Don't Judge a Book by its Movie -- Heartburn

Well, in this case, you can judge a book by its movie. I read Heartburn about a week ago and just finished watching the movie. Nora Ephron also wrote the screenplay so the movie followed the book very closely. Of course, as usual, the book went into more depth and off on tangents and gave actual recipes, short as they were, where the movie glossed over things, stayed on point, and only a few snippets of recipes were discussed.

All in all, since, as I mentioned, I read the book over too long a period to keep the characters straight in my head from one sitting to the next, and I watched the movie all in one chunk, I'd say I liked the movie as well, if not better than the book. Strange but true. The only other time I can say that was with the short story Brokeback Mountain and the movie. Both good but I think the movie really captured Annie Proulx's writing. Very well.

What book/movie have your read/seen that really stuck with you? Is the movie ever as good as the book for you?

Heartburn Is Done

Book Read:  Heartburn
Author:  Nora Ephron

I finished Nora Ephron's book Heartburn last night. Good book but it wasn't as satisfying as I'd have liked. Maybe it was the length of the book. Short.

And I'm actually looking forward to watching the movie on this one, which is a favorite thing of mine to do; read the book then watch the movie. (And it's on hold for me at the library; I just need to go pick it up.) In this case, I think the movie will let me visualize (no duh, huh?) the characters better and frankly, help me keep them straight.

I would recommend reading this book in one or two sittings as opposed to the way I did it--stretched out over almost a week at night, tired, with a few evenings off when I was just too tired to read. A rarity but I think I missed some things by not chewing on it all at once.

Oh, and it has some good recipes.

Who said (or wrote) this first? Julia Child, Nora Ephron, Julie Powell?

Okay, so I'm reading along last night in Heartburn and on page 113, a passage stopped me in my tracks. Granted I was lying in bed so I didn't have far to stop, but tell me if this sounds familiar to anyone else:

"...What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing! It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles."

This almost identical passage was voice-overed by Julie Powell in the movie Julie and Julia, right? Right! I think Julie was making a chocolate cream pie dealie and Nora is surely referencing a gravy-type thing since she mentions stock, but it was the same concept, almost exactly, if I recall. So, since Nora Ephron, who wrote 1) the book I'm reading now, Heartburn, in 1983 AND 2) the screenplay for the movie Julie and Julia sometime much later, like in 2006, did Nora write it in this book first then decide to "borrow" her earlier words to let Amy Adams as Julie Powell, who wrote first the blog The Julie/Julia Project, then the book Julie and Julia, say in the movie? Did she? I wonder?

Or could Julie Powell have stolen the concept from Nora Ephron and written these words in her book, Julie and Julia? I read that book too but don't remember it, per se.

Or is there a chance that Julia Child wrote it in one of her cookbooks or memoirs? I've never read any of them but Nora Ephron references Julia Child all over the place in Heartburn so maybe??? Did Nora AND / OR Julie 'steal' from Julia?

Who wrote/said it first? If anyone knows, please let us know!

The Long and Short of It

After reading Stephen King's long book (Under the Dome, 1074 pages), I must have subliminally wanted to read a short book. I've had Nora Ephron's Heartburn sitting on my nightstand for months, and it was on top of the pile, so I picked it up to read next.

I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia, which Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay for. I knew she wrote Heartburn, but have never read it. It's high time.

It's as tiny as Under the Dome was big, in length anyway. 153 pages. So far, it long on funny though. For example, on page 43, she wrote:

"I looked around the subway car. A Japanese man was taking pictures of the passengers. He was undoubtedly a tourist, but he was making everyone in the car uncomfortable. I tried not to look at him, but it was impossible. Once I saw an exhibitionist on the subway, and I tried not to look at him, too, but the funny thing about exhibitionists--and the reason I'm never really offended by them--is that you can't help sneaking a peek now and then to see if the damned thing is still sticking out."

And I really like the picture of Ephron from this 1983 edition. She more recently wrote the funny book, I Feel Bad About My Neck. I wonder, since she's wearing a turtleneck in the photo, did she then too?