I think almost all food tastes better if had with the right book in hand. Of course the right company makes it very, if not more, enjoyable, but now I think about it, the taste buds get a raw deal. You re too busy composing the next answer or listening to soak in the food (assuming its worth soaking in of course- all beetroot and papaya related things excluded right now). But books are more passive, you can read, put them down, chew,savour, think and pick them up again. If you like some section you can saunter down that part, guess what comes next, and then do it all over again. As a side angle, eating with a book also draws far more attention than eating with any live person does. I dont know whether out of sympathy (paapa she doesn't have any friends) or curiosity, but everyone wants to know more about you the moment you re caught eating with a book in hand. In short, although vetoed as a bad food practice, I think theres something to be said in favour of book- eating too :)
So what are your favourite food books? Here is my list:
THE BEST: Wodehouse: I think the easygoing and mad happenings of Wodehouses stimulate gastric juices or something, I always eat more and feel happier with them!
Agatha Christie: Non gory, very gossipy and such a skilled character sketcher! great with food
Enid Blytons: Fabulous!Her food descriptions alone were enough to sustain a meal (fresh farm tomatoes, hot bread from the oven, and hot many other things I didn't even know the meaning of, but it didn't matter)
Harry Potter: The coolest,ALL Of them :)
Gerald Durrell: Feel good independently and with food, always
Also William, Rex Stout, Tintin but not Asterix (dont know why), Edith Nesbit. Don Camillo. Roald dahl- the non scary ones ONLY. Triveni (not the sad ones, again)
specific books : All Mma Ramotswe stories, Raga n josh, The microbe hunters. City of djinns.
THE WORST- P.D. James (the goriest murders ever, and you ll just sink into a dark mood)
the so so ones-
Ngaio marsh, Calvin (too restless I think?), actually comics in general are not great, except Tintin somehow..Frank o connor, Somerset maugham, Kuvempu (I think guilt. he s so scholarly and polished that you feel it cant be taken so lightly..feels like sacrilege).
Palace walk (too much detail to absorb) and The Kiterunner (too sad).
The WORST ever- Analytical chemistry- the Bangalore university prescribed one. I tried it once,obviously when in dire straits, and it put me off lunch AND dinner. It just gave me a hopeless feeling. Even the cover is especially unappealing, and am sure also unappetising, for poor foraging paper mites :(
Of course you cant insult the best books by reading them with sidey food..that wont give you any sort of good feeling. It needs quite a mix and match perrsonallized standardization..good luck :)
Angkor wat
9 comments:
In most cases I can actually eat any food with a book in hand. In fact your James Herriot helped me injest many different foods in HK when I first arrived and was sampling restaurants randomly.
However there is one specific book that can makes even the most delicious food difficult to eat - James Joyce's Ulysses. If you're in a sane phase of your life, you'll put the book away and enjoy your food.
Two books that I could only read while eating - Three men in a boat (an overdose of dry Brit humour that can only be mixed with food and had) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 years of solitude (food makes time go quicker, the book really makes you feel passing through a 100 years!).
Asterix and Calvin have a lot of word play, goes best when you have something to munch while you're reclining on the bed. Tintin is popular adventure, goes almost with anything (except the first 2 of Tintin series, the B&W ones). Same as Sherlock Holmes.
BTW if you've noticed, reading fantasies while eating food and reading them at other times makes you look at them with entirely new perspective - now that's some real food for thought ;-)
My favourite food books would be Harry Potters (though I confess I end up gaping at the book every once in a while! :D).....followed by Sherlock Holmes and then, O Henry Short Stories! :-)
Good food, of course, shouldn't be insulted with a book in hand and Laas, your company beats ALL these books hollow, when it comes to company while eating (Sorry Sathya, you're a close second because you demand a share in the post-meal coffee :D). With you around, I can even eat (and probably enjoy, in some rare cases) Nesara food (onion dosa as a cross of onion pakoda and cheese dosa notwithstanding :D)......
But ya, there are some books that just can't be read while eating. Kiterunner and Thousand Splendid Suns sure fit the bill. I read one very grisly book Bosky gave me, horrible! Absolutely doesn't go with eating (will fit better while puking, will help everything come out of horror of reading that)!
Nice post Laas :-)
When I bring food to my room and eat, I subconsciously reach out for the Harry Potter books! I would recommend them to anyone who loves to read while eating :)
There's always P.G.Wodehouse to the rescue when you badly need to read something.. I have read only one Jeeves book though.. Somehow Blandings seem to dominate my taste!
Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle have always been excellent companions to good food. I have tried reading the best books with bad food sometimes. But it never works. Somehow I end up putting the book aside and eating hurriedly to save myself from the slow torture :)
In my experience, good food with one of the books I mentioned always gives me a feeling of complete satisfaction.. It's best feeling ever!
Really nice writeup Laasya!
Actually, I think I just have a compulsion to read while eating. It doesnt really matter even if it's just a scrap of newspaper :P
But on the subject of books that go with any kind of food......yes, gerald durrel tops my list! he'll take your mind off the bitterest karela and the blandest of lauki while doing nothing to diminish the taste of good ol' bhindi. Also, Wodehouse, Enid Blyton, and fantasy fiction. An absolute no-no to popular science! I get so absorbed in agreement or outrage at the words that I forget to eat :P
@sathya-oh yes, thanks! james joyce is awful with any food!! (hard enough otherwise..)
@ Pritz- ooh thaaank you :)) ha ha, true, sathya can have the kapi ;)
@Abhi- dont know how i forgot harry potter!! have added, thanks :)
@anush- arre true, highlighted durrell, infact better than wodehouse, thenks yous. actually i like asimov too!! :)
Um... I can read pretty much anything, with anything.
I find it hard to eat *without* reading. Or, well, at least doing *something* else at the same time.
So your list bemuses me.
I make exceptions for food which needs both hands to eat, and books which are too bulky to manage with only one free hand.
Book-eating. :) I usually end up read food labels when sitting at a table and get all guilty about the calories I am ingesting. I also like reading magazines at the table. I remember as a kid I used to read Enid Blyton at the table and amma used to get angry. So I guess that kind of has kept me away from books when I eat. I avoid eating in my room. Just does not feel good. In lab when I start eating in my cubicle I tend to read papers. This is boring but efficient.
@Roh- ha ha , i know :) not for you!
@Rafiki- Hey, thanks for dropping by! :) I know, I had the 'don't read too not good' too when alone!
Awesome. That’s very interesting.! http://www.cozyvision.com/
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