ERforME Blog

Book Review for Julie and Julia

August 14, 2010 at 2:49 am Leave a comment

Julie and Julia

by Julie Powell

First and foremost I got to say that the book is 75% different from how they made the movie. I really appreciate the three attitudes that were highlighted on the book: 1) frank, 2)candid and 3) vulnerably brave. Let me explain why. On the writers frankness. Clearly, Julie Powell is not that sweet, super crying baby that they showed on the movie. She was brutally honest on everything that she felt. As she quote this. “The Contender:
Government drone by day, renegade foodie by night. Too old for theatre, too young for children, and too bitter for anything else, Julie Powell was looking for a challenge. And in the Julie/Julia project she found it. Risking her marriage, her job, and her cats’ well-being, she has signed on for a deranged assignment.” For me “risking her marriage, her job and her well being for a deranged assignment” was a very revealing statement. Specially when she didn’t know how this project is going to end. I can totally related to that because I risked everything too to be where I am right now. My family, my friends and my everything were all left in the Philippines to venture my life here in the United States. And I know, like Julie it’s never easy, and it will never be to open up yourself to something that is not your comfort zone.

Secondly, the book is so candid, I can’t stop laughing on how she just mentioned fowl word F_ _ _ all the time. I know it’s not funny but the way she says it in almost every sentence is undeniably funny. In fact, one of her bloggers posted a comment on her blog saying, “If you only stop saying fuck too much.” Ofcourse, she never stopped saying it. She just say it as it is. Another candid part of the movie that made me laugh unexpectedly was when she didn’t hesitate sharing her childhood story about his father’s book. She described it as “plain black clothbound book at the very rear of the deep cabinet, kept spine down so the title was hidden.” It was actually a sex book that she had been reading alternately if she wasn’t scanning Julia Child’s cookbook. She showed us that everyone has fantasies. And it’s true. You just have to know the boundaries of those fantasies.

The last but not the least is this book showed and amazing mix of vulnerable yet brave personality of Julie Powell. Which I literally have. Until I wrote this book report, I never thought I could mix this two words “vulnerable and brave.” Why did I chose this two words? Well, she was never afraid to tell everyone her failures. Specifically when she admitted that after the 365 days of her cooking project, she “still confuse easy with simple” when she just neglect the fact that you can not make mayonnaise using food processor instead use your hands to whisk it. She was brave because eventhough she doesn’t really know who reads her blog or who cares about what she’s doing, she just bravely put it there anyway.

I feel that this book is going to be loved by people who like me wants a direct-to-the-point story without any “roaming around the bush” style of writing. It specially influenced me to move on with my culinary career because it’s very clear that Julie Powell and Julia Child found their bliss through cooking for their beloved husbands. Thus feeding their soul with everyday accomplishment brought by instant gratification of “eating” not just good but “great food” freshly made out of their own kitchen.

The last chapter of the book showed how she is now reaping her success from being 1) frank, 2)candid and 3) vulnerably brave. She quoted, “Two years ago, I was a twenty-nine-year-old secretary. Now I am a thirty-one-year-old writer. I get paid very well to sit around in my pajamas and type on my ridiculously fancy iMac, unless I’d rather take a nap. Feel free to hate me—I certainly would.” Who would know that it would be this successful from starting a “no purpose project”. I don’t mind having that kind of success too. That’s the reason why I am making sure that I suck all the knowledge that I can get from school everyday.

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