My Life in France: Chapter Eight - Epilogue

As the book ends, I felt like I began to see a new side of Julia.  It seemed to me that Julia was really liking her TV career much more than authoring the book with Simca.  I couldn’t decide if this was selfish on her part (the TV gig was all hers, whereas the book was a collaborative effort) or if maybe she had just grown tired of the book and was more enticed by the excitement of her new career.  What were your thoughts on this?  I think I lean more towards the selfish side, which left me feeling slightly disheartened about our Julia.  Did anyone else feel this way?

I did finish this book feeling jealous of Julia’s go-with-the-flow attitude.  She seemed to just go where life took her and made the most out of the situations in which she found herself.  I particularly liked the advice she left us with in the final sentence: “learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”  I always appreciate advice from someone who follows it themselves, and I think Julia definitely embodied this sentiment.  For me, the hardest piece to follow is to be fearless.  I go through life planning and always thinking of the outcome, which is sometimes accompanied by a healthy dose of worry (and fear).  Perhaps in the next situation I’m in, I can think to myself, “What would Julia do?,” and fear not.  Giving life a chance to breathe certainly did her well, so why can’t the same be true for me?

For me, the main idea of this book and Julia’s life was that of simply taking pleasure in life.  Julia delighted in everyday occurrences, found joy and fulfillment in what she did, and cherished those who surrounded her.  May we all go through life with this attitude of appreciation for all that lie offers us. 

Bon appétit!

My Life in France: Chapter Five - Chapter Seven

And so they move again...... It seems like Julia and Paul had one life adventure after another with all the moving they did.  I resonated with what she said about Plittersdorf - how it could be Anytown, U.S.A.  One of my professors made comment the other day about how she doesn't want to live Anywhere, she wants to live Somewhere. I think that's the same idea Julia was getting at with her comment, but it's interesting how such an uninspiring place to her still spurred on her internal inspiration to continue with The Book.  To me, this exemplifies the idea of Blooming Where You're Planted.

I thought one of the more interesting nuggets from these readings were the passages about the publishing process and how much she and Louisette had to edit down.  It presented the idea of the want for everything to be quick and easy in the U.S. in contrast to the slow, attention-to-detail way of French cooking Julia and Louisette valued.  Even in the 1950's this phenomenon was obvious - imagine what Julia would of thought of Americans today with our drive-thrus and Lean Cuisines. I'm interested in knowing if any of you have ventured to cook one of Julia's recipes, and if so, what your thoughts were on that process.  Was it difficult? Easy? what did you think of the end result?

Another thought I had while reading these chapters was that of Julia's perseverance throughout all of the publishing rejections and edits.   I'm sure we've all had times of self-doubt and outward rejection, so we can all appreciate fighting for what you want.  Have any of you experienced similar situations of rejection and perseverance? 

These chapters also provide the first glimpse into Julia's delve into television and the cooking shows from which some of us may know her.  I love seeing how a hobby like cooking opened the path to so many opportunities in Julia's life: writing a cook book, having a TV show, and I would venture to say contribution to the desire to learn other languages.  She turned something she enjoyed doing into a career. 

I think these chapters demonstrate a progression of confidence in Julia.  We see her go through rejections but we also see her rise victorious as her book is published, reprinted, and she begins filming her TV show. 

What were your thoughts on these chapters?

Ellen

October Book Choice Synopses

To better inform your voting for the month of October, I would like to provide a brief synopsis of each book choice. 

I Was Told There'd be Cake by Sloane Crosley

This debut essay collection is full of sardonic wit and charm, and Crosley effortlessly transforms what could have been stereotypical tales of mid-20s life into a breezy series of vignettes with uproariously unpredictable outcomes. From the opening The Pony Problem to the hilarious Bring-Your-Machete-to-Work Day (which will ring true for any child of the early 1990s who played the first Oregon Trail computer game), Crosley is equal parts self-deprecating and endearing as she recounts her secret obsession with plastic ponies and the joys of exacting revenge via a pixilated wagon ride. In less capable hands, the subjects tackled—from unpleasant weddings of long-forgotten friends to horrendous first jobs—could have been a litany of complaints from yet another rich girl from the suburbs. But Crosley, who grew up in Westchester and currently lives in Manhattan, makes the experiences her own with a plethora of amusing twists: a volunteer job at the American Museum of Natural History leads to a moral quandary, and a simple Upper West Side move becomes anything but.

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight. Inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, Caroline, My Abandonment is a riveting journey into life at the margins and a mesmerizing tale of survival and hope.

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

The year is 1985 and 15-year-old Benji Cooper, one of the only black students at his elite Manhattan private school, leaves the city to spend three largely unsupervised months living with his younger brother Reggie in an enclave of Long Island's Sag Harbor, the summer home to many African American urban professionals. Benji's a Converse-wearing, Smiths-loving, Dungeons & Dragons-playing nerd whose favorite Star Wars character is the hapless bounty hunter Greedo (rather than the double-crossing Lando Calrissian). But Sag Harbor is a coming-of-age novel whose plot side-steps life-changing events writ large. The book's leisurely eight chapters mostly concern Benji's first kiss, the removal of braces, BB gun battles, slinging insults (largely unprintable "grammatical acrobatics") with his friends, and working his first summer job. And Whitehead crafts a wonderful set piece describing Benji's days at Jonni Waffle Ice Cream, where he is shrouded in "waffle musk" and a dirty T-shirt that's "soiled, covered with batter and befudged from a sundae mishap."

*All of these synopses were taken from Amazon.com

My Life in France: Chapter Two - Chapter 4

Well, I think after reading these three chapters, we can all feel as if we've gotten a glimpse of Paris - or at least our imaginations have!  The descriptions present in this book are out of this world.  I think Julia Child can describe a dish she ate better than I could describe my own facial features!  Her depictions are so vivid - I feel as if my imagination has taken the last 15 or so years off and has recently started working again, thanks to this woman.

One thing that stood out to me while reading chapter two was this sense of coming of age for Julia during her time in Paris.  It seems strange to say that about a grown woman, but the fearless, earnest pursuit of her passion for learning to cook (and later writing cook books) and her own comment about being 37 years old and still discovering herself (p. 111) would seem to back it up.  I like the idea of being a life learner though and constantly pursuing the things that make you happy, whether you're 18 or 37.  Do any of you have similar experiences to Julia's (finding your passion later in life, feeling like you're still discovering yourself, etc.)?

I think these three chapters also gave more insight into the history of the time the Childs lived in Paris.  I love hearing historical perspectives through people who lived it.  I find the discussions on French-American relations and McCarthyism to be the most interesting.  We also get some of Julia's family history (p.77-78), which is equally fascinating.  I guess you could say Julia's dream of becoming a novelist somewhat came true.  Her writing career took a different format than her original dreams, I'm sure, but what a success she became!  I think it's inspiring that even though her life took many twists and turns, Julia still ended up in the same field as what she had wanted to do.  How many of you has that happened to? 

I think one of the other main things in these chapters I noticed was Julia's insane attention to details and her perfectionism.  I don't believe I would have made mayonnaise long enough to perfect it, nor would I have had the patience to alter ingredient measurements and cooking times nearly as many times as she did in order to get just what she wanted.

While reading Chapter Four and Julia's description of Marseillaise, I found her initial disdain to be quite surprising.  She had found such beauty in the ordinary while in Paris, but did not in Marseille.  I wonder why that is?  Why do you think Julia's experience and perceptions of Paris were so different than they were of Marseille?  Do you think it was just because her heart already belonged to Paris so nothing else would compare, or do you think there was something else?

My Life in France: Foreward - Chapter One

As a preface, I would like to mention that I am reading out of the 2006 edition of this book.

I can tell from the pages we’ve read that I am really going to like this book.  I must confess up front that all I previously knew of Julia Child was from the movie based on this book, “Julie and Julia,” which intrigued me to know more about this fascinating woman, so I was excited when this was the first book selected for our club.  From the reading so far, it seems like Julia (I say that like we’re on a first name basis or something…) is the kind of lady you’d want in your inner circle of friends.  She seems so down to earth and very passionate about life.

One of the things that struck me must through this reading was the first line of the introduction in which Julia mentions the things she loved most in life: “Paul Child, la belle France, and the many pleasures of cooking and eating.”  I love how the things she loved most were a person, a place, and an act –nothing materialistic about it.  It made me start to wonder how many people in today’s world would mention similar things.  

I also loved the way Julia described her early years in France as when she found her “true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that [she] hardly stopped moving long enough to catch [her] breath.”  For me (so far), that time in my life was college – especially the point about not being able to catch my breath.  What was it for some of you?

I chuckled when I read that Julia’s interest in cooking was sparked by a bride-to-be’s cooking course – kind of makes you think twice about shrugging off those crafty workshops Michael’s offers .  There could be a future Martha Stewart among us :)

“The sight of France in my porthole was like a giant question mark (p. 13).”  That phrase stuck out to me as very poignant. Perhaps it’s just because I am at a stage in life where I see quite a few portholes with question marks (marriage, job search, etc.), but I am interested in knowing if anyone else took note of that.  What do you see in your portholes?

One of the more general things that has struck me so far has been Julia’s passionate nature.  I could tell just from reading how deeply she loved Paul and how much she savored every experience she had, from eating to meeting new people to the Child apartment to walking down a Parisian street.  Her perspective is one to be envied, in my opinion.  I would love to savor every moment for what it is rather than be ticking things off my to-do list.  Perhaps that passion is one of the reasons Julia was able to so recall so many vivid details about her time in France nearly 60 years later; it probably helped that her husband took such wonderful photographs along the journey.  I also wonder if her passion and exuberance had something to do with her positive experience in France, a country which many Americans think of as unfriendly. What are your thoughts on this?

I feel like this first reading has really given me some insight into who Julia Child was.  I love the imagery her words are able to concoct in my head, and I am excited to read further into Julia’s life.  I have never been to France but would be interested in hearing from those of you who have as to how accurate her description is.

What have been your initial thoughts through this reading?

-Ellen Dutro

And the Winner Is...

The first book selected for the Gwinnett Campus (No Obligation) Book Club is "My Life in France" by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme!

The following is the suggested reading schedule, just to keep us all on the same page (pun intended):


Week 1 (Sept. 3-10): Forward - Ch. 1

Week 2 (Sept. 11-17: Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Week 3 (Sept. 18 - 24): Ch. 5 - Ch. 7

Week 4 (Sept. 25 - Oct. 1): Ch. 8 - Epilogue



I think this will be a manageable reading schedule, but as this is our first venture into our book club, feedback will be greatly appreciated. Of course feedback and comments are welcomed and encouraged at any time :)


You can expect to see at least one post a week from the Student Affairs staff, but we hope each of you will also join in the discussion.


Let the reading and blogging commence!