Book Club

  After reading my book club book, Interpreters of Maladies, I came out with many different ideas of how to approach my essay. Being a short story, I'm able to have more freedom in choosing which chapter or character to discuss. The advantages of this short story allows me to expand my essay and write about a wide arrange of characters, topics, and plots. The main idea to the Interpreter of Maladies is that it revolves around the Indian culture. All of the short stories in the book have multiple characters that are of Indian descent. The short stories are situated around American and Indian cultures. At times, the two are somewhat meshed together. After reading a few of the short stories, I noticed a difference between the social classes in America and India. In India, the social class is more segregated. There is a large gap between the rich and poor.

    I'll be discussing the inequalities the poor in India face and how there is a hierarchy within the Indian society. There are those who are considered 'untouchables' while there are others that are considered the lowest caste. The members of the lowest caste system are often times mistreated and live in the slums of India. The most disturbing thing is that they are usually born into their social class. Millions have no say in how their social status and lives will play out. They often just accept the fact that is how life is.

Interpreter of Maladies Discussion

 After reading my book club book, Interpreters of Maladies, I came out with many different ideas of how to approach my essay. Being a short story, I'm able to have more freedom in choosing which chapter or character to discuss. The advantages of this short story allows me to expand my essay and write about a wide arrange of characters, topics, and plots. The main idea to the Interpreter of Maladies is that it revolves around the Indian culture. All of the short stories in the book have multiple characters that are of Indian descent. The short stories are situated around American and Indian cultures. At times, the two are somewhat meshed together. After reading a few of the short stories, I noticed a difference between the social classes in America and India. In India, the social class is more segregated. There is a large gap between the rich and poor.
    Jhumpa Lahiri, the author of the book, writes of two different stories about the slums of India. The Treatment of Bibi Haldar and AReal Durwan both revolve around characters who struggle throughout their lives.They are of the lowest low in the caste system and are constantly belittled by others.

    I'll be discussing the inequalities the poor in India face and how there is a hierarchy within the Indian society. There are those who are considered 'untouchables' while there are others that are considered the lowest caste. The members of the lowest caste system are often times mistreated and live in the slums of India. The most disturbing thing is that they are usually born into their social class. Millions have no say in how their social status and lives will play out. They often just accept the fact that is how life is.

When Writing

When beginning an essay, I just try to ramble on as much as I can by throwing out general ideas and statements.  After I feel as if I've written a sufficient amount, I begin to narrow down the topics I want to discuss. After reading John Trimble's section of getting launched, his idea is 'start small' really works for me. I'm able to take a couple  of small ideas that I've written down and expand on them. I realized that the problem I have with writing is becoming too general or branching off too much. I sometimes get off topic, because I try to cover too many things.     When I pre-write, I will try to attack the topic from as many points of view as possible. I like to look at the full  spectrum of every subject I write about. This seems to be a very effective way to acquire information about the  subject matter and it does a good job of keeping the writer's bias out to a minimum. I enjoy this strategy of writing  and it's very comfortable for me. It's also quite effective.

Interpreters of Maladies

       My selection for the book club book is Interpreter of Maladies; a collection of short stories written by, Jhumpa Lahiri. The fact that it was a combination of short stories as opposed to a novel initially sparked my interest. The first short story deals with a couple who are in a struggling marriage. They finally make a breakthrough during dinner, and they continually heal the relationship when they are at the dinner table. The two become comfortable with each other once they begin eating.

                Interpreters of Maladies revolves around an Indian family that discuss their issues. The book is comprised of short stories so they are not connected. The reoccurring theme in each story is the discussion around the dinner table. Indian food and dinner was important in the first two stories I read. It seemed as if all the problems have gone away once the characters began eating. According to the author, Jhumpa Lahiri, food is more than something you eat. It's a conversation. It's family bonding. It's peace of mind.

               After reading the first two stories, I began thinking about how much food relates to my social life. I realize that the most time I spend with my parents at the dinner table and how dinner is always prepared every night. It makes me appreciate food and eating together even more. I always hear about how eating dinner is important to build a strong family, however; I never actually realized the effects it had until now. I also need to try some Indian food since I've never eaten it.

Sorry Fugu

I recently went and viewed the short-play, Sorry Fugu.  Word for Word Performing Arts Company, a San Francisco’s theater group, does their rendition of “Sorry Fugu”, a short story by T.C. Boyle. Boyle begins with restaurant chef, Albert, who tries his very best to make an outstanding dish but after two attempts. The food critic, Willa Frank is still disappointed. After a couple unsuccessful attempts to woo Willa, Albert ploys a strategy to seduce Willa Frank into tasting his dishes and enjoying her food. 

 The play went better than I expected, although I haven't really been to many plays. I didn't know what to expect, but I did enjoy it. The play is very similar to the short story as in it follows most of the script. The play goes into further details with the character and their backgrounds. The play is very sensual and does reference to quite a bit of sexual acts among the characters. The term, 'food porn' is a good description what this play is about.

Food porn is is a  visual presentation of cooking or eating is that arouse a desire to eat or the glorification of food as a substitute for sex. Sorry Fugu brings to life the combination of cooking and pornography in a sophisticated way with its double entendres. The actors do a fantastic job at making it clear that there is sexual tension between one another. That's something that readers may miss in the short story.

To Eat or Not to Eat

    After reading Eating Animals, readers may want to choose to be conscious of what they are eating. Foer gives graphic details on practices of the farming industries and how unethical they are towards their livestock. His detailed description of the factory farming makes readers uneasy and gives them an idea of practicing vegetarianism. This well written book from Foer makes it a lot less challenging to convert to vegetarianism. I believe that Foer does make valid arguments; however, a solely vegetarian nation would be unsustainable. The United State's economy will not survive if we were all to become vegetarians. 

    Foer has valid arguments for being aware of the farming industry and being aware of what we eat. The details and statistics of the cruelty these animals suffer is alarming. Having a diet without eating meat tends to be healthier and less damaging to the environment. I've tried going vegetarian multiple times, but I haven't been able to sustain it. The longest I've lasted without meat is 5 weeks, but then I caved in. I know its healthier for me and better for everyone, but it's tough.
    Foer does a great job in touching the ethical, moral, and compassionate feeling of people. He is able to connect with everyone on the subject of meat. Foer goes from the eye of a farmer, to a consumer, and to a parent. He touches all bases of his audience. In the chapter,Hiding/Seeking, Foer displays views from the factory farmer, the line worker, the Jewish guy, and a poultry farmer. He even discusses the organic and free range chicken industries.
    I understand Foer's point of morality and ethics when discussing factory farming, but farming industries and restaurants around the United States will be devastated if everyone were to convert to vegetarianism. Our economy is too large to stop producing meat. Millions of people are employed by some kind of food industry. Sadly, the meat industry will not be able to continually employ people if everyone becomes a vegetarian. I'm positive vegetarian restaurant industry will not be able to survive on a large scale. To my knowledge, there is no vegetarian restaurant chain. Sure there are some restaurants that serve vegetarian dishes, but not solely.
    Because of the economic casualty created if the meat industry were to go down, I don't think it is a wise decision to put hundreds of millions of people out of business. These people work hard to put food on the table; even if that food is filled with antibiotics and growth hormones. It's better to have food on the table than nothing at all.  

Critiquing Eating Animals

 Eating Animals is a book that delves into the factory farming industry and its practices. Author, Jonathan Safran Foer discusses the mistreatment of animals through multiple investigation of farms and thorough research. He promotes a sense of vegetarianism and the idea of 'being conscious of what you eat'. Foer writes and formats his book in a way that is simplistic yet sophisticated. He is able to connect with a large platform of different readers as he brings to life the reality of factory farming.The idea of factory farming is obviously a controversial topic and a topic this sensitive will obviously evoke very strong and contrasting viewpoints.


Foer has the ability to connect with his audience because he becomes very personal within the text. He discusses his childhood and eating with his grandma. He also talks about having a child and how that ultimately led him to become a vegetarian.


 I agree with about half of Jennifer Reece’s review of Eating Aninamls.  Foer does come off as condescending and a little bit stuck up. He’s very biased which, for me, is a huge impact on credibility. Foer says that his main objective is to make us conscious of what we are eating, but I believe that there is a hidden agenda behind all of it. He really does want to convert people to vegetarianism. That being said, I also think that Reece’s review is biased as well. She took a few lines from his book out of context. For example, Reece quotes him as saying, “. He turns down the meat, telling Mario that he is kosher, which he is not. Why he does not tell the truth, that he is a vegetarian, is an excellent question, one I am still pondering.” He clearly says that it would be awkward if Foer tells Mario that he is a vegetarian. Reece also thinks that Foer is fighting for veganism but I don’t think that is the case. He hardly mentions the mistreatment of dairy cows or eggs. Bottom line; both Foer and Reece come off as bitchy and a bit stubborn.


 Jay Rayner, on the other hand, does a more professional job at critiquing Foer’s book. Maybe it’s because he is writing for the Guardian in the U.K. He criticizes Foer on his agenda to convert people to vegetarianism even though Foer says that’s not the case; Rayner also mentions that. Rayner believes that Foer doesn’t understand the process of factory farming and has to realize protein and animals are a requirement for people. 


 Foer brings awareness of the farming industry to the public. He exposes the inhumane treatment of cattle, chicken, and pigs. Foer’s rhetoric is very powerful as he uses detailed accounts and step- by-step processes of factory farming. He’s also done his fair share of research and investigation. The only knock on him is his condescending tone and his obvious bias towards the subject.