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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I feel like she set out to discover where the noodle orignated, but failed and thought, "Oh dang, what am I going to do??! I know, I'll add incessant interludes about my thoughts on my marriage! I can ponder what it means for me to be a wife, yes, YESSS!"
Note to the author: wrong idea. I do not care. It's clear that her husband must be about 300 times more patient than I would be with this lady. It's possible that traveling through the middle east isn't the best backdrop for an American woman with means to be lamenting the potential loss of your independent spirit by having become a wife.
That said, I like the travelogue/food parts fairly well. I love reading descriptions of places I'll probably never go. Especially of the day-to-day regular life stuff and cultural intricacies when she stayed with families in places like Iran and Turkmenistan. If it had stuck to that this book would have probably been 4 stars.
Note to the author: wrong idea. I do not care. It's clear that her husband must be about 300 times more patient than I would be with this lady. It's possible that traveling through the middle east isn't the best backdrop for an American woman with means to be lamenting the potential loss of your independent spirit by having become a wife.
That said, I like the travelogue/food parts fairly well. I love reading descriptions of places I'll probably never go. Especially of the day-to-day regular life stuff and cultural intricacies when she stayed with families in places like Iran and Turkmenistan. If it had stuck to that this book would have probably been 4 stars.
The feminist angle was interesting. I like the descriptions of the various countries, from the perspective of gender equality in addition to food.
I found some of the lack of empathy frustrating. The author lied to one subject (by saying the book would have no mention of politics) and got him to express his political views. She wrote about how he could be jailed for those beliefs, and then included all of his statements in her book with enough identifying details that he could be found by his government.
She also did inconsiderate things toward her two employees. One of them had been forced to do manual labor for years, and she insisted that they go look at this labor canp even though her employee did not want to go back there.
The other employee Wang had been given up by his parents, but had forged a much better life for his own family. The author speculated with no basis that Wang's daughter was shy due to a fear of being given up for adoption. I wonder how the author would like it if people speculated that her own daughter lived in fear of being given up for adoption.
There was also a passage in the beginning where an intern at the cooking school asked about how eating habits work in the author's relationship, and shared that she and her African boyfriend broke up due to different tastes in food. Somehow, this caused the author to make a mental note to weed out interns more strictly. I couldn't see what the intern had done that caused this.
Anyhow, this book had good parts and frustrating parts.
I found some of the lack of empathy frustrating. The author lied to one subject (by saying the book would have no mention of politics) and got him to express his political views. She wrote about how he could be jailed for those beliefs, and then included all of his statements in her book with enough identifying details that he could be found by his government.
She also did inconsiderate things toward her two employees. One of them had been forced to do manual labor for years, and she insisted that they go look at this labor canp even though her employee did not want to go back there.
The other employee Wang had been given up by his parents, but had forged a much better life for his own family. The author speculated with no basis that Wang's daughter was shy due to a fear of being given up for adoption. I wonder how the author would like it if people speculated that her own daughter lived in fear of being given up for adoption.
There was also a passage in the beginning where an intern at the cooking school asked about how eating habits work in the author's relationship, and shared that she and her African boyfriend broke up due to different tastes in food. Somehow, this caused the author to make a mental note to weed out interns more strictly. I couldn't see what the intern had done that caused this.
Anyhow, this book had good parts and frustrating parts.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
This is the second book in which Lin-Liu embarks on an adventure and documents her journey to learn about something food-related. Her writing style is straightforward and easy to read. Food history is fascinating to me, particularly in China, and this book is chock full of it. I loved reading about the food culture in various parts of China, especially in the lesser-known Western regions. Central Asia is a part of the world that not many Westerners know about. Lin-Liu includes history lessons about the various regions she visits and their specific role on the Silk Road trading route.
I can see how Lin-Liu's tone may come off as entitled and patronizing. I was surprised at the lack of attempt that was made to remain unbiased, especially considering her journalistic background. But that did not detract from her storytelling, and I enjoyed reading about the sumptuous descriptions of food throughout the book. She commonly compares the food she encounters with ones she is familiar with and it can seem like she is disparaging these lesser-known cuisines. Nevertheless, she attempts to keep an open mind and objective stance when reporting on her experiences in her travels.
This is the second book in which Lin-Liu embarks on an adventure and documents her journey to learn about something food-related. Her writing style is straightforward and easy to read. Food history is fascinating to me, particularly in China, and this book is chock full of it. I loved reading about the food culture in various parts of China, especially in the lesser-known Western regions. Central Asia is a part of the world that not many Westerners know about. Lin-Liu includes history lessons about the various regions she visits and their specific role on the Silk Road trading route.
I can see how Lin-Liu's tone may come off as entitled and patronizing. I was surprised at the lack of attempt that was made to remain unbiased, especially considering her journalistic background. But that did not detract from her storytelling, and I enjoyed reading about the sumptuous descriptions of food throughout the book. She commonly compares the food she encounters with ones she is familiar with and it can seem like she is disparaging these lesser-known cuisines. Nevertheless, she attempts to keep an open mind and objective stance when reporting on her experiences in her travels.
I'm not really a fan of the way modern nonfiction inserts the author and their life into the story so much. A little, OK, but this was truly like working out her issues with her husband with some eating on the side. I'm shocked that it ends with them still together, honestly.
But if this was a quest to find the source of noodles, it was pretty disappointing that you get the answer all of a sudden because of research she did when she finally got to Italy. I found it as a travelogue more interesting, but it really dragged at times, I couldn't wait for it to be over.
But if this was a quest to find the source of noodles, it was pretty disappointing that you get the answer all of a sudden because of research she did when she finally got to Italy. I found it as a travelogue more interesting, but it really dragged at times, I couldn't wait for it to be over.
I received an early reviewer copy of On the Noodle Road for free.
I enjoyed On the Noodle Road, although it was a bit of a slow read at times and I was a bit wary after Lin-Liu brought up her worries regarding the impact that her travel would have on her new marriage. The information about the food was what interested me most, although I found the sections on the Central Asian countries and Iran fascinating as well.
I understand that this is a memoir as well as travelogue, but I guess I did not expect the details about the authors feelings on her marriage to be so personal. At times it felt overly intimate. The blurb I read did not make it clear how much of the story would be about finding the author making peace with her heritage and as a wife. I love learning about food and other cultures though, so I was eventually able to overlook this. For others that may not be so easy. My rating is actually closer to 3.5 stars.
The recipes all sound fantastic. I have yet to try any, but they definitely have me craving a variety of noodle dishes. This may be the book that finally gets me to make pasta from scratch!
I enjoyed On the Noodle Road, although it was a bit of a slow read at times and I was a bit wary after Lin-Liu brought up her worries regarding the impact that her travel would have on her new marriage. The information about the food was what interested me most, although I found the sections on the Central Asian countries and Iran fascinating as well.
I understand that this is a memoir as well as travelogue, but I guess I did not expect the details about the authors feelings on her marriage to be so personal. At times it felt overly intimate. The blurb I read did not make it clear how much of the story would be about finding the author making peace with her heritage and as a wife. I love learning about food and other cultures though, so I was eventually able to overlook this. For others that may not be so easy. My rating is actually closer to 3.5 stars.
The recipes all sound fantastic. I have yet to try any, but they definitely have me craving a variety of noodle dishes. This may be the book that finally gets me to make pasta from scratch!
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I really wanted to give this book a higher rating because it combined my love of history and love of food but I couldn't get past the author. She came across as a "woe is me" writer who spent a good portion of the book questioning her relationship with her husband and complaining about how she was suppose to balance her life as a traveling food author, food school owner with her marriage.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I really enjoyed Lin-Liu's descriptions of her travels and of her food journey. I was excited to learn more about how noodles changed throughout her trip. What I didn't enjoy was how much time she spent talking about how she questioned her relationship. It didn't feel like it fit in with the main subject matter and was really repetitive.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced