The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 14 February 2012
by Anka Muhlstein
We haven't been foodies and restaurant diners forever, of course. It all had to have its start sometime in history. Also, in literature, we are treated to lavish descriptions of meals taken and food shared, the metaphors of food and love. As the form of the novel developed, the various sides of everyday life slowly worked their way into the stories that were getting told. In this book, French author Anka Muhlstein explores the descriptions of food and eating that are found in Honoré de Balzac's sprawling epic series of novels, The Human Comedy. Through his work, she traces the history of French food culture in the decades after the French Revolution, the era which Balzac treats in his novels, and in which the modern concept of the restaurant first takes root.
When one reads the compelling literature of The Human Comedy, it may not be immediately evident how food plays a role in the lives of the characters and what it might reveal about the author's relationship to food in his personal history. But most authors are pretty careful about what they include in their books. There isn't much that isn't relevant to the story, after all. Balzac's characters display much of their moral content in what and how they eat, from the gluttons who come to bad ends, to the clerics who relish fine cookery, to the sloppy housekeepers who are mere social climbers, to the misers who hoard food to the point of it rotting. We also learn of the origins of the common bistro and the dining establishments that started out as a kind of fast food and evolved into epicurean palaces. The content of the meals has changed over the years, of course. One doesn't much find boiled beef served in thick layers of aspic gelatin these days (though it's not impossible). It certainly doesn't necessarily sound appetizing to the modern palate. Muhlstein goes on to describe how Balzac's democratic descriptions influenced later French authors, such as Zola, Maupassant and Proust, all of whom wrote lavish descriptions of meals. This book is translated from the French, which means it may have missed some in the translation. There will be elements of French history that would engender a knowing nod from French readers that might not be noticed by the non-French. But it is an interesting survey of how food plays its role in French literature of the nineteenth century. One will end up paying a lot more attention to it in the next volume of Balzac we pick up. This isn't a book of recipes, nor is it a lip-smacking celebration for foodies. It is more an exploration of history and literature, knowing and interesting throughout.
See Also: [La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac]