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В кухнята на страстта: Роман за възторга на сетивата
В Сицилия, където мафията говори тихо за любов, се разгаря сочна приказка за секс, рецепти и загадъчни убийства.
Кухнята носи ароматите на миналото и всяко събитие в историята й е записано с някакъв обонятелен меморандум. Ето ги ванилията, кафето, индийското орехче и тайните; ето ги млечно-сладката миризма на бебета, на стара кожа, овче сирене и теменужки. В ъгъла, до килера, е увиснала миризмата на стар тютюн, на старост и смърт, а соленият аромат на похот и секс, се усеща във въздуха до стъпалата към избата заедно с мириса на сапун, чесън, пчелен восък, лавандула, ревност и разочарование.
… скоро вие ще видите, че изкуствата на лю�бовта и на готвенето се допълват едно друго. Всъщност те са част от едно и също нещо – тържеството на живота, възторга на сетивата.
Кухнята носи ароматите на миналото и всяко събитие в историята й е записано с някакъв обонятелен меморандум. Ето ги ванилията, кафето, индийското орехче и тайните; ето ги млечно-сладката миризма на бебета, на стара кожа, овче сирене и теменужки. В ъгъла, до килера, е увиснала миризмата на стар тютюн, на старост и смърт, а соленият аромат на похот и секс, се усеща във въздуха до стъпалата към избата заедно с мириса на сапун, чесън, пчелен восък, лавандула, ревност и разочарование.
… скоро вие ще видите, че изкуствата на лю�бовта и на готвенето се допълват едно друго. Всъщност те са част от едно и също нещо – тържеството на живота, възторга на сетивата.
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 272 reviews
July 11, 2014
4.5 Stars
Okay guys, remember all the hype surrounding Eat, Pray, Love - about how it was all about the food and the celebration of being your own person? And then you read it and found it to be a pretty vapid and pretentious travelogue? Well, then La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture might actually satisfy you if you are looking for something similar to what was promised with that other book.
Not only are there a ton of mouth-watering descriptions of Sicilian cooking, but the prose is actually scrumptious. Really. When I see people reviewing a book and saying the writing was "beautiful", I usually roll my eyes because what a lot of readers call "beautiful" really just amounts to 8th grade poetry. Not here. La Cucina is written much like Italian cooking - rustic and simple, yet elegant and filling.
Okay guys, remember all the hype surrounding Eat, Pray, Love - about how it was all about the food and the celebration of being your own person? And then you read it and found it to be a pretty vapid and pretentious travelogue? Well, then La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture might actually satisfy you if you are looking for something similar to what was promised with that other book.
Not only are there a ton of mouth-watering descriptions of Sicilian cooking, but the prose is actually scrumptious. Really. When I see people reviewing a book and saying the writing was "beautiful", I usually roll my eyes because what a lot of readers call "beautiful" really just amounts to 8th grade poetry. Not here. La Cucina is written much like Italian cooking - rustic and simple, yet elegant and filling.
April 23, 2008
I felt like I needed to include a book I didn't like. I really, really, really disliked this book. The author peppers the story with Italian words, but never really captures Italian culture. She resorts to some tired stereotypes - the ignorant peasant girl, the possessive father who uses the words "dishonor" and "puttana" way too much, the fat middle-aged woman, the Mafia taking out a foreigner, etc. This left me cold. I couldn't sympathize with the characters because they were so two-dimensional. The story is supposed to be about a woman who finds love after a long time alone and rediscovers her sexuality with an Englishman, but a lot of the scenes were bordering on gratuitous. I only finished it because I kept hoping it would redeem itself. It didn't.
July 21, 2021
It was bad.
June 10, 2013
Definitely a page turner: I read it in less than three hours. However, I didn't enjoy it as the love interest's personality was repellent. For example, "[he] waved me ahead of him up the spiral staircase. I had reached halfway before I realized that he had positioned himself directly underneath and was looking up my skirts. I tried to gather the material close around my legs so he could not see anything, but in truth, he had already seen everything. He smiled broadly at my discomfort." Urgh. Also, the sex scenes were nauseating.
April 22, 2018
Magical realism combined with Italian charm make this a really imaginative and romantic read, with deliciousness weaved throughout.
January 6, 2024
My mother, who is gone nearly two years now, purchased this book in 2000. I decided to start off 2024 by reading something she enjoyed. If a book lived on her bookshelf all these years, it must have spoken to her, and it surely spoke to me as well. What a delicious way to begin the year.
July 25, 2014
Title - La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture
Author - Lily Prior
Summary -
This is the tale of Rosa Fiore, a peasant Sicilian girl who grows up in a passionate household and who in her way finds her own passions. From the men she loves to the cooking she does.
Rosa's family has always been suspect in her small village. Her mother's powerful and lustful ways the stuff of much gossip. Until the birth of her brothers, Siamese twins, proof of her mother's wickedness the gossip was always in whispers.
For Rosa, in her youth she falls in love with young Bartolomeo, the son of a local Don of the Mafioso. A relationship that would not be permitted.
"..Then you may begin the rolling. Dust the table lightly with flour and divide your dough into eight equal pieces. Taking one piece, begin rolling by moving the rolling pin in a motion away from you, pressing evenly to create a rectangular shape. Continue thus until your sheet of pasta is long and thin and about the thickness of the blade of a knife. The knife that slit Bartolomeo's throat. Slicing through his beautiful young flesh like coltello through lard..."
In her grief, young Rosa cooks and cooks. Her recipes and abundance of food feeds her family and the village. She cooks herself into exhaustion.
No longer able to stay in the village where her young love was murdered she leaves to become a librarian in the small town of San Domenico. Twenty five years pass and she has settled into a new life of her own. Far from her village, from her family and from the two passions in her life. Until one day a foreigner comes into the library looking for manuscripts on the recipes of the cultures that had built the city and the island of Sicily.
With the arrival of this L'Inglese, the passions that had laid dormant in Rosa would re-ignite. Her love and her cooking.
"..Of course, signor," I said very quickly, as if afraid my courage would desert me at the last moment, "if you really want to know about our food, you will not find it in books."
"No?" L'Inglese read the signal.
"You, um, you need someone to show you." I looked at him squarely while blushing like a beetroot.
"You mean you cook, signorina?" he asked, his eyes bright with a sudden fire."
"Signor," I said, "I cook..."
Together, with her L'Inglese, Rosa comes alive again. But will the disapproval of her family reach out to take her happiness away once again?
Review -
La Cucina is very similar in its telling as Like Water For Chocolate and if you loved Like Water for Chocolate, you will love La Cucina. If you didn't get Like Water for Chocolate, you will not get La Cucina.
It is romantic and passionate but not erotica in a obvious way. It is subtle yet powerful. Prior chooses to be descriptive about the passion and dreams of her characters rather than the acts themselves. The influence of family and small village life is also interesting and adds another dimension to the happenings in this novel.
All around a very good read.
Author - Lily Prior
Summary -
This is the tale of Rosa Fiore, a peasant Sicilian girl who grows up in a passionate household and who in her way finds her own passions. From the men she loves to the cooking she does.
Rosa's family has always been suspect in her small village. Her mother's powerful and lustful ways the stuff of much gossip. Until the birth of her brothers, Siamese twins, proof of her mother's wickedness the gossip was always in whispers.
For Rosa, in her youth she falls in love with young Bartolomeo, the son of a local Don of the Mafioso. A relationship that would not be permitted.
"..Then you may begin the rolling. Dust the table lightly with flour and divide your dough into eight equal pieces. Taking one piece, begin rolling by moving the rolling pin in a motion away from you, pressing evenly to create a rectangular shape. Continue thus until your sheet of pasta is long and thin and about the thickness of the blade of a knife. The knife that slit Bartolomeo's throat. Slicing through his beautiful young flesh like coltello through lard..."
In her grief, young Rosa cooks and cooks. Her recipes and abundance of food feeds her family and the village. She cooks herself into exhaustion.
No longer able to stay in the village where her young love was murdered she leaves to become a librarian in the small town of San Domenico. Twenty five years pass and she has settled into a new life of her own. Far from her village, from her family and from the two passions in her life. Until one day a foreigner comes into the library looking for manuscripts on the recipes of the cultures that had built the city and the island of Sicily.
With the arrival of this L'Inglese, the passions that had laid dormant in Rosa would re-ignite. Her love and her cooking.
"..Of course, signor," I said very quickly, as if afraid my courage would desert me at the last moment, "if you really want to know about our food, you will not find it in books."
"No?" L'Inglese read the signal.
"You, um, you need someone to show you." I looked at him squarely while blushing like a beetroot.
"You mean you cook, signorina?" he asked, his eyes bright with a sudden fire."
"Signor," I said, "I cook..."
Together, with her L'Inglese, Rosa comes alive again. But will the disapproval of her family reach out to take her happiness away once again?
Review -
La Cucina is very similar in its telling as Like Water For Chocolate and if you loved Like Water for Chocolate, you will love La Cucina. If you didn't get Like Water for Chocolate, you will not get La Cucina.
It is romantic and passionate but not erotica in a obvious way. It is subtle yet powerful. Prior chooses to be descriptive about the passion and dreams of her characters rather than the acts themselves. The influence of family and small village life is also interesting and adds another dimension to the happenings in this novel.
All around a very good read.
January 14, 2021
I generously gave the book 1 star. There was so much potential but it was ruined by the fake Italian, for one thing. Rather than splatter an Italian word here or there, she should have truly attempted to understand the culture. I am Italian and felt insulted. Rosa, the protagonist, could have been developed into a wonderful character full of spirit. Instead, she is reduced to a lost puppy at the mere site of this stranger "l'inglese". Give me a break. I didn't feel love between them. It simply felt like a lamb being taken to slaughter. And speaking of slaughter. The page long descriptions of her love for slaughtering animals were unnecessary and vile. I found Rosa to be unlikable and stupid quite frankly. What a waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2016
Lily Prior is now one of my favorite authors. I love everything from her style of writing to her very unique imagination. The only thing that pains me about Lily Prior is her novels are too short. She has so many interesting plot points and characters in her writing that simply get glossed over due to her penchant to keep her novels short and sweet. I liken Lily Prior to 'Haruki Murakami Lite.'
August 16, 2013
Слаба ракия като цяло. Нещо като смесица между "50 нюанса сиво" и "Като гореща вода за шоколад".
Изключително дразнещо е че книгата е пълна с грешки - не е минавала през редактор и коректор.
Изключително дразнещо е че книгата е пълна с грешки - не е минавала през редактор и коректор.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : La Cucina - Nevisande : Lily Prior - ISBN : 60953691 - ISBN13 : 9780060953690 - Dar 263 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2000
September 21, 2021
ถ้าจะบอกว่าหนังสือกินได้ก็คงจะเป็นเหมือนเรื่องนี้
เรื่องเล่าเกี่ยวกับ โรซา ฟิโอเร หญิงสาวชาวซิซีลี (เกาะทางใต้ของอิตาลี)
ผู้ซึ่งชีวิตสุข ทุกข์ ตั้งแต่เกิดวนเวียนอยู่ใน ลากูชินา - ห้องครัว
จากบ้านฟาร์มในแถบชนบท ชีวิตเปลี่ยนผันให้เธอเข้ามาหลบซ่อนตัว
เป็นบรรณารักษ์ในเมือง แม้จะซุกซ่อนตัวเองจากโลก เธอไม่เคยซ่อนตัวเองจากห้องครัว
การทำอาหารคือ ชีวิต คือการแสดงออกของอารมณ์อันไหลหลากของเธอ
ทุกครั้งที่ผู้เขียนบรรยายฉากการทำอาหารพลอยทำให้คนอ่านจินตนาการตาม
เช่นเดียวกับการบรรยายฉากรักของโรซาและชายคนรัก
หากคุณเป็นคนที่รักการทำอาหารและอยากเพลิดเพลินเจริญใจไปกับนิยายพาฝัน
เราขอแนะนำเล่มนี้
เรื่องเล่าเกี่ยวกับ โรซา ฟิโอเร หญิงสาวชาวซิซีลี (เกาะทางใต้ของอิตาลี)
ผู้ซึ่งชีวิตสุข ทุกข์ ตั้งแต่เกิดวนเวียนอยู่ใน ลากูชินา - ห้องครัว
จากบ้านฟาร์มในแถบชนบท ชีวิตเปลี่ยนผันให้เธอเข้ามาหลบซ่อนตัว
เป็นบรรณารักษ์ในเมือง แม้จะซุกซ่อนตัวเองจากโลก เธอไม่เคยซ่อนตัวเองจากห้องครัว
การทำอาหารคือ ชีวิต คือการแสดงออกของอารมณ์อันไหลหลากของเธอ
ทุกครั้งที่ผู้เขียนบรรยายฉากการทำอาหารพลอยทำให้คนอ่านจินตนาการตาม
เช่นเดียวกับการบรรยายฉากรักของโรซาและชายคนรัก
หากคุณเป็นคนที่รักการทำอาหารและอยากเพลิดเพลินเจริญใจไปกับนิยายพาฝัน
เราขอแนะนำเล่มนี้
January 27, 2022
3,5* Dividido nas estações do ano, este livro conta-nos a vida de Rosa e a sua ligação à cozinha. Uma história inesperada e surpreendente, com personagens peculiares, que combina sensualidade e comida.
December 23, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed this book that is an unabashed celebration of sensuous and sensual experiences - be they culinary or erotic. It is NOT food porn or any other porn as one reviewer alleged. I can only ascribe this very sad misunderstanding to a calvinistic nature of the reviewer.
June 3, 2020
Excellent Read
This book made me want to eat Italian food and fall in love all over again. I was so engrossed that I read the whole book in one day.
This book made me want to eat Italian food and fall in love all over again. I was so engrossed that I read the whole book in one day.
August 8, 2021
A scintillating, aromatic banquet of words, characters & plot with some delectable food descriptions thrown in. Loved it, that's all I want to say.
May 9, 2023
3,5
Parasta kuvailua mitä olen hetkeen lukenut. Juoni oli vähän kökkö, mutta tekstin kauneus pelasti paljon.
Parasta kuvailua mitä olen hetkeen lukenut. Juoni oli vähän kökkö, mutta tekstin kauneus pelasti paljon.
September 30, 2023
I read this because it said it was similar to my favorite book "Like Water for Chocolate".
I did not find it similar at all except for the basic premise of food and love being intertwined.
The writing style was much more tell than show and it made the idea lose it's magic.
I did not find it similar at all except for the basic premise of food and love being intertwined.
The writing style was much more tell than show and it made the idea lose it's magic.
February 11, 2022
4.5 Stars! A darling, darling book! Prior is a wonderful writer, introducing Rosa's cooking into each of her trying moments. She describes the recipes so well that you can almost taste them. I can tell that she did a deep dive into the culture of Sicily, as it feels very of the time and place. (Some authors seem like they are reciting Wikipedia).
I love the characters and how she describes them. They were quite gossipy and mean to her at times.
There is sex in this book! And it is wonderful for a woman over 40 to find that kind of passion in her life.
I just happened to watch Stanley Tucci's Finding Italy episode on Sicily while i was reading the book, and it validated the recipes that Prior writes about.
Just a delightful book!
I love the characters and how she describes them. They were quite gossipy and mean to her at times.
There is sex in this book! And it is wonderful for a woman over 40 to find that kind of passion in her life.
I just happened to watch Stanley Tucci's Finding Italy episode on Sicily while i was reading the book, and it validated the recipes that Prior writes about.
Just a delightful book!
August 23, 2009
What a fun and racy read! The lead character, Rosa, is easy to fall in love with. I found myself in my own daydreams that included the wonderful aroma of her cooking – if only I could have sat at her table for samples! And thank goodness she met L’Inglese in his ‘come to bed shoes’ – I will never look at men’s shoes the same again…
Thank you, Rosa, for inspiring me to bake fresh bread last night; it was delicious! And thanks to Bebe for recommending this book as it is a fun and interesting peek into one perspective of Sicilian farm life.
Thank you, Rosa, for inspiring me to bake fresh bread last night; it was delicious! And thanks to Bebe for recommending this book as it is a fun and interesting peek into one perspective of Sicilian farm life.
September 27, 2013
This novel is much too easy to mock, and so I dare not, since I might get carried away. The author raises "food porn" to a whole new level, and I don't mean in a good way. OK, I just can't help myself: one teensy little mockery: the narrator is more full of herself than a Mario Batali cannoli! Read at your peril. (Or if you want to laugh out loud, when you really shouldn't.) On the other hand ... maybe it was meant to be this funny.
December 2, 2015
A friend loaned this book; her mother loaned it to her because she said it made her laugh. I didn't laugh but I sure enjoyed reading this story of passion, in all rooms of the house and in the garden as well. The cover is rich and so is the story. La Cucina is the kitchen where the life of the cooks in the household takes place. Rosa Flores is a cook - kneading dough calms her, creating an elaborate dish lets her forget her pain. A sumptuous read.
March 1, 2020
Deliciously written that got even me hungry and hot. It sits in the unusual valley between feministic and not, soap-opera-like and not, mom’s mass-market novel and not. It’s a story that takes a while to grab hold of you, and eventually comes full circle, but not without its shortcomings.
January 3, 2014
Really enjoyed this book. Makes you want to cook, eat and have lots of sex!
October 28, 2019
This book was quite witty. It took me on a journey of learning and love. How I hoped for a happy ending! Worth the read.
October 1, 2019
I wanted to like this book , I really did. The back cover review compares it to "Chocolat" and "Like Water for Chocolate". Um... nope. I think it had that potential, but it was a potential that was never reached. Here is why:
1. Written about Sicily, by a non-Sicilian who "traveled extensively in Sicily", it contains just about every negative stereotype about Sicilians that I have heard and is obviously written by someone who does not understand Sicilian culture.
2. It does not seem accurate for the time portrayed. For instance, while much of the story took place in the city of Palermo, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, some of the details did not seem accurate for the time period. For instance (only one example) Rosa has never ridden in an automobile when she is taken back home from Palermo in the 1960s. This is unlikely for a librarian who lives in the city limits of Palermo, even if she had lived out in the countryside 25 years before.
3. Animal haters. Apparently the character is an animal hater or a budding sociopath. There is gratuitous violence to animals, with no point. Rosa kills her pet pig Miele, with no remorse, and describes the pigs' pleading eyes , her pet parrot burns to death in his cage, a pet pug is trampled by a crowd then the corpse lays in the street and is thrown into a dumpster, when she returns home she slaughters another pig and it looks at her pleadingly and she takes pleasure in feeling nothing for it. These descriptions add nothing of value to the story or any real understanding of the character. The only animal who escapes is a kitten in the last chapter who, in Rosa's opinion is "over loved" (Why? Because he hasn't been cooked, burned or trampled?) In my opinion, gratuitous violence towards animals is often a sign of weak writing skills.
4. Gross and Pervy - A priest that masturbates while young girls confess, a neighbor that masturbates while peeping in windows, brothers that have to be "watched" while mom is away so that they don't violate their sister. Just yuk. What was the purpose here? 50 Shades of Pervy?
5. The conjoined twins. To sum it up, the twins were sweet when young, then they joined the Mafia -.enough character development.....now let's talk in detail about what they did in bed. Um, no thanks!
Like I said, the book had a little bit of potential. There was just enough of a story and information about recipes to keep me interested, and since I am of Sicilian descent and a lover of Sicily, I thought it might turn out to be worth it. There are a few hours of my life I'll never get back. And there is a second book in this saga? Hard pass. I'm done with this book and this author. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to put in the recycle bin.
1. Written about Sicily, by a non-Sicilian who "traveled extensively in Sicily", it contains just about every negative stereotype about Sicilians that I have heard and is obviously written by someone who does not understand Sicilian culture.
2. It does not seem accurate for the time portrayed. For instance, while much of the story took place in the city of Palermo, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, some of the details did not seem accurate for the time period. For instance (only one example) Rosa has never ridden in an automobile when she is taken back home from Palermo in the 1960s. This is unlikely for a librarian who lives in the city limits of Palermo, even if she had lived out in the countryside 25 years before.
3. Animal haters. Apparently the character is an animal hater or a budding sociopath. There is gratuitous violence to animals, with no point. Rosa kills her pet pig Miele, with no remorse, and describes the pigs' pleading eyes , her pet parrot burns to death in his cage, a pet pug is trampled by a crowd then the corpse lays in the street and is thrown into a dumpster, when she returns home she slaughters another pig and it looks at her pleadingly and she takes pleasure in feeling nothing for it. These descriptions add nothing of value to the story or any real understanding of the character. The only animal who escapes is a kitten in the last chapter who, in Rosa's opinion is "over loved" (Why? Because he hasn't been cooked, burned or trampled?) In my opinion, gratuitous violence towards animals is often a sign of weak writing skills.
4. Gross and Pervy - A priest that masturbates while young girls confess, a neighbor that masturbates while peeping in windows, brothers that have to be "watched" while mom is away so that they don't violate their sister. Just yuk. What was the purpose here? 50 Shades of Pervy?
5. The conjoined twins. To sum it up, the twins were sweet when young, then they joined the Mafia -.enough character development.....now let's talk in detail about what they did in bed. Um, no thanks!
Like I said, the book had a little bit of potential. There was just enough of a story and information about recipes to keep me interested, and since I am of Sicilian descent and a lover of Sicily, I thought it might turn out to be worth it. There are a few hours of my life I'll never get back. And there is a second book in this saga? Hard pass. I'm done with this book and this author. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to put in the recycle bin.
Read
March 18, 2020I am lately interested in books that melt the rich culture of cooking, food, etc., into the souls of their stories. I did a random search and La Cucina showed up on a list. I read the summary, downloaded the book and...WOW! What I mean is that I did not expect what I got...HOWEVER, it was a breath of fresh air. I felt like I was reading some seedy version of Strega Nona (one of my kids' favorite books, by Tomie dePaola)! It has an old world fairy tale feel to it, but is hilariously detailed and very adult, if you know what I mean...wink, wink. The experience is very unique and heart lifting; I found myself surprised into shocked gasps and laughing out loud at many points throughout. The narration was perfect and the ending sweet.
As for my interest, after making my disappointed way through other books who claimed to incorporate the culinary arts, this one really had what I was looking for. Rosa Fiore's calling as a cook is very much part of who she is. It is interesting that, despite this, Prior has her earn her living as a librarian the majority of the story. This seemed to me to drive the point that cooking was part of Rosa, like her arm or part of her heart, her brain. It wasn't a job. La Cucina is a character itself. Most of the monumental events in the story, and indeed in Rosa's life happen in La Cucina. It is her birth place, the place her family mourns their deaths, a place of contemplation and of refuge. It is the beginning and the end of the story. This novel is altogether obscene and yet completely wholesome. I loved every delectable word!
As for my interest, after making my disappointed way through other books who claimed to incorporate the culinary arts, this one really had what I was looking for. Rosa Fiore's calling as a cook is very much part of who she is. It is interesting that, despite this, Prior has her earn her living as a librarian the majority of the story. This seemed to me to drive the point that cooking was part of Rosa, like her arm or part of her heart, her brain. It wasn't a job. La Cucina is a character itself. Most of the monumental events in the story, and indeed in Rosa's life happen in La Cucina. It is her birth place, the place her family mourns their deaths, a place of contemplation and of refuge. It is the beginning and the end of the story. This novel is altogether obscene and yet completely wholesome. I loved every delectable word!
Read
May 17, 2020Did you ever stop reading a book because you found it offensive?
.
I did...yesterday. I started reading this book 'La Cucina' by Lily Prior as part of my Taurus Reading Challenge, in which I have to up to 5 books in 30 days that feature food magic. This book was last on my list and was the worst one.
.
It was about this young Sicilian girl Rosa who loves to cook and her Mother who was sleeping around with lots of men after her husband was killed by the mob. Rosa has some pervy brothers and encounters an even more pervy priest. She runs away from home because she was caught having a forbidden romance with a young man who was promised to another girl for a business deal. That boy's father murders him and that's when Rosa leaves her village to establish a new life for herself in Palermo.
.
I was tempted to put it down after a couple of chapters because it just seemed to be about sex. It got worse though. The story jumped forward 25 years where Rosa had become a middle aged spinster but had a sexual awakening when she met a pervy foreigner. The man was basically a rapist, but the author romanticized their sex life as being some sensual loving thing. It was gross and the author completely degraded the female characters.
.
The book was smutty, distasteful, erotic, and offensive. I did not finish it for those reasons. It was a waste of a book to fill its pages with gratuitous sex, rapists, horny men, whoring women, and Italian stereotypes.
.
I thought it was going to be the Italian version of 'Like Water for Chocolate' but it was sleazy and cheap.
.
0/5 Stars
.
I did...yesterday. I started reading this book 'La Cucina' by Lily Prior as part of my Taurus Reading Challenge, in which I have to up to 5 books in 30 days that feature food magic. This book was last on my list and was the worst one.
.
It was about this young Sicilian girl Rosa who loves to cook and her Mother who was sleeping around with lots of men after her husband was killed by the mob. Rosa has some pervy brothers and encounters an even more pervy priest. She runs away from home because she was caught having a forbidden romance with a young man who was promised to another girl for a business deal. That boy's father murders him and that's when Rosa leaves her village to establish a new life for herself in Palermo.
.
I was tempted to put it down after a couple of chapters because it just seemed to be about sex. It got worse though. The story jumped forward 25 years where Rosa had become a middle aged spinster but had a sexual awakening when she met a pervy foreigner. The man was basically a rapist, but the author romanticized their sex life as being some sensual loving thing. It was gross and the author completely degraded the female characters.
.
The book was smutty, distasteful, erotic, and offensive. I did not finish it for those reasons. It was a waste of a book to fill its pages with gratuitous sex, rapists, horny men, whoring women, and Italian stereotypes.
.
I thought it was going to be the Italian version of 'Like Water for Chocolate' but it was sleazy and cheap.
.
0/5 Stars
August 22, 2023
Sicilian cooking and graphic sex scenes make this book rapturous & passionate, yet at the same time, exaggerated & ludicrous. The story is told by Rosa Fiore about her mother, father, and brothers, two of whom are Siamese twins. Her first lover, Bartolomeo, is murdered by his own father to preserve the family honor, as Bartolomeo was betrothed to a woman from a wealthy family, a good Mafioso match. Bartolomeo however had other plans; he had his sights on the peasant girl Rosa.
After Bartolomeo's death, Rosa takes off for Palermo, where she spends 25 years away from her family working as a librarian. When she meets L'Inglese, with whom she shares a rapturous love affair during one summer, she finally feels like her sexual and womanly self has been awakened from a long slumber. She revels in their affair, only to have L'Inglese one day disappear. And as Rosa knows from her own father's disappearance, people who disappear in Sicily never return.
This book is really over the top! Yet in some bizarre way, it propelled me along and I found myself caught up in its dubious charms.
After Bartolomeo's death, Rosa takes off for Palermo, where she spends 25 years away from her family working as a librarian. When she meets L'Inglese, with whom she shares a rapturous love affair during one summer, she finally feels like her sexual and womanly self has been awakened from a long slumber. She revels in their affair, only to have L'Inglese one day disappear. And as Rosa knows from her own father's disappearance, people who disappear in Sicily never return.
This book is really over the top! Yet in some bizarre way, it propelled me along and I found myself caught up in its dubious charms.
Read
November 19, 2020Este livro passa-se em Itália o que é logo um excelente atractivo para mim que adoro esse país. Como o próprio nome do romance indicia, a comida é preponderante no desenvolvimento da história. La Cucina começa numa quinta na zona leste da Sicília perto da encosta do vulcão Etna. A personagem principal é Rosa Fiore que tem uma intensa, quase visceral, relação com a comida. É nela que se refugia para afogar desgostos e mágoas ao longo da vida. Mas é também através da comida que descobre a sua natureza feminina e a sua sensualidade. É um livro quente, denso e saboroso com personagens estranhas e peculiares. A história é, muitas vezes, inesperada e surpreendente. Na contracapa, Joanne Harris, autora do livro Chocolate, compara La Cucina ao livro Como água para chocolate de Laura Esquível. E isso faz imenso sentido já que são dois livros com contextos muito semelhantes. Em suma, gostei muito e recomendo.
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