Books Read: January 2010

Let's try this again!

January 2: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I can't believe it's taken me this long to read Jane Eyre - it's been sitting on the bookshelf taunting me for years and this winter break afforded me the time and inclination to give it a go. However many years ago it was that the movie Becoming Jane came out, a New York Times article observed that Austen fans and Bronte fans are different, because Austen situations that could plausibly happen to you with minor time period adjustments and Bronte situations are so off-the-wall insane that they would never happen to anyone. This is all true, and while it won't replace Pride and Prejudice in my estimation, I still enjoyed Jane Eyre's drama. After reading the Twilight series, I had forgotten what it was like to enjoy a narrator's presence.

January 14: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

I first picked this book up after seeing its movie adaptation over the summer, but lapsed in reading when the school year began. I was compelled to return to the book after reading some of the press surrounding Powell's second book, Cleaving, particularly Powell's own posts on the DoubleX blog. (Slate being one of the few things I feel legit about reading while I'm at work.) I was intrigued in particular by Powell addressing a statement Amy Adams made regarding Cleaving's account of infidelity; namely that Adams had reacted by saying that "her" Julie Powell wouldn't have cheated on her husband. The differences between books and film adaptations are always interesting to parse; in this case, Powell's personality was dramatically flattened in the transition from "real life" to the screen. Film Julie seems to have a lot more in common with the other wide-eyed characters Adams has played in the years since Junebug that she does with the endearingly sarcastic woman who comes through in the written Julie and Julia. As someone who's recently tried to embrace cooking and baking with a small kitchen and a middling electric stove of wavering temperature, I couldn't help but identify with the ups and downs of Powell's quest. I can understand why Nora Ephron focused more on the vibrant personality and well-known persona of Julia Child in the film, but it would have been nice to see more of, say, Powell's love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or her hilariously expressed crush on David Strathairn.