did seem a bit full of herself at times and forgot that not everyone has the privilege of life abroad. I also found myself frustrated with her obstinacy toward her father; after all, she was a grown woman and he, an old man set in his ways. Why engage him in political discussions at all? Altogether, though, an enjoyable look at Julia's life and 1950's France.Book Review: passion and persistence
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't cook and I don't speak French, but I did enjoy this book. I admired Julia Child's passion for French cooking and her incredible persistence in testing and creating recipes. I had no idea how hard she worked on each and every recipe. It was a good reminder of the importance of passion and persistence in one's pursuits.
I would love to watch some of her cooking shows now (unfortunately, I mainly remember Dan Aykroyd's impersonation of her on Saturday Night Live). I admired how she threw herself into her work and immersed herself in the culture of each new country she lived in. Her enthusiasm jumped out of each page. I marveled at how much meat and wine these people could consume. The weak parts of the book were her sprinkling in of current events, her belittlement of her father, and her categorization of people as "intellectual" or not. The book's was at its best when it focused on food.
Book Review: real adventures and down to earth
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Julia Child through "My Life in France". I love cooking and reading recipe books (for fun)- and can really relate to Julia's process of learning to cook and perfecting each dish. Being an avid traveller and someone who currently lives in a foreign country, I felt a connection with Julia and her husband. Their adventures abroad (learning a new language, making local friends, fitting into a foreign culture) were wonderfully familiar. My husband had gotten me as a present the book "Julie and Julia" (now a motion picture) but I found the main character Julie very boring -there wasn't enough of Julia Child in that book.