Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

by HRevvdon@evpl on Friday, June 12 2009, 7:41am. Viewed 1,663 times.
EVPL Blogs » Blogs » Books Blog » Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Julie and Julia (2005) by Julie Powell puts the WHINE to wine and dine.  Having read Comfort Food (2008) by Kate Jacobs and Garlic and Sapphires (2005) by Ruth Reich, I was interested to read Julie and Julia when my sister recommended it.  Since I rarely cook and I knew I would not write down any of the recipes I chose to listen to the book from a digital download.

I found the humor of Jacobs and Reich's books entertaining.  Both of these authors wrote about their successes and failures with passion and self-deprecating humor.  Powell does neither.  I did not find her attempts at being funny, well funny.  I thought that for the most part, if her humor was not sophomoric, it was mean and demeaning.  I am definitely not a prude when it comes to language and I use some of the language that Powell uses.  However, after about the millionth "f" word, it just went from excessive to vulgar and was usually without purpose.  And, would she never stop whining about her life, work, husband, and friends?  She even whined about the blog fans that helped to make her successful with this project, calling them the "bleeders."

I am not a Julia Child fan, I have not watched her shows, I just don't know much about her.  I know more about Dan Ackroyd imitating Julia Child than I know about Julia Child.  I thought that Powell was disrespectful to Child, often resorting to childish name-calling when she failed at a recipe and mocking Child's writing as well.  I did a little Googling and found that Julia Child loved Ackroyd's imitations of her, so Child was not without a sense of humor.  Julia Child thought Julie Powell opportunistic and her use of language was foul and excessive.  I obviously agree.

I don’t usually write a lot of negative blogs about books - I can usually find something that I like in every book I read or listen to.  There is no exception here.  My positive take away from Julie and Julia is that I am very happy that I am not her husband!

Comments (9)

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Shh_ImReading@evpl wrote
on Friday, June 12 2009, 3:38pm

I read Julie & Julia several years ago when it was new, so it's hard to remember now exactly what it was that I so enjoyed, but I loved it. After I read it and loved it, I almost immediately listened to the CD audio edition, which is abridged. I usually avoid abridged audiobooks completely, but since it was read by Julie Powell herself, I could not resist!

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it at all, but then where would the fun in life be if we all loved the same things?

Later this year, a second book by the Powell will be out. It's called Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not, but I'll certainly give it a try.

shiloh wrote
on Saturday, June 20 2009, 3:32pm

I am only fifty one pages into this book.  So far I am enjoying it although I can see where this person is coming from.

lilseed wrote
on Thursday, July 2 2009, 8:13pm

I just finished reading this book and really loved it! I felt I could relate to Julie Powell in so many ways and loved that she put all her thoughts about the Project into a book to share with the world. Some people may not relate to her, but for those who do, this book is a wonderful read.

kristiwargel wrote
on Friday, July 3 2009, 3:21pm

I haven't read the book, but, reading this makes me want to. I'd just like to see what negativeness is in it myself, I guess. I agree that too much of one thing is too much. I've only seen Julia Child once or twice. I guess I'll be checking this out next!

hs40 wrote
on Monday, July 6 2009, 3:08pm

I thought that this was a great read--humorous and a good light summer read, especially for foodies.

bookfiend wrote
on Wednesday, July 8 2009, 1:47pm

I really enjoyed this book but I am a bit of a foodie myself. This is not somethhing I would normally read but with this years reading program I thought it might be fun. While I am not a Julia Child fan and would not want to eat alot of the food that is in MTAOFC I find it wonderful that someone had this idea.  Maybe it will inspire others to step out of there comfort zones and do something different.

jessicasgrandma wrote
on Thursday, July 9 2009, 4:20pm

The book was ok reading, not a no.1 on my list.  It was better than I expected.  I found the book on a shelf set aside for the Categories in the Summer reading program.  I would have never pick this book on my on.  I am glad I did.

jcrossley wrote
on Friday, July 10 2009, 10:46am

I haven't gotten a chance to read this book, although looking at the previews for the movie, I would like to read it.  I, too, hate hearing fool language while listening or even reading books.  I understand sometimes the words have to be used, and yes I use them occasionally, but sometimes I would like to read/hear a book with none in it...that goes for watching movies too.

TrackbackWhat is a trackback? from My Life in France by Julia Child
on Friday, March 12 2010, 6:20pm

Several months ago I read Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (2005) and