Forgive me for the silly title, but do you ever find that when you're reading a novel, you start to crave the sorts of foods that the people in the novel are eating?
For me this is invariably the case, to the extent that if I'm in a phase where I'm reading a lot, I'm constantly overcome by food cravings. A while ago I read a book that took place in Hong Kong during and after World War II, and I didn't like the novel but I developed such a craving for Dim Sum that I had to indulge it that very evening (I also longed for XO sauce, though I've never cooked with it and am not certain what it tastes like). When I'm on a 19th century British novel kick, I want to have tea and cold meats (which they're always eating on picnics). Even kippers, though I've never had one and they look kind of scary. And of course 20th century American novels leave me craving traditional diner fare, cups of filter coffee and slices of pie.
I find this to be rather strange. Am I so susceptible to the powers of suggestion? Yet I can't remember ever experiencing an urge, for example, to run out and buy an Eggo Waffle after seeing it advertised on TV.
I think it's got something to do with the fact that when you're completely absorbed in a novel, you feel like you've joined its world. And perhaps there's no better way to experience another world than to ingest it? That sounds a bit scary, but it does make me think of those expressions: "Mann ist was er isst" from Feuerbach (roughly "you are what you eat;" the homophone of "ist" (is) and "isst" (eats) makes it sound so much more clever in German); or "Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai qui tu es" from Brillat-Savarin ("tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are"). And after all, one of the things I like the best when traveling is to sample the local cuisine. I also love to poke around local grocery stores to try to get a good sense of what the people in a given place are really making themselves to eat every day. And then for a while, I want to eat that, too (like the Nescafe Frappe).
So. Yesterday I was revisiting Jane Austen, and more tea was consumed around here than usual, though it wasn't a bad thing because it meant that I got a lot done late in the afternoon (after tea-time, of course). I had lunch with a friend, though, who told me that she'd reread "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it was fantastic; I also haven't read it since I was 14 and now I'm tempted to re-experience the novel myself. But what do Scout and Jem eat? I'm imagining that their diet are similar to what I encountered more recently in Carson McCullers, but I think they aren't as poor as the C.M. crowd so I can't be sure. I guess there is only one way to find out...
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