Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Food

I was interested on the emphasis of food in this novel. Tom Birkin went into a lot of social situations where the company was sweetened by the promise of any or all food -- the morning tea with Moon, Sunday meals with the Ellerbecks, then feeling obliged to preach for Mr. Ellerbeck as a thank-you for all that hospitality. I can't imagine what it would be like to eat so little (bread, vegetables, occasional meat) and not know for sure where your next meal is coming from.

3 comments:

  1. I went over to Brits and bought a wedge of Wensleydale to eat while I read! (because that's what he ate in the church, with a hunk of bread ... I always want to eat what I'm reading about!) A pint of frothy ale would have been a delicious accompaniment.

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  2. Oh, that sounds so wonderful ... yes, a big wedge of good cheese and bread versus a ham sandwich sounds glorious to me -- not rationing at all!

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  3. Yes, I'm also a great lover of the British bread and cheese tradition!

    I was also struck by Tom's early calculations of how he could stretch his wages and what provisions he could get by on. Good thing he made some friends!

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