Friday, March 21, 2014

Starving for Details in a Novel or Movie

I’m a foodie – I love to cook, bake and eat; I collect cookbooks and leaf through them for fun; I visit epicurious.com more often than most websites.

As a reader and a writer, I find it fascinating when food is central to the plot. Is food plentiful or not, and why? Do meals reflect the state or region? Do the foods featured give us an idea of the character’s upbringing? Are meals used as a device to bring characters together?

I just finished reading “The Dinner” by Herman Koch. The entire book takes place at a restaurant over the course of a meal. Two brothers and their wives are the diners. The restaurant is quite posh and this provides tension, as one brother is wealthy and the other is not. I love how the book is segmented by courses, from aperitif to digestif. Of course, this is all background to a truly horrific story involving the couples’ sons but food is a central character in my mind.

Food plays a major role in every book I write. In FACING FIRE, the 16-year-old protagonist loses her sense of taste and smell because of a traumatic event in childhood. For her, food is about texture and temperature only. Eating is a chore instead of a delight. It affects her health and her relationships.

In the book I’m writing now, THE LAST SUPPER, the protagonist is a cook in a Louisiana prison in the 1950s. She’s obsessed with creating the perfect last meals for death row inmates. The planning and preparation of these meals helps her avoid the trauma of her father’s death and the execution of his murderer.  This same character is also worried that she relies too much on her senses of taste and smell, and that her other senses will suffer if she doesn’t exercise them more.

When there is no mention of food (or meals or hunger) in a book or movie, I find it quite odd. Food is such an important part of the human experience.

Do you have a favorite book or movie where food is a leading character or where food is noticeably absent?

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE the movie Big Night, starring Stanley Tucci, followed closely by the foreign film, Babette's Feast. Both stories revolve around a dinner and both illuminate their characters in contrast to the food. Dare I say, delicious?

    ReplyDelete
  2. What you're saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I'm sure you'll reach so many people with what you've got to say.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This makes you look play bazaar desperate and as if they undervalue satta king themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dil mera khusi ch hulare len lagga h sbra da fal hun menu pen laga hai v Play Bazaar owsmm blogs your happy to read it thanks fpor shating this love it Satta King

    ReplyDelete

  5. Don't fear failing. Failing is something that many great leaders Ganga Music have done, and it has only spurred them on to greater victories. If you fear failure, you may be afraid to act boldly, which is the only way for a leader to act. If you fail at something, use it to help you change directions.Ganga Bhakti

    ReplyDelete
  6. When giving instructions to your downline, make certain you keep everything very clear and simple. You cannot expect people to follow out your instructions successfully if they are too complicated or difficult to understand. You want to be certain that everyone on your team is completely comfortable and in the loop to provide the best performance and attain the greatest play bazaar success.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fantastic blog; you've always written fantastic blogs, and I admire all you've done. I admire how well you explain your smart ideas; it greatly assists me in my academic pursuits.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Celebrate your big day with the pop balloons near me and make an impression on your friends and family. Our Cssm team is always available to help you with your Balloon orders and to get you the pop balloons in Pakistan. Our creations have the best float time; you can easily check the quality of your personalized balloon by checking the float time that Bazzle promises. With local and low-quality balloons, you can never achieve such high-quality balloon decor.

    ReplyDelete