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Smaak (2013)

by Jonathan Grimwood(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

9401600791 (ISBN13: 9789401600798)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Xander Uitgevers B.V.

review 1: I enjoyed reading "The Last Banquet," by Jonathan Grimwood, I found the book to be very convincing and although it is unlike any other book I have read, it was in part this that made it so great. I also found intriguing the subject matter of food, in all it's glory and gore. With recipe's like Pickled Wolf's Heart, Flamingo's Tongue as well as recipe's for how to cook Dog and Cat, even these obscure foods were made to seem palatable, mostly anyway, the book begins with a young Jean-Marie Charles D'Aumont sitting outside his home eating Dung Beetles from a dung heap, it is here that he is found by the people who have come to collect him after his parents had died inside the house from starvation. The book is a memoir of Jean-Marie's colorful life, he goes away to military s... morechool where he grows up and meets a tight knit group of friends that remain a part of his life most of the way through in one way or another. There are stories of adventures, riches and poverty in the extreme, including royalty and noble men, where titles are everything. Set in the 1800's, pre-revolutionary France is an interesting place and this was one aspect of the story I found rather interesting, even their dress style was different, with upper class men wearing wigs and tights among other things. There is a great balance of adventure, romance, love, betrayal, life and death, family, friends, money, animals and the wilderness, this book has it all.
review 2: I will confess. I knew nothing of this book or its author when I first picked it up. I judged this book worthy to read by its cover. There is a silhouette of a tiger in a powdered wig and livery, looking proud but wary. Then the title: The Last Banquet. I knew as soon as I started to read it that I would love it. It's part historical fiction, part tale of struggle and overcoming, part cook book, part erotica. Or protagonist is an orphan, a super-taster, an animal lover, and a good person. There is political intrigue, revolution and romance. All of the above. I will seek out Johnathan Grimwood in the future. less

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