Throughout the book, My Life in France, Julia Child continually talks about her original incompetence in the kitchen. Coming from a typical California family, Child's parents rarely cooked, and as a result she never learned. As she tells the reader, "but I was never encouraged to cook and just didn't see the point in it" (4). It is hard to believe that the woman known for her cooking ability never touched a stove before she was married. After her marriage, it was still a long time before she was inspired to learn how to cook, and cook well. She was inspired to take up cooking when she and her husband moved to France. There, she was amazed by the wide assortment of extremely delicious food and encouraged to try her own skill. As Child recalls "Surrounded by gorgeous food, wonderful restaurants, and a kitchen at home -- and an appreciative audience in my husband -- I began to cook more and more" (42). Her astonishment by how good well prepared food could taste gave her new motivation to learn to cook, and create masterpieces of her own. Her desire and willingness to try new things helped show her a whole new world, and shaped the rest of her life.
I chose to write about this aspect of her life as a contrast to All The Pretty Horse. Throughout the entire book, John Grady is trying to find the old life that he had had to give up because of his mother. Though he matures a great deal, it seems that he can never accept a new way of life than the one he has given up. Child seems to be the opposite of that. After her marriage and her life in France, she is eager to embrace a new life style that had before seemed stupid and pointless. After reading both books it seems tome that Child had a much more fulfilling life than John Grady in part because of her willingness to try new things and change. From these books, it seems that flexibility will bring more happiness than stubbornness.
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4 comments:
You bring up a very interesting point, but I have to disagree. I believe that John Grady Cole was looking for a new life and found one with Alejandra, a life that he was able to except. Once he lost her though, he didn't really care what happened with his life. It's not that he wouldn't accept what he was given, he just didn't care.
I think it's very cool that a very accomplished cook had started out by find cooking stupid and pointless. I also agree with the point you made about flexibility opening new doors in life and can make you happier. So many people seem to be clinging onto old ideas and lifestyles and never allow themselves to branch out.
I think Child's story brings up something we should all consider. When we grow up being forced to do things or doing them over and over we tend to get sick of them and tend to resent or take them for granted. Child looked at cooking at first as unnecessary but after new opportunities arose and she realized the potential she seemed able to embrace it and expand on it to create amazing tastes. Whereas most people, who are forced to cook everyday to survive, think of it as a chore, rather than an opportunity to create something delicious.
This is very interesting how Child grows up surrounded by cooking but does not learn or even considering learning the skill. I think that this shows Child's not compromise her own skills to match the skills that many around her have. I think a lot of times we feel that if we cannot do what others around us can, we feel inferior (like playing hockey in Edina). However, Child doesn't seem bothered by this and instead in the end she is drawn to an activity that she had never pursued in the past. Also I think that because cooking had been so common in her past it may be familiar (even if she hadn't cooked but was surrounded by it) and comforting for her to learn about and eventually take up.
Interesting post.
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