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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I was looking for books like Chocolat and some twitter friends suggested this one and The Mistress of Spices. Both are incredible stories - definitely must reads if you enjoyed the Chocolat series. Have also heard of La Cucina but have not yet found that book.
Of course, there's also Like Water for Chocolate.
Will write more when I've read more.
Of course, there's also Like Water for Chocolate.
Will write more when I've read more.
Mehran mixes up a nice little serving with many flavors. The novel centres on three sisters moving from Iran to Ireland in an attempt to rebuild their lives as owners of the Baylon Cafe after the revolution. They must combat overt opposition as well as sublte slights against them because of their ethnicity. One sister engages in a Romeo-Juliet relationship with a local that sets of a chain of events. Throughout, theses sisters employ food as a means of self-support, as an expression of their culture, as a means to sway the hearts and souls of the townies. A sweet and spicy little book, laced with a few moments of magial realism.
lighthearted
fast-paced
This book is the story of a quaint Irish town in the 1980's that comes to accept three sisters from Iran, and the wonderful Persian cuisine these sisters serve in their cafe. The juxtaposition of the two cultures, the quaint Irish town with its narrow-minded individuals and the narrow-minded individuals that the sisters left behind in Iran, made the story quite enjoyable. The story did a nice job of developing the sisters' characters. I thought it could have done more to develop some of the other characters however.
I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was hoping for a more dramatic ending, particularly with Bahra's husband or some aspect of the sister's life in Iran. Instead, it felt a little rushed and somewhat anticlimatic. I also felt that the ending for Thomas McGuire was too comical. The television metaphor would be that the story moved from being a serious drama to a sitcom.
I was constantly hungry while reading this book because food plays such a prominent role. It was almost a character in itself that I could see and smell and taste. I am very thankful for all of the recipes included. I will definitely try a number of them.
I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was hoping for a more dramatic ending, particularly with Bahra's husband or some aspect of the sister's life in Iran. Instead, it felt a little rushed and somewhat anticlimatic. I also felt that the ending for Thomas McGuire was too comical. The television metaphor would be that the story moved from being a serious drama to a sitcom.
I was constantly hungry while reading this book because food plays such a prominent role. It was almost a character in itself that I could see and smell and taste. I am very thankful for all of the recipes included. I will definitely try a number of them.
This book has followed me around for nearly 15 years and 6 relocations. Each move, it has found its way back onto my 'to-be-read' bookcase.
When I finally did get around to reading it, I managed to read it all in one day, which is quite unusual for me.
I loved the writing style and the food related prose. The recipes at the beginning of each chapter were/are fabulous. The characters were given such depth of life, I found myself wanting more.
Part #1 of what was meant to be a 7 part series, I did find a second-hand copy of the second in the series, however, I was devastated to learn that the series abruptly ends with book 2. The author passed away shortly before book 3 was completed.
Brilliant writing, a terrible shame that the saga will never be continued.
When I finally did get around to reading it, I managed to read it all in one day, which is quite unusual for me.
I loved the writing style and the food related prose. The recipes at the beginning of each chapter were/are fabulous. The characters were given such depth of life, I found myself wanting more.
Part #1 of what was meant to be a 7 part series, I did find a second-hand copy of the second in the series, however, I was devastated to learn that the series abruptly ends with book 2. The author passed away shortly before book 3 was completed.
Brilliant writing, a terrible shame that the saga will never be continued.
POMEGRANATE SOUP by Marsha Mehran
A most interesting mixture betweem small town Ireland complete with all the personalities such a community could throw up, and the exotica of three beautiful Iranian exiles and their culinary traditions. Very similar to Joanne Harris' Chocolat in terms of plot, protaganist, eccentrics and baddies. Uncannily so. Nevertheless with a Middle Eastern leaning to it rather than chocolate and gypsies, this is also a light hearted and heart warming read, good for summer holidays or evenings by the fire. I don't think it is nearly as well written as Chocolat, being far more syrupy and touchy feely for my liking. The food thing and the recipes however sounded beautiful and I could imagine the aromas and tastes from how they were described. Maybe Ms Mehran should be a food writer.
It's Chocolat. Granted, I haven't read the original book but have seen the movie of Chocolat, but this is alike enough to be eerie.
To be clear, I enjoyed the story of the Iranian Arminpour sisters who fled the revolution and eventually settled in small town Ireland in the mid 1980s. The flashback scenes to life in Iran were interesting and educational for me, who, sadly, knows very little about it.
But life in the small town and its residents are all close enough to have been drawn directly from the other. I would have liked to see the busybody get her comeuppance. And the mystic bits were a off-putting at times, intriguing at others. be prepared for them.
So, if you enjoy reading about exotic (in 1986 ireland) cuisine, people cooking, small town life and adjustment to change this would be a good book for you.
To be clear, I enjoyed the story of the Iranian Arminpour sisters who fled the revolution and eventually settled in small town Ireland in the mid 1980s. The flashback scenes to life in Iran were interesting and educational for me, who, sadly, knows very little about it.
But life in the small town and its residents are all close enough to have been drawn directly from the other. I would have liked to see the busybody get her comeuppance. And the mystic bits were a off-putting at times, intriguing at others. be prepared for them.
So, if you enjoy reading about exotic (in 1986 ireland) cuisine, people cooking, small town life and adjustment to change this would be a good book for you.
this was a nice story for what it was. you get a small glimpse into iranian culture, mostly through food; and you get a glimpse into small-town ireland, mostly through the many characters you encounter (some more developed than others). if you like the books-about-food subgenre you'll probably enjoy it on that level if nothing else - the recipes are a nice touch.
Je voulais lire ce livre depuis longtemps - quelle déception !
Oui, il y a une recette à chaque chapitre, cela permet de se mettre dans l'ambiance et d'en apprendre sur la cuisine iranienne. Mais à part cela, très peu d'informations sur le passé des soeurs et sur la révolution.
Mais ce n'est même pas le plus décevant. La grossophobie évidente de l'autrice est fatigante. Les descriptions physiques constantes, même quand ce n'est pas nécessaire, surtout comparées à de la nourriture sont de trop. Les descriptions du corps de la cadette sont gênantes (c'est une ado !). L'histoire même est un peu décousue. Bref, le style d'écriture n'est pas terrible.
Oui, il y a une recette à chaque chapitre, cela permet de se mettre dans l'ambiance et d'en apprendre sur la cuisine iranienne. Mais à part cela, très peu d'informations sur le passé des soeurs et sur la révolution.
Mais ce n'est même pas le plus décevant. La grossophobie évidente de l'autrice est fatigante. Les descriptions physiques constantes, même quand ce n'est pas nécessaire, surtout comparées à de la nourriture sont de trop. Les descriptions du corps de la cadette sont gênantes (c'est une ado !). L'histoire même est un peu décousue. Bref, le style d'écriture n'est pas terrible.
More than a decade on after I first logged onto this site and took my reading in more intensive directions, and works by women of color still don't naturally come my way in my circles of awareness. Sure, one can plug into the commercial monstrosity and swallow down the latest anti-bigotry list spewed out by the megalodon tumor on the face of worker's rights that is the owner of this website, but cut out your past, and your present has nothing on which to stand in order to face the future. Go back a mere ten, twenty, half century or so, and watch how the audience can only name five, three, one, if that of an applicable author, and only if a Nobel Prize for Lit or a Pulitzer or some other self-laudatory Eurocentricity has spoonfed them all the way. The result of all this is a mixture of overhype, contention, and works that I've already read, and while I'm happy to see the last, it does nothing to feed my own appetites, seeing as how I don't see myself being in the mood for any sort of major rereading of adult material for at least another five years or so. Couple that with the pandemic still making my usual sources of new book material bleed out at the jugular, and I've lately taken to forcefully mass infusing my collection of works by women of color in an inverse relationship to monetary cost, which is how I acquired this particular book, snatched with 40 or so others in a $5 USD per bag frenzy. When I picked it up to read, I had some thoughts about reading good food, as well as experiencing a relatively rare viewpoint of a non-USA woman of color in a non-USA area, but the huge overvaluing of 'tell' over 'show', ridiculously dichotomous characterization, and a very mincing handling of historical context outweighed much of the delight I experienced. It's a shame, especially considering how so interesting a viewpoint in writing and genre was halted so soon (the author died at the age of 37), but it may prove better for those who find this kind of writing to be within their comfort zone and thus enjoy much more of the domestic happiness running throughout.
Whenever I need a break from the more intensive aspects of my usual hobbies (books, politics, a particular difficult video game, etc), I more often than not turn to cooking, scoping out the recipes for fully equipping my grocery list while watching anything food related on Netflix that's not too dramatic or Eurocentric ('Ugly Delicious' and 'The Great British Bake Off' are two of my favorites). It's a topic that I haven't tried very hard to integrate into my reading regimen due to how disparate the genre's usual style and caliber is from my exactingly honed tastes, but when the book buying incentives described above intersected with my coming across this particularly appealing looking work, I thought, why not. I had my reservations about the writing, and unfortunately, the author's exuberant sensory details regarding food and culture bled in a little too heavily into her treatment of rather stock characters and incredible plot scenarios (there's 'magical realism', and then there's almost Disney levels of cutesy good/diabolical evil). However, I was touched every once in a while when the more holistically put together scenes of good food and good company was able to portray Iran without completely devolving into the "Western" view of the country (once again, Klein's [b:Shock Doctrine|1237300|The Shock Doctrine The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442590618l/1237300._SY75_.jpg|2826418] comes into relevance), and the recipes are nothing if not what I like most in food: good amounts of meat, fruit, vegetables, and spices, all simmered/canned/stirred/mixed together and cooked/piled/baked into a supremely delicious result without a uber fancy technological mishmash or NY Times level of fanciness in sight. Things in the US have developed to the point that I remember being able to get a variety of Persian ice creams without too much trouble back when I was in college, but I'm still waiting on my gloriously rich documentary on Iranian food to cross my path. The culture's had chilled dishes specifically made for summertime since 400 BCE, so saying that there's a wealth of relevant material for such is rather an understatement.
I have the poorest record with attempting these kinds of reads every once in a great while, but there is some good to getting out of my assumptions of what kinds of books exist on a regular basis. It's also good to get out of the habit of prioritizing works by women of color only on a nonfictional basis, or a recountal of trauma through fiction basis, or on some other level where I'm not engaging with it as lightly as I do with other, less politicized demographics, but for the purpose more similar to that of consulting Wikipedia about a 'foreign' landscape than anything else. Such 'for fun' works may not jive well with my usual inclinations, but it is good to relax every once in a while, as my brain working overtime in contextualizing the Iranian Revolution beyond what is put out by the usual Anglo text couldn't fully distract me from the wealth of new flavors and wonderful portrayals of finding a home/making a life that this book hit the mark on every once in a while. My being more comfortable with the hard and gritty of such circumstances doesn't mean that such things are good for me, and until I can naturally come to these sorts of materials in a way that ensures that my bookshelves are far less biased in the usual ways, granting myself direction through more artificial means is better than assuming the status quo has any interest in my well being. So, I thought this book was only okay, but the good aspects reminded me of the benefits of mixing my interests in food with that of literature, as well as multicultural focuses with the good life. Maybe by the next time I read another of this work's kind, I'll have actually tried making one of the recipes in this work. Something to look forward to, at any rate.
P.S. This work has a sequel, for anyone interested.
Whenever I need a break from the more intensive aspects of my usual hobbies (books, politics, a particular difficult video game, etc), I more often than not turn to cooking, scoping out the recipes for fully equipping my grocery list while watching anything food related on Netflix that's not too dramatic or Eurocentric ('Ugly Delicious' and 'The Great British Bake Off' are two of my favorites). It's a topic that I haven't tried very hard to integrate into my reading regimen due to how disparate the genre's usual style and caliber is from my exactingly honed tastes, but when the book buying incentives described above intersected with my coming across this particularly appealing looking work, I thought, why not. I had my reservations about the writing, and unfortunately, the author's exuberant sensory details regarding food and culture bled in a little too heavily into her treatment of rather stock characters and incredible plot scenarios (there's 'magical realism', and then there's almost Disney levels of cutesy good/diabolical evil). However, I was touched every once in a while when the more holistically put together scenes of good food and good company was able to portray Iran without completely devolving into the "Western" view of the country (once again, Klein's [b:Shock Doctrine|1237300|The Shock Doctrine The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442590618l/1237300._SY75_.jpg|2826418] comes into relevance), and the recipes are nothing if not what I like most in food: good amounts of meat, fruit, vegetables, and spices, all simmered/canned/stirred/mixed together and cooked/piled/baked into a supremely delicious result without a uber fancy technological mishmash or NY Times level of fanciness in sight. Things in the US have developed to the point that I remember being able to get a variety of Persian ice creams without too much trouble back when I was in college, but I'm still waiting on my gloriously rich documentary on Iranian food to cross my path. The culture's had chilled dishes specifically made for summertime since 400 BCE, so saying that there's a wealth of relevant material for such is rather an understatement.
I have the poorest record with attempting these kinds of reads every once in a great while, but there is some good to getting out of my assumptions of what kinds of books exist on a regular basis. It's also good to get out of the habit of prioritizing works by women of color only on a nonfictional basis, or a recountal of trauma through fiction basis, or on some other level where I'm not engaging with it as lightly as I do with other, less politicized demographics, but for the purpose more similar to that of consulting Wikipedia about a 'foreign' landscape than anything else. Such 'for fun' works may not jive well with my usual inclinations, but it is good to relax every once in a while, as my brain working overtime in contextualizing the Iranian Revolution beyond what is put out by the usual Anglo text couldn't fully distract me from the wealth of new flavors and wonderful portrayals of finding a home/making a life that this book hit the mark on every once in a while. My being more comfortable with the hard and gritty of such circumstances doesn't mean that such things are good for me, and until I can naturally come to these sorts of materials in a way that ensures that my bookshelves are far less biased in the usual ways, granting myself direction through more artificial means is better than assuming the status quo has any interest in my well being. So, I thought this book was only okay, but the good aspects reminded me of the benefits of mixing my interests in food with that of literature, as well as multicultural focuses with the good life. Maybe by the next time I read another of this work's kind, I'll have actually tried making one of the recipes in this work. Something to look forward to, at any rate.
P.S. This work has a sequel, for anyone interested.