Tuesday, July 15, 2014

First Paragraph, Teaser Tuesday -- The Hundred-Foot Journey

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

This is the original cover
for the book.
I've seen so much about this book and its incarnation as a movie, that I have to read it. I've had a copy of the book in the house before and my husband read it. He liked it. For some reason, I'm having trouble getting through it. It begins in Mumbai then moves to London, Lumiere (a small town in the French Alps) then Paris. Sally and Sim have both blogged a lot about the movie. The movie was filmed in Sally's French village and Sim has the trailers up.
Maybe I need to skip ahead to the France parts. My blog friends
Here's the intro of the book:
I, Hassan Haji, was born, the second of six children, above my grandfather's restaurant on the Napean Sea Road in what was then called West Bombay, two decades before the great city was renamed Mumbai. I suspect my destiny was written from the very start, for my first sensation of life was the smell of machli ka salan, a spicy fish curry, rising through the floorboards to the cot in my parents' room above the restaurant. To this day I can recall the sensation of those cot bars pressed up coldly against my toddler's face, my nose poked out as far as possible and searching the air for that aromatic packet of cardamom, fish heads, and palm oil, which, even at that young age, somehow suggested there were unfathomable riches to be discovered and savored in the free world beyond.
 I'm joining Teaser Tuesday this week too.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Open to a random page of your current read  and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.
Here's the cover for the
book now that it's about
to be a movie. 
And here's my teaser from page 93:
"Talent," she said through the muffled clutch of her napkin. "Talent that cannot be learned. That skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along in a chef once a generation. Don't you understand? He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born. He is an artist. A great artist." 
Has anyone else read this book? I hope the book is as good as the trailers for the movie look.
I'm also joining in with Paris in July since this book is mostly set in France.

12 comments:

Kim@Time2Read said...

I'm not sure about this one. I'd have to read a bit more to see if it holds my interest.
Today I'm featuring Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter.

Literary Feline said...

I read this book when it first came out and enjoyed it. I hope you are liking it!

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I love foodie books, and usually drool all the way through the movies that come from them. I have been noticing the previews of this movie...now I'm definitely curious to read the book. Thanks for sharing.

Here's “BIG LITTLE LIES”

Juli Rahel said...

I hadn't heard of this book or that it was being made into a movie, but I really like the sound of the beginning. I love it when smells are described well in books because it makes me want to cook! I hope you enjoy the rest of this one :) Thanks for sharing!
My Intro
Juli @ Universe in Words

kayerj said...

I know what you mean about skipping ahead. Sometimes I skim super slow sections of very long books. The first does sound like a book you would like since it is set in France. I like the teaser and the cover from the second book,but I've never read it. I hope you enjoy your books. Kelley at the road goes ever ever on

Margot said...

I like the storytelling style of the first paragraph. I'd read more. I'm afraid I haven't heard about the movie, but I'll keep looking for it.

Sally Tharpe Rowles said...

I am kind of glad to hear you aren't loving it all that much because I really didn't either. I will be very interested to see what the movie does with it though.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I like the intro and love the cover, hope it picks up for you.

Tamara said...

I have a soft spot for India, and often look for a story from India to fill in a reading spot. I'll watch out for this now. Is it available on Kindle? I hope you find yourself enjoying the read soon.

Anonymous said...

I keep seeing the movie trailer on tv this morning but I didn't know it was first a book. I still have no idea what the heck this is about, but I might pass on the book and just see the film when on Netflix. Thanks though, for sharing it.

Linda said...

I read it. I was so surprised when I found out it was fiction. I will definitely see the movie. I love Helen Mirren. I'm sure the story is changed to include more of her.

Anonymous said...

I just saw the trailer this morning and both my husband and I thought it would be a movie worth seeing!

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