Not just a beautifully delineated character study or inside look at a hard way to make a living but a perceptive meditation on the meaning of work itself ... just over 100 pages and done brilliantly ... Highly recommended.
...beautifully translated ... By the end of The Cook, apart from his love of food, I knew little more about Mauro as a character than I did of the anonymous subjects of those pictures. But I did understand something else. Ms. de Kerangal is fascinated by the way man tries to put a stamp on the physical world. Each of the three books of hers I’ve read (she’s written nine) centers on a process, but they are less about the transformation of a character than the emotional transformation of the reader, who, by learning how things work, comes to better understand the world. The Cook achieves this admirably, though the meal ended too abruptly, and I was left hungry for more.
The perfect thing for those who get aroused reading bistro menus ... de Kerangal conjures the physicality of her subject through evocative language ... does not ignore the grueling, often violent world of professional kitchens. De Kerangal captures both the elegance and the grind ... It’s not a drawback that the book’s objectives are modest, its pace leisurely. Just as one waits for July to eat fresh tomatoes, this 'edible capsule' is perhaps best read not when it comes out next month, but in the dog days of summer—while lazing in a hammock or eating on the patio of some European café not yet inundated with tourists.
Kerangal’s concise tale is as engaging for the relatable ordinariness of its characters and events as for its tracking of a chef’s professional development. The sparse prose increases the impact of carefully chosen details, and the translation retains the power of the compact novel’s original French. Kerangal proves that the best reads can come in small packages.
The simplicity of the story belies the novel's stylistic efficiency, which is frankly amazing. De Kerangal is excellent at writing about food ... The segments about food alternate with equally well-executed descriptions of streets, restaurants, markets and cities, which are brought to life with impressionistic sensitivity ... Though the novel is ostensibly about cooking, I would much sooner recommend this as a guide (or even a model for) the craft of writing. De Kerangal has a real gift for juggling narrative techniques that captivate the reader and make her world feel alive ... Unfortunately, what the novel boasts in style, it lacks in substance...often reads like it's sketching some sort of aesthetic concern through its story...sticks so closely to the simplicity and the linearity of its premise that deeper meanings are only glimpsed and never found ... As importantly, the narrator (or perhaps the author) too often comes frustratingly short of self-awareness ... There can be no doubt that de Kerangal is an impressively talented writer...When you are ensconced in such disarming romanticism, who needs to bother with responsibility? Not The Cook.
Slim but potent ... the author does a fine job of exploring why someone like Mauro is still enchanted by the lifestyle. A love of food is part of it, and she writes lovingly about 'the taste of a tomato, the subtlety of a stalk of asparagus, the crunch of a curly endive.' She’s less interested in food porn, though, than in the way the kitchen provides a kind of holistic calm ... Too short to feel like a full-bodied novel but an admirable literary lagniappe.
Fitfully delectable ... Ranging from Paris dining temples to Berlin kebab houses to a 10-diner-only, 10-course restaurant in Bangkok, the author takes readers on a brilliantly realized culinary tour of the world. Though its emotionally distant narrative style and tendency to tell rather than show may turn off some readers, this is a rich novel, particularly for armchair travelers.
