Gourmet (Editions Gallic)

This book is like walking into your house after a long day at work and heading straight to the kitchen and finding your favourite dishes waiting for you to devour. It's filled with gloris descriptions of food, realistic depictions of relationships people have, and a tinge of sorrow one would feel about the various regrets in one's life. It's parts funny, parts beautiful, parts sad but wholly delicious. Devour this one on a full stomach for you're bound to get hungry otherwise!

I'm a big fan of food writing so this was a must read as far as I was concerned. My lasting impression of `The Gourmet' is that it is actually a bit of an odd book and it's hard to say if I enjoyed it or not. In essence, the writing is utterly beautiful and the depictions of food are positively drool-worthy, so it's tough to explain why the book itself left me feeling a little bit flat. I suppose after all the praise that has come this books way, I was personally expecting something a little bit better.A brief summary: France's most renowned food critic is dying. Despised by many, loved by few, Pierre Arthens is on his death bed yet *still* trying to remember the most memorable thing he has ever tasted- a food that has stayed with him always. As Pierre searches his memories for the elusive taste, we learn a bit about his life from not only him, but from the people who have known him. It soon becomes clear that Pierre is a man of many layers- not all of them good...So why only the 3 stars then? I hear you ask; It sounds a decent enough book. To be honest, what I didn't enjoy particularly and what let this book down for me, was at the end of every `Pierre' chapter, after such beautiful, vivid writing of food and ingredients throughout and the re-living of meals and childhood experiences, it became a bit repetitive; alas, he STILL hasn't found the food/ingredient he is looking for. Oh well, let's try and remember some other type of food instead, time for *another* flashback... (if you get my drift). The progression from one Pierre chapter to the next just became a bit tiresome and grated on me after a while- the book just didn't seem to flow as concisely as I'd hoped. Also, though the book was very short I still felt the ending was far too quick. I'd also expected the story itself to be longer, but nope, the remaining pages were merely padded out with book group questions instead! Also, I have to say that for me, the great revelation as to what he'd been searching for was actually a bit disappointing, though it did make me smile.If you're a fan of food writing then I would probably recommend this, but don't expect anything outstanding. There's much better food writing out there. Saying that, I have really enjoyed the author's writing style here however- quite possibly this book doesn't do her justice?

Just occasionally-very occasionally- one comes across a writer blessed with a particular and almost unique genius for the written word. Louis de Bernieres springs to mind in my own experience. And Nancy Mitford. And so, what a pleasure it was to pick up "The Gourmet", recommended by a friend, and discover the exquisite prose of Muriel Barbery.The story of itself is of no great import-a famous French food critic, a loathsome individual despised near and far, on his deathbed, searching for the food flavour from his past which gave him the most satisfaction. But his reminiscences of past gastronomic pleasures, recalled with such nostalgia and with such descriptive richness in short chapters, are simply divine. I especially enjoyed the occasion when he got lost in Normandy, ended up in a farmyard, and was invited to an outdoor meal with the farmer, wife and friends, when his main pleasure was in listening to the relatively mundane, rural conversation of the other participants in the feast. Also the chapter about the dog who ate the Yule log.I am now savouring the prospect of reading "The elegance of the hedgehog", having sampled the "taster" added at the end of this novel.

Bought this as in VGC - certainly true - and gave to a friend as she has never read it before. I bought her "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" for a birthday gift (having read it an loved it myself) and she thoroughly enjoyed it, so I thought I'd just top her up with this one. It's beautifully written and a good companion piece to "The Elegance of the Hedgehog".

Everyone should read this brilliantly written and heartwarming book

I read theElegance of A Hedgehog first, so this book could not match it. But nevertheless, it is beautifully and cleverly written,in a bite-size length.