first half of the book seemed more of a description of the author's surroundings, and thus I found it a bit dry.
I enjoyed the second half a lot more, which discussed the interesting people that she and her husband met during their few years living in Dijon as students.
I hear Fisher is a great food writer, but this is not the one to read, Except for Chapter, the rest is about the characters she remembers, looking back toyears ago, I'll defo read her early stuff, . . Honestly, this is weak tea in comparison to many of Fisher's other books, It's the reminiscences of an old nostalgic, with a bit too much emphasis on the personal, not enough on the social, which prevents me from enjoying it near as much as the nostalgias of, say, Stefan Zweig.
Fisher was pretty old at this point, and seemed more content to reminisce about the past, its lovelinesses and its discontents, than to use that perspective as a lens, and so I found myself respectfully listening to Grandma's stories, without paying them much attention.
Stick to her earlier, edgier work, I gave this one star because no isn't an option, I would actually rate it a minus star, as 'absolutely hated it', The only reason I finished the book was that I had read so many positive comments about the great MFK Fisher that I kept expecting it to improve.
Which never happened. Her style of writing is so annoying that I will NEVER read another one of her books, I would imagine this book to be appreciated most by Fisher completists, rather than firsttimers such as myself.
Very conversational in style, romantically evocative of several stereotypes I have of "Frenchness" and that period, kind of rambling.
I was a little lost here and there, but its charm as nostalgia kept me going, Astute, evocative observations of people, of food, of the Burgundian town of Dijon, I admire how, like a true memoirist, M, F. K. Fisher writes for herself always the best audience, a collage of telling impressions and recollections, I love her wit and intelligence, her insight, and her artful economy of words, Yes, Fisher is a food writer, but she is also a keen observer of human nature, which gives her writing depth.
No idea why it took me this long to read MFK Fisher, Again, another windfall of the street, my eternal gratitude to the neighbors leave their dusty libraries to San Francisco.
In reading MFKF, I see what food writers today are attemptingand sometimes failingto express, Much of the pleasure is simply in her tone, her voice, and her innumerable excitements of being young and in love.
Even better, there's an impassioned note scrawled on the inside cover from the previous owner, detailing his own loves, his own feverish affairs with bikers and bartenders.
Despite my work, I don't fetishize booksbut it's hard to make an argument for an eReader when a twentyyear old note gets passed down to a neighbor.
This book is moderately interesting although I much prefer Julia Child's My Life in France, Maybe it was her writing style, maybe it was the lack on continuity through out the book, I don't know but I just found this one to be only OK.
I was surprised as I had heard lots about M, F. K. Fisher I guess I was expecting something else, Aside from that it was kind of neat hearing about France in the late's time period, Dijon, cuisine, learning how to fit into provincial France, There are nice vignettes here, beautifully written, I wanted to eat at the restaurants, meet the people, watch as a tart was put together, But you have to know something about the author to piece a story together as there are't connective chapters that explain much of the background to her marriage or her husband's area of study etc.
Quite enjoyable. I read an article recently mentioning M, F. K Fisher and decided to check one of her books out of my library, Mrs. Fisher is an accomplished food writer, who lived through WWI and WWII, These historic years definitely impacted her writings and point of view, She producedbooks in her life, which spannedto, This book focuses mainly on her time in Dijon beginning in, the time between the wars, Her prose is evocative and candid, Her ability to connect food to people and places is singular, Her discussion of France and the people she knew and then her revelations of what happened to them during WWII is done in a very pragmatic manner, making her natural reserve and composure come through in the writing.
Anyone interested in food history would find this a very worthwhile read, I didn't know anything about Dijon except that a sandwich isn't a sandwich till you Poupon it, There's a lot more to it than just the moutard, This is the city where Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was initiated into the world of food and wine as sacrament, to be savored and lingered over and held in reverence.
She arrived in Dijon as a newlywed inand stayed three years, This was the beginning of her gastronomical education and set the course for her future as a food writer extraordinaire.
I've never been particularly tempted by French cuisine, They eat too much stinky cheese and disgusting things made with
animal innards and other revolting body parts.
I could never be hungry enough to eat "terrines of pate ten years old under their tight crusts of mildewed fat.
" I could, however, grow happily thickwaisted on their pastries and other sweet, fruity delights, Papazi's apple tart with apricot glaze sounds heavenly!
This memoir was written retrospectively, sixty years later.
As such, it's heavy on description and doesn't convey the feeling of wonder as a young woman discovers a new world of food and language and culture.
Nonetheless, it's an interesting perspective on expat life in France between world wars,
.
Enjoyed this one immensely because I always love living vicariously through others, This book is wellwritten and a pleasure to read due to its descriptions of people, places, and culture.
The food and wine descriptions often made my mouth water, and Ms, Fisher's candid, yet loving, descriptions of the people around her made me smile, "There is no such frigate as a book, to take us lands away" according to Emily Dickinson, and this book is the perfect example of that.
The armchair trip to Dijon was delightful, and the beautifullyarticulated prose, a joy to read, Three seems like too few to give this book, but the fact is that I liked it.
I don't know if I would say that "I really liked it",
This book was very descriptionheavy, which seems appropriate because the foods she described were also very heavy! But it made it hard to get into.
I think this book should be read slowly and carefully, You need to give it a lot of attention,
Anyway, it was good, and it her descriptions of toilet facilities certainly made me appreciate my own living situation! A warm and vividly clear account of the author's baptism into French specifically bourgognais food, history and culture.
Pearls of elevated writing are interspersed with a running account of living fully! in Dijon in thes.
The author's vitality is ever present, as is her measured response to the ups and downs of getting an intimate look into the ways of a foreign culture and the families she and her husband live with.
Were I to turn the clock backyears, I may have benefited greatly from reading this book and Julia Child's recounting of her first days in France before I, myself, set out to see the world.
Then again, I may not have, Whatever blessing they acquired from life or gene pool that blessing that allowed them to struggle with difference while absorbing, appreciating and learning to love all that that was so different, and often so determinedly distant it makes their work sparkle and their lives so admirably robust.
Thanks Dad. .