Julie & Julia
aka The Julie/Julia Project
aka 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
aka My Year of Cooking Dangerously
aka a movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams
By Julie Powell
Read: August 2009
Rating: Nifty
Yeah, this is one of those books that is suddenly on everyone’s mind–or just was, anyway. The movie version came out earlier this month, and I enjoyed it a lot. Our neighbor finished reading the book a few days later and loaned me her copy. Also quite good. The whole Julie Powell thing has become an “issue” though, somewhere between her starting a blog via Salon.com (and holy shixx0rs, when did they give out free blog accounts?!), and her first book deal. Then it snowballed. Some of it is to do with the cult of personality, and the conceit of the blogosphere. (Thank god this all went down before the Twitscape!) Some of it is to do with personal growth. Some if it to do with writing, and writers.
So I need to dedicate some space to each of the following:
- The Julie/Julia Project itself (blog)
- Julie & Julia, the book
- Julie & Julia, the movie
- Julie Powell, the person
Oddly enough, I became acquainted with them in the reverse order.
#1: The Julie/Julia Project blog
I don’t remember when I first became aware of the mad project. It was probably on my radar as a small blip, Odd News, around the time Julie wound up in the news. So, I never read the blog. My Sreya, on the other hand, is a huge foodie, and though she is a lifelong vegetarian, she did. (I do not know how she managed. Virtually every recipe includes animal flesh.)
The blog is still live (Salon.com, your early blog template SUCKED. I had Blogger templates in 2002 that were easier to navigate!), so I poked around in a cursory fashion. There isn’t much in the way of formatting, but Powell’s writing style is pretty succinct off the bat. You won’t find neatly reprinted recipes, and you don’t really need them. Just pick up a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking–which hit the bestseller list in some stupendous way a week or two ago.
#2: Julie & Julia, the Book
The first few chapters were more than a little annoying. Every paragraph is crammed full of metaphor and simile and asides, like she was trying really, really hard to sound all authoritative and writerly. I knew that if it went on that way my odds of continuing would be sorely hurt.
Thankfully, it doesn’t. Once the book moves from set up to the beginning of the Project itself the sailing becomes far smoother. By 2/3 through, I was starting to admire Powell’s use of the tools she applied. In this way, I have to applaud her. She absolutely grew as a writer during this book, and it shows. I look forward to whatever else she does.
I strongly believe it should be fiction. You see, J&Jbook is sprinkled with very brief, imagined narratives of the life of Paul Child. Just a few pages each, they are beautifully crafted–I was reminded strongly of the Child parts of the movie. Immersive, lush, and moreish. In fact, Powell’s powers of description are ripe all throughout the book–and even on the blog. This is her forte.
There are many words you could use to describe this woman: Brash, loud, quick-tempered, funny, sarcastic, histrionic, and, most importantly, honest. She shares all of this with us. It’s not hard to wonder, at times, how this shrew manages to keep her husband by her side. Is he some kind of doormat, or what? Julie will freak out when something doesn’t go as it should, and jump to statements like “All of this was a WASTE and my life is OVER!!” Eric is saintly–he lets her take a nap and cleans up the mess. But this paragraph is a simplification of a dynamic relationship. They do have an incredibly deep understanding. And Julie fully acknowledges this. I would say a good chunk of the book is dedicated to demonstrating just how much she loves and is grateful for her husband. That balances it out for me.
Julie is aware of her faults. She credits this project with helping her to become a better person. I can sense an improvement in confidence, if nothing else, and that is nothing to sneer at.
#3: Julie & Julia, the Movie
Fun. A lot of fun. Nora Ephron did a very good job. The film is actually based on Powell’s book, and Julia Child’s memoir of her time in France–too memoirs in one! As such, it’s brilliant. We bounce between the two women, gaining insight into each and ultimately seeing the parallels between their lives. (There really are a lot.)
Meryl Streep is fantastic. She has that Julia Child way of talking down pat. I read an interview pre-movie, in which she said she realized that she was playing the JC in JP’s head–and that freed her to do the roll with gusto instead of worrying so much about accuracy. Either way, she’s charming, and a HOOT. Stanley Tucci plays her husband, Paul, and I adore him, too. As a couple, they are a strong, unbreakable, loving unit. It’s a pleasure to watch. (Amy Adams has said in multiple interviews that she appreciates the way the movie deals with marriage, not just the wedding, but the day to day of it.) Eric Powell, Julie’s husband, is played by Chris Messina. He’s yummy. And does a good job of being a believable foil for Julie’s histrionics.
Unfortunately, Amy Adams is not the best actress for the role of Julie Powell. She is, always, adorable. And I adore her. But I didn’t find her believable, even without reading anything written by Julie herself. Having done so I can’t equate the two. The real Julie Powell swears her ass off, shouts when things go wrong, and is snarky as all hell. You should be looking at your screen now and also wondering, why on earth did they cast Amy Adams? I think it was so Adams’ adorable could overpower Powell’s faults and ensure she was a likeable character.
That is just one reason why I have come to the conclusion that the movie is, in many ways, a fairy tale. They sweetened up Julie’s temperament (she’s now a waifish redhead prone to fits of tears), turned Julia Child from a “scientist” into a passionate, savoring woman, all recipes turned out beautifully unless they went comically wrong, and rearranged the hell out of Powell’s story.
Yeah, timeline? Cause and effect? Totally retrofitted. And I admit, I like it this way. I really, really like the movie. It’s going to be a feel-good favorite for years to come.
That isn’t to say that they raped Powell’s account–rather, they captured the essence of it. And it’s also not all nice-cutesy-Enchanted redux. Ohhh, no.
#4: Julie Powell, the Person
In preparation for this review, I sought out Julie’s current site. She keeps a blog on Blogger these days. From there I got some interesting information, and even better links.
A lot has been said about her. It began with the commenters, and then the early news reports as the Project began to reach its conclusion. Those were mostly positive. Then she got the book deal. Then it was successful. Then she got a movie deal. Now it’s as fun to hate on Powell as it is to ooh and ahh over her.
Powell wrote a piece for The Atlantic that talks about her experience in the media maelstrom. It’s a very good article, examining herself and the version of herself depicted in the movie. She sees discrepancies, and she sees things in the movie that make her squirm. Was I really like that? It’s clear that Powell recognizes how much more growing she still needs to do. Powell talks here and in her book (and it comes up in the movie) about how blogging is an exercise in self-absorption. She recognizes this as a dangerous thing.
This was followed by a Newsweek article, kindly titled, Stop Hating Julie Powell, Please. Here, Jennie Yabroff posits that Powell, as one of the earliest food bloggers, helped to define the genre. (Oh god, can blogs have genres?) She also takes a look at some of the reasons critics have been snapping at her–one of which amazes me. Apparently, there’s some bile because Powell gets treated as some kind of food authority, but is not a pro chef in any way, shape or form. Well, of course she’s not, but she did spend a year in French Cooking Boot Camp! How you confuse these, I don’t know.
Just as I’m coming to understand this person, Julie Powell, and the character, a wrench is thrown in the works. As I (and Amy Adams) have said, there’s a lot to do with marriage and enduring affection. It’s one of the things I like. So, imagine my surprise (and Adams’, when an interviewer mentioned it) when I discovered that Powell’s upcoming book is about her affair in the year or two after the first book was published. Dubleyatieff, man.
I want to read it, but hell if I’ll pay money for it. SwapTree, ho!
