Le Divorce, by Diane Johnson Yet another book-turned-movie, this novel was easy to read, although I cannot fathom how it would have made an enjoyable film. Maybe that's what I don't know anyone who's seen the movie. It is ultimately about the differences between French and American cultures about identity and family. This quote is about consumerism, which is why it caught my eye, and it is the kind of thing that just begs for conversation:
"I admire the French for their cheerful acquisitiveness, their respect for the creations of man's hand," said Ames Everett, who had come to tea.
"Yes, the French love things more for their beauty or their totemic significance than for their value," Roxie agreed.
"Whereas Americans affect disdain for material objects, as if it weren't quite nice to collect, or have," Ames Everett said. "Yet they are great consumers. The French are materialists without being consumers. I respect that."
Julia & Julia, by Julie Powell I have not seen this movie, but I can tell you that the book was easy to read and enjoyable. Certainly not life-changing, although the project that led to Julie Powell's blog and book was life-changing for her. There is one fabulous bit from the end that I wanted to share:
Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It's not what I thought it was. I thought it was about--I don't know, confidence or will or luck. Those are all some good things to have, no question. But there's something else, something that these things grow out of.
It's joy.
I am a person who easily finds inspiration in the written word, and I am also a person who is searching for a path. Not something so unreachable as a goal or purpose, the answer and solution to living life at its fullest. But something small that indicates I'm doing all the right things, and that I'm being receptive to what God has for me in the world. This excerpt from Julie & Julia inspires me in that way and reminds me that the biggest influences in a person's life are often directed from inside themselves - a place we often forget to look.
