What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Kitchen
Amid the fading glory of the Imperial Hotel, embattled Executive Chef Gabriel Lightfoot tries to maintain his culinary integrity in the hotel's restaurant, while managing an unruly but talented group of immigrant cooks.
Gabriel Lightfoot is an enterprising man from a northern England mill town, making good in London. As executive chef at the once-splendid Imperial Hotel, he is trying to run a tight kitchen. But his integrity, to say nothing of his sanity, is under constant challenge from the competing demands of an exuberant multinational staff, a gimlet-eyed hotel management, and business partners with whom he is secretly planning a move to a restaurant of his own. Despite the pressures, all his hard work looks set to pay off.
Until a worker is found dead in the kitchen's basement. It is a small death, a lonely death -- but it is enough to disturb the tenuous balance of Gabe's life.
Elsewhere, Gabriel faces other complications. His father is dying of cancer, his girlfriend wants more from their relationship, and the restaurant manager appears to be running an illegal business under Gabe's nose.
Enter Lena, an eerily attractive young woman with mysterious ties to the dead man. Under her spell, Gabe makes a decision, the consequences of which strip him naked and change the course of the life he knows -- and the future he thought he wanted.
Gabriel Lightfoot is an enterprising man from a northern England mill town, making good in London. As executive chef at the once-splendid Imperial Hotel, he is trying to run a tight kitchen. But his integrity, to say nothing of his sanity, is under constant challenge from the competing demands of an exuberant multinational staff, a gimlet-eyed hotel management, and business partners with whom he is secretly planning a move to a restaurant of his own. Despite the pressures, all his hard work looks set to pay off.
Until a worker is found dead in the kitchen's basement. It is a small death, a lonely death -- but it is enough to disturb the tenuous balance of Gabe's life.
Elsewhere, Gabriel faces other complications. His father is dying of cancer, his girlfriend wants more from their relationship, and the restaurant manager appears to be running an illegal business under Gabe's nose.
Enter Lena, an eerily attractive young woman with mysterious ties to the dead man. Under her spell, Gabe makes a decision, the consequences of which strip him naked and change the course of the life he knows -- and the future he thought he wanted.
552 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
114 people are currently reading
1400 people want to read
About the author
Monica Ali
17 books577 followersMonica Ali is a British writer of Bangladeshi origin. She is the author of Brick Lane, her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2003. Ali was voted Granta's Best of Young British Novelists on the basis of the unpublished manuscript.
She lives in South London with her husband, Simon Torrance, a management consultant. They have two children, Felix (born 1999) and Shumi (born 2001).
She opposes the British government’s attempt to introduce the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. She discusses this in her contribution to Free Expression Is No Offence, a collection of essays published by Penguin in 2005.
She lives in South London with her husband, Simon Torrance, a management consultant. They have two children, Felix (born 1999) and Shumi (born 2001).
She opposes the British government’s attempt to introduce the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. She discusses this in her contribution to Free Expression Is No Offence, a collection of essays published by Penguin in 2005.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 446 reviews
January 1, 2017
I would never want to get all that pally
With Miss Monica Ali
We’d be dining on oysters on the left bank of the Seine
Or we’d be flying over Bali in her own private plane
And she’d say “Hey, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And I’d go hot and cold and my skin would be itchin’
I’d say “Brick Lane was great! Such characterisation!”
She’d say “That smacks of something like tergiversation –
Come, come, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And my mouth would go dry and my nerves would be twitchin’
And I may have to admit that I found it was lacking
Like a pretty good song with a terrible backing.
If I told her the dialogue was very slightly amusing
Would she raise her umbrella and give me a bruising?
If I said I couldn’t drag myself past the 100th page
Would she fly into a terrible goodreadercidal rage?
So with one novel writer I wish not to dally
Miss Monica Ali
With Miss Monica Ali
We’d be dining on oysters on the left bank of the Seine
Or we’d be flying over Bali in her own private plane
And she’d say “Hey, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And I’d go hot and cold and my skin would be itchin’
I’d say “Brick Lane was great! Such characterisation!”
She’d say “That smacks of something like tergiversation –
Come, come, what did you think of In The Kitchen?”
And my mouth would go dry and my nerves would be twitchin’
And I may have to admit that I found it was lacking
Like a pretty good song with a terrible backing.
If I told her the dialogue was very slightly amusing
Would she raise her umbrella and give me a bruising?
If I said I couldn’t drag myself past the 100th page
Would she fly into a terrible goodreadercidal rage?
So with one novel writer I wish not to dally
Miss Monica Ali
May 24, 2009
Goodreads win!
It is official...I give up. I tried. I kept reading, but I can't go on. I feel bad...I won this. I am a "first reader" and am starting the reviews. But, sadly, I can't give it resounding applause as a book. It felt like it was going nowhere and I got nowhere VERY slowly.
It should be a telling sign for me (who fancies herself a fast reader) that it took 4 days to get only 77 pages in. I just didn't care...I didn't know what I was supposed to care about.
It is official...I give up. I tried. I kept reading, but I can't go on. I feel bad...I won this. I am a "first reader" and am starting the reviews. But, sadly, I can't give it resounding applause as a book. It felt like it was going nowhere and I got nowhere VERY slowly.
It should be a telling sign for me (who fancies herself a fast reader) that it took 4 days to get only 77 pages in. I just didn't care...I didn't know what I was supposed to care about.
August 2, 2009
This may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found this story to be at times absolutely excruciating -- and I couldn't put it down.
I got the book on the strength of my great admiration for "Brick Lane," and as a writer and storyteller, Monica Ali continues to be impressive. In this case, her main character goes through a midlife crisis to end all midlife crises, and the critical moments in the book are most likely the manifestations of bipolar disease, from which his mother also suffered.
If that makes it seem this novel is preachy, pedantic, or just plain weird, it's none of those, thanks to Ali's brilliant writing. Our protagonist is an ambitious, fretful, basically decent but terribly conflicted executive chef named Gabriel Lightfoot. He runs the multicultural kitchen of a large London hotel, where he is putting in an obligatory five years before two wealthy backers agree to let him open his own restaurant.
Ali, who dealt so sensitively with the plight of the UK's new immigrants in "Brick Lane," covers that territory here by giving us vivid depictions of the kitchen's staff, who range from an African man who very likely escaped from life as a child soldier, a French pastry chef who goes through his own personality crisis in mid-book, a Russian philsopher/chef who becomes Gabriel's occasional drinking companion, and many others.
Gabriel has a beautiful girlfriend named Charlie, a lounge singer, whom he plans to marry if he can ever commit, but after a night porter is found dead and naked in the basement of the kitchen, he encounters a woman who may or may not have been living with the dead man, a Belarusian named Lena, whom he takes in.
At that point, his life begins to unravel. His love life deteriorates, his father is dying, he is getting mixed signals from his backers, and in the midst of it all, the restaurant manager is up to some kind of funny business involving immigrants and shady work.
I won't spoil the ending, but suffice to say that Gabriel's basic decency, when mixed with a manic, out-of-control episode of strange behavior, brings everything to a head in ways he never could have predicted.
There is a resurrection at the end of this book, if this has been sounding too gloomy to you, but the real dazzle in this work is Gabriel's rapid descent into madness, which is organically seen from inside his mind and so seems both completely natural and utterly bizarre.
A knockout.
I got the book on the strength of my great admiration for "Brick Lane," and as a writer and storyteller, Monica Ali continues to be impressive. In this case, her main character goes through a midlife crisis to end all midlife crises, and the critical moments in the book are most likely the manifestations of bipolar disease, from which his mother also suffered.
If that makes it seem this novel is preachy, pedantic, or just plain weird, it's none of those, thanks to Ali's brilliant writing. Our protagonist is an ambitious, fretful, basically decent but terribly conflicted executive chef named Gabriel Lightfoot. He runs the multicultural kitchen of a large London hotel, where he is putting in an obligatory five years before two wealthy backers agree to let him open his own restaurant.
Ali, who dealt so sensitively with the plight of the UK's new immigrants in "Brick Lane," covers that territory here by giving us vivid depictions of the kitchen's staff, who range from an African man who very likely escaped from life as a child soldier, a French pastry chef who goes through his own personality crisis in mid-book, a Russian philsopher/chef who becomes Gabriel's occasional drinking companion, and many others.
Gabriel has a beautiful girlfriend named Charlie, a lounge singer, whom he plans to marry if he can ever commit, but after a night porter is found dead and naked in the basement of the kitchen, he encounters a woman who may or may not have been living with the dead man, a Belarusian named Lena, whom he takes in.
At that point, his life begins to unravel. His love life deteriorates, his father is dying, he is getting mixed signals from his backers, and in the midst of it all, the restaurant manager is up to some kind of funny business involving immigrants and shady work.
I won't spoil the ending, but suffice to say that Gabriel's basic decency, when mixed with a manic, out-of-control episode of strange behavior, brings everything to a head in ways he never could have predicted.
There is a resurrection at the end of this book, if this has been sounding too gloomy to you, but the real dazzle in this work is Gabriel's rapid descent into madness, which is organically seen from inside his mind and so seems both completely natural and utterly bizarre.
A knockout.
May 28, 2009
*Whew* I feel better after reading some of the other reviews. I, too, won this from Godoreads and I really wanted to like it. I like cooking, I like chefs, I like mysteries...wait a second, it's not a mystery? For some reason I thought it was a mystery. Ok, that's ok, it's not a mystery, so it's about...um...people who are bipolar? Restaurant kitchens? Cancer? The illegal trade of people in London? Prostitutes? Childhood memories? The mills closing in England? I mean, there are so many stories going on here that I can't figure out what it's really supposed to be about, Gordon Lightfoot finding out something about his mother and then immediately following on the same path was a bit much for me. The writing isn't bad, but the story is no good. It's about 150 pages too long, on top of it all. I'm struggling to finish, but as I'm pretty much done, I'm already writing my review. I feel done with it, so why not?
May 18, 2009
The author called it herself when she said, "All plot, no story. Nothing unfolds, everything is forced." which so accurately describes this work.
It started well, with a brilliant character description, "His eyes were pale blue and disreputably alert. His hair, by contrast, he wore with a sharp side part and a fervid rectitude, as if all his phony honor depended on it." I had hoped to see more of this character and his eely slither in the novel. But, as it happened, this was a secondary character left to idle in small moments while the protagonist's many plot devices are allowed to build. We spend too much time watching Gabriel Lightfoot, the main character, in ADD-like conversations, his mind slipping between attention to a minor character's tragic back story and his own interior monologue of what to do about the girl in his apartment? Did she orgasm? Will he give her money? Meanwhile his buddy in the bar is telling him of a family's complete slaughter in Liberia. It's tough to empathize with Gabe, and he is so tediously boring as he plods through his own plot. I find myself reading for the odd gem of a metaphor or another author self-description, to enjoy the irony of her authorship.
It makes me feel mean. I won't finish this one.
It started well, with a brilliant character description, "His eyes were pale blue and disreputably alert. His hair, by contrast, he wore with a sharp side part and a fervid rectitude, as if all his phony honor depended on it." I had hoped to see more of this character and his eely slither in the novel. But, as it happened, this was a secondary character left to idle in small moments while the protagonist's many plot devices are allowed to build. We spend too much time watching Gabriel Lightfoot, the main character, in ADD-like conversations, his mind slipping between attention to a minor character's tragic back story and his own interior monologue of what to do about the girl in his apartment? Did she orgasm? Will he give her money? Meanwhile his buddy in the bar is telling him of a family's complete slaughter in Liberia. It's tough to empathize with Gabe, and he is so tediously boring as he plods through his own plot. I find myself reading for the odd gem of a metaphor or another author self-description, to enjoy the irony of her authorship.
It makes me feel mean. I won't finish this one.
May 31, 2011
I did not, unfortunately, love "Brick Lane" but after enjoying a small slice of kitchen life in Anna Gavalda's "Hunting and Gathering", I was tempted by the title of this book when I found it at a church book sale and thought I should give Ali another try. What I found was a compelling novel about...hmm, how to describe this, contemporary labour in a multicultural commonwealth country, perhaps? Immigration, racist ideologies, the end of industry (textile mills - my next topic for workplace fiction), mental health in the pursuit of happiness, a fragile economy, the capitalist dream in the era of late liberalism, corruption and human trafficking, family and community were all themes in this novel, set in a hotel kitchen in London in post-9/11 England. It took me a bit longer to get into this book, due in part to Ali's vague introductions of her supporting characters and muted descriptions of context but her main character, Gabriel Lightfoot, son of a small milling town, and now rising chef in London is a wonderfully drawn portrait of a damaged man. His relationship to his mother, the unfortunate, popular trope of the mentally ill mother (I'd like to see a mentally ill father sometime...) was fairly standard, but we do see the importance revealed later in the novel. Gabe's reaction and relationships with workers in his kitchen reveals a central force of this novel, as a commentary on current political and popular tensions around immigrant workers in England, both legal and illegal (work and workers).
July 30, 2011
I read this with great anticipation, having heard great things about Monica Ali, and having an interest in cooking and what goes on in a professional kitchen. I found the novel brutally disappointing, however, and actually struggled to finish it.
I didn't like Chef Gabriel, and couldn't understand the motivations behind his actions and desires. The characters seemed under-developed and generally unlikable on the whole. Ali's frequent addition of long-winded sociological philosophizing on the part of the government minister seemed unnecessary and out-of-place.
Gabriel's eventual breakdown (foreshadowed, I suppose, by his mother's mental illness?) seemed to come more or less out of nowhere, and his recovery (apparently without therapeutic or medical intervention) felt inexplicable and unbelievable.
All in all, "In the Kitchen" was a big let down. I had hoped to bring this to my book group as a must-read, but now I have to call it a "must-not read."
I didn't like Chef Gabriel, and couldn't understand the motivations behind his actions and desires. The characters seemed under-developed and generally unlikable on the whole. Ali's frequent addition of long-winded sociological philosophizing on the part of the government minister seemed unnecessary and out-of-place.
Gabriel's eventual breakdown (foreshadowed, I suppose, by his mother's mental illness?) seemed to come more or less out of nowhere, and his recovery (apparently without therapeutic or medical intervention) felt inexplicable and unbelievable.
All in all, "In the Kitchen" was a big let down. I had hoped to bring this to my book group as a must-read, but now I have to call it a "must-not read."
May 20, 2020
The 500plus pages of "In the Kitchen" leave me pretty confused. What did Monica Ali want with this novel? I picked it up a couple of years ago at Foyle's on Charing Cross Street in London wanting to read a Londonish book that dealt with the fast changes this metropolis had gone through, but read it first now in the times of Corona.
The central figure is Gabriel Lightfoot, the chef of the kitchen of the old Imperial Hotel in central London. A Ukrainian employee dies, a Belorussian woman called Lena moves into Gabriel's flat and becomes his center of affection and he throws away almost everything he's ever worked for in his life including his love for the amazing singer Charlie.
There are elements of a crime novel when some people around the Imperial are suspected of gtrafficking. There is he story of Gabriel and his father Ted and his sister Jenny. There are ideological disputes between Gabe and his father and with the politician Fairweather that are more like op eds for the Guardian or the New York Times. At the same time there is so much talent in Monica Cali's writing, she is very descriptive with a great sense for atmosphere. But I also thought if it was really necessary to write 550 pages and if a lector should not have tried to make this shorter and give it a clear and unmistakable focus.
The central figure is Gabriel Lightfoot, the chef of the kitchen of the old Imperial Hotel in central London. A Ukrainian employee dies, a Belorussian woman called Lena moves into Gabriel's flat and becomes his center of affection and he throws away almost everything he's ever worked for in his life including his love for the amazing singer Charlie.
There are elements of a crime novel when some people around the Imperial are suspected of gtrafficking. There is he story of Gabriel and his father Ted and his sister Jenny. There are ideological disputes between Gabe and his father and with the politician Fairweather that are more like op eds for the Guardian or the New York Times. At the same time there is so much talent in Monica Cali's writing, she is very descriptive with a great sense for atmosphere. But I also thought if it was really necessary to write 550 pages and if a lector should not have tried to make this shorter and give it a clear and unmistakable focus.
January 27, 2024
Possibly the worst book I’ve read in a very long time. absolutely loved Love Marriage + enjoyed parts of Brick Lane but found this impossible to enjoy despite the excellent premise. Self-obsessed character with stunted plot, long rambles on the socio-economic state of Britain and the food didn’t even sound good. Not to mention the strange obsession with mentioning the weight of every female character in every scene they were in. I lost count of the descriptions of Charlie’s ‘curves’, Lena’s ‘birdlike’ body and his disapproval at his sister surprisingly not having the same body type that she did at 15. Not for me unfortunately
it-s-not-you-it-s-me
July 3, 2009i found Brick Lane breathtaking, and if anyone is deciding whether or not to read Brick Lane based on this book, i really think they should reconsider, if for no other reason that they are so different, they could be written by different authors. they really should be judged independently.
i would finish this book if i were reading it at another time. but this is not a good time for me to slog through a writer's experiment with a genre she -- it seems to me -- doesn't quite inhabit. what monica ali seems to want to do here is look at multicultural england through the eyes of an average joe who is not a total scumbag but is not exemplary either. gabriel lightfoot is the chef of the kitchen of a once-first-rate hotel, but the melting pot metaphor doesn't quite pan out, mostly because the white male protagonist is not pleasant. his morals are at least frayed, his character weak, and his mental world on the verge of falling apart.
i don't enjoy novels that chronicle the unraveling of their protagonists, and i don't enjoy novels written by young female writers with a kick-ass feminist novel under their belts that chronicle the unraveling of middle-aged guys (zadie smith does this too! what gives?). there's plenty middle-aged guys chronicling the unraveling of middle-aged guys, and if i want to read about this subject i'll turn to them. what i'm saying in not that writers should be limiting themselves to writing about people who are, whatever that means, "like them," but that if you are monica ali and you can write about vibrant women like nazneen, why write about gabriel lightfoot? (note: i'm aware there are like a million holes in this argument, but please, monica ali, understand what i'm saying! i don't ask that you give us bangladeshi story after bangladeshi story, but... can you take a breather from experiments and write something, you know, good>/i>? cause we know you can).
the writing is solid, sometimes really good, but ali does seem out of her element. she is still head and shoulders above the average writer, but the language doesn't seem to gel, quite. the plot is all over the place. a lot of sections should simply be cut by 9/10s. i've read half the book and i am still far from finding a focus or finding out why people, including gabe, act the way they do. i'm going to be the first one to check out your next book from the library, monica ali, but i'm giving up on this one.
i would finish this book if i were reading it at another time. but this is not a good time for me to slog through a writer's experiment with a genre she -- it seems to me -- doesn't quite inhabit. what monica ali seems to want to do here is look at multicultural england through the eyes of an average joe who is not a total scumbag but is not exemplary either. gabriel lightfoot is the chef of the kitchen of a once-first-rate hotel, but the melting pot metaphor doesn't quite pan out, mostly because the white male protagonist is not pleasant. his morals are at least frayed, his character weak, and his mental world on the verge of falling apart.
i don't enjoy novels that chronicle the unraveling of their protagonists, and i don't enjoy novels written by young female writers with a kick-ass feminist novel under their belts that chronicle the unraveling of middle-aged guys (zadie smith does this too! what gives?). there's plenty middle-aged guys chronicling the unraveling of middle-aged guys, and if i want to read about this subject i'll turn to them. what i'm saying in not that writers should be limiting themselves to writing about people who are, whatever that means, "like them," but that if you are monica ali and you can write about vibrant women like nazneen, why write about gabriel lightfoot? (note: i'm aware there are like a million holes in this argument, but please, monica ali, understand what i'm saying! i don't ask that you give us bangladeshi story after bangladeshi story, but... can you take a breather from experiments and write something, you know, good>/i>? cause we know you can).
the writing is solid, sometimes really good, but ali does seem out of her element. she is still head and shoulders above the average writer, but the language doesn't seem to gel, quite. the plot is all over the place. a lot of sections should simply be cut by 9/10s. i've read half the book and i am still far from finding a focus or finding out why people, including gabe, act the way they do. i'm going to be the first one to check out your next book from the library, monica ali, but i'm giving up on this one.
December 29, 2013
Comme beaucoup, j'avais adoré le premier livre de Monica Ali "Brick Lane" (bizarrement traduit en français "Sept mers et treize rivières")
Aussi avais-je offert à ma veille Maman son second "En cuisine", espérant que cette cuisinière émérite s'intéresserait aux entrelacs complexes de cette romancière post-coloniale.
Bien mal m'en pris ! J'ai retrouvé durant les fêtes dans la bibliothèque parentale ce gros livre avec un marque-page coincé à la page 100, témoignage manifeste du manque de perspicacité de mon cadeau.
J'ai moi aussi bien failli capituler en cours de route. L'histoire de Gabriel Lightfoot, chef de cuisine à l'hôtel Imperial, me semblait bien convenue. Mais je me suis accroché et j'ai eu raison.
La meilleure métaphore pour décrire ce livre serait celle d'une bille métallique qui décrit de lentes circonvolutions dans un évier avant d'accélérer sa course pour tomber dans le siphon (bon d'accord, mes connaissances en plomberie sont assez limitées).
Le livre commence sur un rythme un peu lent dont je comprends qu'il ait pu désespérer ses lecteurs - ma mère y compris. L'histoire de Gabriel Lightfoot semble un peu trop éclatée pour capter l'attention : le cadavre d'un employé est retrouvé dans les sous-sols de l'hôtel, une immigrée ukrainienne se réfugie chez lui, son père se meurt d'un cancer dans le nord de l'Angleterre, ses projets d'ouvrir son propre établissement battent de l'aile.
Et petit à petit tout s'accélère, tout s'imbrique, comme dans un vaste mouvement d'horlogerie dont le fonctionnement d'ensemble ne se laisserait pas dévoiler à première vue.
Du coup, le roman se révèle d'une autre ampleur que celle, bien modeste, qu'on lui avait prêté.
Il brasse des thèmes aussi ambitieux que la filiation, l'identité nationale, l'avenir du capitalisme britannique.
Bien sûr les esprits chagrins lui trouveront bien des ressemblances avec les récentes productions de Jonathan Coe ou William Boyd. Monica Ali n'en mérite pas moins sa place parmi les meilleurs romanciers britanniques contemporains.
Aussi avais-je offert à ma veille Maman son second "En cuisine", espérant que cette cuisinière émérite s'intéresserait aux entrelacs complexes de cette romancière post-coloniale.
Bien mal m'en pris ! J'ai retrouvé durant les fêtes dans la bibliothèque parentale ce gros livre avec un marque-page coincé à la page 100, témoignage manifeste du manque de perspicacité de mon cadeau.
J'ai moi aussi bien failli capituler en cours de route. L'histoire de Gabriel Lightfoot, chef de cuisine à l'hôtel Imperial, me semblait bien convenue. Mais je me suis accroché et j'ai eu raison.
La meilleure métaphore pour décrire ce livre serait celle d'une bille métallique qui décrit de lentes circonvolutions dans un évier avant d'accélérer sa course pour tomber dans le siphon (bon d'accord, mes connaissances en plomberie sont assez limitées).
Le livre commence sur un rythme un peu lent dont je comprends qu'il ait pu désespérer ses lecteurs - ma mère y compris. L'histoire de Gabriel Lightfoot semble un peu trop éclatée pour capter l'attention : le cadavre d'un employé est retrouvé dans les sous-sols de l'hôtel, une immigrée ukrainienne se réfugie chez lui, son père se meurt d'un cancer dans le nord de l'Angleterre, ses projets d'ouvrir son propre établissement battent de l'aile.
Et petit à petit tout s'accélère, tout s'imbrique, comme dans un vaste mouvement d'horlogerie dont le fonctionnement d'ensemble ne se laisserait pas dévoiler à première vue.
Du coup, le roman se révèle d'une autre ampleur que celle, bien modeste, qu'on lui avait prêté.
Il brasse des thèmes aussi ambitieux que la filiation, l'identité nationale, l'avenir du capitalisme britannique.
Bien sûr les esprits chagrins lui trouveront bien des ressemblances avec les récentes productions de Jonathan Coe ou William Boyd. Monica Ali n'en mérite pas moins sa place parmi les meilleurs romanciers britanniques contemporains.
September 4, 2018
Non è sicuramente un libro semplice, da leggere quando ci si vuole svagare. È un libro che ti rende più consapevole del mondo in cui viviamo e che, quindi, richiede una costante attenzione.
Uno di quei libri necessari per non diventare come Salvini.
Uno di quei libri necessari per non diventare come Salvini.
April 12, 2009
Executive chef Gabriel Lightfoot runs the kitchen of the Imperial Hotel in London. He is under constant pressure to juggle the demands of the hotel management whilst secretly attempting to set up in business on his own. His kitchen staff consists of weird and wonderful characters from all over the world, he also has the added pressure of worrying about his Dad, back up north and dying from cancer.
When one of the hotel porters is found dead in the basement, Gabe's world starts to unravel drastically, the added appearance of Lena in his life doesnt help matters at all.
The opening chapters of 'In The Kitchen' appear a little confused and overwhelming - the vast array of multi-national characters make it a little difficult to keep up at times, however, after this initial burst of drama, the story slows down and events and characters are gently unfurled. There is a feeling of 'menace' running through the story, with some shadowy, dark secrets hidden away, with just a peek at what is to come every now and then.
Gabe is a fantastically well-drawn character, by no means perfect, but basically a sound guy who wants the best for everyone he is involved with. This gets him further and further into trouble; with hotel management, his glamourous night-club singer girlfriend and his family back home. When Gabe visited his dying father and senile grandmother back home, he re-visits his childhood. When Gabe and his sister Jenny talk about their long-dead Mother it is fascinating to see how their memories differ, and how Gabe's whole take on life changes when he realises that his Mum wasnt quite what he thought.
After initial difficulty with the first chapter or so, I was soon drawn into this story. The descriptions of place and character are wonderfully written and the story gently unfolds and kept me turning the pages wondering just what would happen next.
When one of the hotel porters is found dead in the basement, Gabe's world starts to unravel drastically, the added appearance of Lena in his life doesnt help matters at all.
The opening chapters of 'In The Kitchen' appear a little confused and overwhelming - the vast array of multi-national characters make it a little difficult to keep up at times, however, after this initial burst of drama, the story slows down and events and characters are gently unfurled. There is a feeling of 'menace' running through the story, with some shadowy, dark secrets hidden away, with just a peek at what is to come every now and then.
Gabe is a fantastically well-drawn character, by no means perfect, but basically a sound guy who wants the best for everyone he is involved with. This gets him further and further into trouble; with hotel management, his glamourous night-club singer girlfriend and his family back home. When Gabe visited his dying father and senile grandmother back home, he re-visits his childhood. When Gabe and his sister Jenny talk about their long-dead Mother it is fascinating to see how their memories differ, and how Gabe's whole take on life changes when he realises that his Mum wasnt quite what he thought.
After initial difficulty with the first chapter or so, I was soon drawn into this story. The descriptions of place and character are wonderfully written and the story gently unfolds and kept me turning the pages wondering just what would happen next.
May 7, 2009
I wanted to like this book, I really did. After all the hype over Brick Lane A Novel (which incidentally I own but haven't read yet - that'll be moved down my TBR list!) I was expecting great things from this book. It was not as I had expected.
So what was good about it? Well the characterisation was top notch. Of the main character anyway. We don't really get to learn much about the supporting cast. Gabe was a very complex character, and Ali managed to capture this well. I did feel like I knew him as a person and I could judge what he was going to do in certain situations. The plot had potential, but I don't think it was thought out enough.
The story was OK. Not good, not bad, just mediocre. I felt that it lacked direction and was HORRENDOUSLY slow. I was hoping that the further I got into the book, the more the pace would increase. Not so. It did speed up a little towards the end and I did enjoy the final few chapters (which is why the book got 2 stars instead of 1) but most of the book bored me and I had to force myself to pick it up. I stuck with it though, because I wanted to have a balanced view before writing about it.
I was really glad to finish the book, but I felt the ending was rushed, and a poor effort was made to tie up the loose ends.
Overall, I was massively disappointed. I'm so glad I didn't spend money on this.
So what was good about it? Well the characterisation was top notch. Of the main character anyway. We don't really get to learn much about the supporting cast. Gabe was a very complex character, and Ali managed to capture this well. I did feel like I knew him as a person and I could judge what he was going to do in certain situations. The plot had potential, but I don't think it was thought out enough.
The story was OK. Not good, not bad, just mediocre. I felt that it lacked direction and was HORRENDOUSLY slow. I was hoping that the further I got into the book, the more the pace would increase. Not so. It did speed up a little towards the end and I did enjoy the final few chapters (which is why the book got 2 stars instead of 1) but most of the book bored me and I had to force myself to pick it up. I stuck with it though, because I wanted to have a balanced view before writing about it.
I was really glad to finish the book, but I felt the ending was rushed, and a poor effort was made to tie up the loose ends.
Overall, I was massively disappointed. I'm so glad I didn't spend money on this.
January 10, 2010
I read Monica Ali’s Brick Lane a few years ago, didn’t feel it lived up to its hype. Therefore when I saw this book on the New Books shelf at the library, I almost didn’t pick it up. I’m glad curiosity got the better of me.
This was one of those I-can’t-put-it-downers. Gabriel is a chef, making good in his first high-rent restaurant in a fancy hotel. It’s a high stress job, what with all the various nationalities and personalities represented in his kitchen, some of them legal immigrants, some not. The trouble really starts when a worker is found dead in the kitchen basement.
This is one of those books that are difficult to write about without ruining the experience of reading it. Gabriel is not an unreliable narrator in the classic sense, but something is going on with him, and the reader needs to discover it as slowly as he does.
There’s that part of the book. Then there’s what turns out to be a suspenseful co-plot involving immigrant workers. All set in against the fascinating world of a busy restaurant kitchen.
This one keeps you turning the pages long after it’s time to put out the light and go to sleep.
This was one of those I-can’t-put-it-downers. Gabriel is a chef, making good in his first high-rent restaurant in a fancy hotel. It’s a high stress job, what with all the various nationalities and personalities represented in his kitchen, some of them legal immigrants, some not. The trouble really starts when a worker is found dead in the kitchen basement.
This is one of those books that are difficult to write about without ruining the experience of reading it. Gabriel is not an unreliable narrator in the classic sense, but something is going on with him, and the reader needs to discover it as slowly as he does.
There’s that part of the book. Then there’s what turns out to be a suspenseful co-plot involving immigrant workers. All set in against the fascinating world of a busy restaurant kitchen.
This one keeps you turning the pages long after it’s time to put out the light and go to sleep.
July 11, 2011
The book was beautifully written. The author creates an absorbing decline into madness as the chef loses his grip on reality. Monica Ali cleverly gets the reader to invest in the protagonist's blossoming future, his own restaurant, his forthcoming marriage and the reader then shares his inexorable decline into helplessness. From a personal point of view I did not entirely buy into his obsession with Lena. men are simple creatures and when given a way out (the payment of money for the sin of illicit sex) Gabriel would have taken it. He has too much invested in the new opportunity and concurrent engagement not to go for the easy way out. The author tries to sculpt this decision by adding into the mix the imminent death of his father and his ambivalent attitude to the way his father treated his bipolar mother. But for me the forthcoming opening of Lightfoots and the marriage to Charlie are too imminent to be believable. men are good at singleminded focus. If it had been a couple of years after these two events...perhaps.
Monica Ali is a master wordsmith and is rightfully acknowledged as such. This book misses greatness by the merest of whispers.
Monica Ali is a master wordsmith and is rightfully acknowledged as such. This book misses greatness by the merest of whispers.
July 30, 2009
"In the Kitchen, Ali's third novel, received mixed reviews from critics who couldn't help but compare it to the brilliant Brick Lane. Interestingly, although American critics found much to reprove -- including an exasperatingly slow start, stereotypical characters, and a surfeit of moralizing that drains the narrative of momentum -- they also praised Ali's crackling, vibrant prose and her meticulous research into the inner workings of restaurant kitchens. British critics, on the other hand, uniformly panned the book, complaining bitterly of its flat, uninteresting protagonist and bleak depiction of contemporary England. Though some, like the Cleveland Plain Dealer, felt that the echoes of Ali's former best seller were enough to sustain interest, only diehard fans will likely be able to overlook Kitchen's many flaws."
March 31, 2019
It was an inbetween of a really difficult to read book and an amazing masterpiece. I don’t know where to start. Especially in the beginning, it was impossible to read it but at the same time impossible to put down. It took ages until I started understanding the story, and when I finally understood where it was going, everything was so well connected that it was impossible to explain the line in a fast, simple way to my friends.
As a wrap-up, it’s a beautifully written book that you’ll love once you managed to get through the first 100 pages, either you love it or you hate it; and all the characters - especially Gabe - are exquisitely round and always changing.
As a wrap-up, it’s a beautifully written book that you’ll love once you managed to get through the first 100 pages, either you love it or you hate it; and all the characters - especially Gabe - are exquisitely round and always changing.
July 11, 2022
Not Monica Ali's best work. Unlike in her other books' the characterisation here is a bit wooly, although there are many really interesting characters. I really didn't like the main character, although I couldn't help feeling for him from time to time. Too many excuses for really unforgivable behaviour.
I have to say, I love any stories in professional kitchens and the atmosphere in the book seemed very real. I also was very interested in the trafficking and forced labour angle of the story, although it could have been dealt with better.
Ah well, nobody can always be perfect. With better editing, it could have been a much better book.
I have to say, I love any stories in professional kitchens and the atmosphere in the book seemed very real. I also was very interested in the trafficking and forced labour angle of the story, although it could have been dealt with better.
Ah well, nobody can always be perfect. With better editing, it could have been a much better book.
Read
April 21, 2021Monica Ali me enamoró con dos de sus libros (y me dejó algo fría con otro), así que no quise fiarme de la bajísima nota que tiene en GR antes de lanzarme a leer esta novela. Pero no he podido ni acabarlo. Abandono al 50% aproximadamente porque, literalmente, aún no sabía de qué iba la historia, qué pretendía contar ni transmitir. Es rarísimo que yo deje un libro a medias y mucho más que lo haga con una autora que conozco y me había gustado anteriormente, pero no entiendo qué le ocurrió con este libro, de veras, es un despropósito.
July 24, 2017
Wonderful writing, highly researched background with authentic kitchen and mill town settings, and the slow descent of a person into an unforeseen, inherited nightmare. Spoiler! Lightfoot is complex, selfish, driven, at times pathetic. The sexual relationship with Lena is weird and sad. Like a good meal, this book has layers and nuances. Writing is suoerb. Overall, very tasty! Loved the last paragraph.
May 25, 2009
My first Goodreads win!
The only reason I marked this book as "ok" rather than "I liked it" was because I didn't get invested in the characters until about 200 pages in. I felt like I had no clue who Gabe was. He was completely one dimensional, and until about page 200 I had to make myself continue reading.
Once I realized what was going on (ie Gabe was having a break down of epic proportions) I understood why Gabe seemed one dimensional at the beginning of the novel. It is probably too late to edit, but I think I would cut about a hundred pages from the beginning. As a reader, you would still get the feeling that Gabe is drifting in his life, but you would also get pulled into the story a little sooner.
My favorite parts of the book were when Gabe and his sister Jenny were having heart to hearts. The bond between siblings is fascinating to me, and I enjoyed watching the two of them rebuild a relationship. I found the parts with Ted (Gabe's father) and Gabe to be heartwrenching. It can be so hard to get to know your parent as an adult especially when you think they somehow wronged you as a child.
I really didn't like Lena's character. I'm not really sure what her purpose was in the novel (except for exposing the trafficking network). I really liked Charlie's character, and I was so angry at Gabe for the way he treated her.
In sum, the book left me aware of the fragile state of relationships. We're all just a conversation from pushing the people in our lives away. I guess I would recommend this book to people who don't mind aimlessly drifting characters. If you're a reader who likes 3-d characters, don't pick up this book...or at least skip to page 201.
The only reason I marked this book as "ok" rather than "I liked it" was because I didn't get invested in the characters until about 200 pages in. I felt like I had no clue who Gabe was. He was completely one dimensional, and until about page 200 I had to make myself continue reading.
Once I realized what was going on (ie Gabe was having a break down of epic proportions) I understood why Gabe seemed one dimensional at the beginning of the novel. It is probably too late to edit, but I think I would cut about a hundred pages from the beginning. As a reader, you would still get the feeling that Gabe is drifting in his life, but you would also get pulled into the story a little sooner.
My favorite parts of the book were when Gabe and his sister Jenny were having heart to hearts. The bond between siblings is fascinating to me, and I enjoyed watching the two of them rebuild a relationship. I found the parts with Ted (Gabe's father) and Gabe to be heartwrenching. It can be so hard to get to know your parent as an adult especially when you think they somehow wronged you as a child.
I really didn't like Lena's character. I'm not really sure what her purpose was in the novel (except for exposing the trafficking network). I really liked Charlie's character, and I was so angry at Gabe for the way he treated her.
In sum, the book left me aware of the fragile state of relationships. We're all just a conversation from pushing the people in our lives away. I guess I would recommend this book to people who don't mind aimlessly drifting characters. If you're a reader who likes 3-d characters, don't pick up this book...or at least skip to page 201.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2021
The more I read the more uncomfortable I became.
I picked up this book because this author is featured by Talking Volumes, Minnesota Public Radio's literature spot. It traces the downfall of a chef in modern London. Learning about the multicultural flavor of London was an eye opener. I knew a little bit about it, but I enjoyed stepping into it via someone else's shoes.
The protaganist suffers from bi-polar disorder and every chapter he just kept making more and more a mess of his life. I got to the middle and began to feel uncomfortable when I picked it up. I couldn't stand to see his messes.
It all turns out okay in the end...in a way...I guess I appreciate this writer because
1- She was masterful at writing from the viewpoint of someone with bi-polar disorder...at least from my limited experience it seemed like she did a really nice job.
2- It had a happy/sad ending. None of it worked out, but at the same time there was a clarity to reality, and a simplicity that brought the reader relief.
I picked up this book because this author is featured by Talking Volumes, Minnesota Public Radio's literature spot. It traces the downfall of a chef in modern London. Learning about the multicultural flavor of London was an eye opener. I knew a little bit about it, but I enjoyed stepping into it via someone else's shoes.
The protaganist suffers from bi-polar disorder and every chapter he just kept making more and more a mess of his life. I got to the middle and began to feel uncomfortable when I picked it up. I couldn't stand to see his messes.
It all turns out okay in the end...in a way...I guess I appreciate this writer because
1- She was masterful at writing from the viewpoint of someone with bi-polar disorder...at least from my limited experience it seemed like she did a really nice job.
2- It had a happy/sad ending. None of it worked out, but at the same time there was a clarity to reality, and a simplicity that brought the reader relief.
February 22, 2015
I finally finished In the Kitchen yesterday, and I have mixed feelings about it. I started off loving the descriptions of the hotel kitchen operation, but couldn't understand the main character's dislike of certain people. I didn't like him very much, which made it hard for me. I don't always have to like a character, but I want to feel the motivations, even if I don't agree with them. It was hard for me to get a handle on his choices, and his actions. Eventually, gradually, the reader understands that he has undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and it's hard to live with him. Eventually I was very invested in following him around and finding out what crazy thing he would do to ruin his life THIS time.
Some people loved the book, some people hated the book. I see that most people that gave it one star didn't get very far into it, which I see as pretty unfair. What I really did think that Ali accomplished was giving us an idea of the person by the way he/she talks. She is very good at dialogue.
Some people loved the book, some people hated the book. I see that most people that gave it one star didn't get very far into it, which I see as pretty unfair. What I really did think that Ali accomplished was giving us an idea of the person by the way he/she talks. She is very good at dialogue.
August 10, 2009
There's hardly a spot where In the Kitchen is not what might be considered well written; however, despite that and a promising plot, the characters and narrative never seem to coalesce. There are moments of interesting insights, as well as top notch descriptive work, and the pace picks up in the final quarter, but a basic problem is the essentially murky nature of the lead character, Chef Gabe Lightfoot. Not charming rogue, grating blowhard or impassioned artisan, he's a confused composition of bad judgment, poor impulses and misguided righteousness, and his muddled makeup seems to carry over into the portrayal of him. The representations of the kitchen crew also just don't quite click. Clearly Ali is trying to lay out a multi-culti tableau and examine the interactions, but here too, figures simply don't spring to life. This should have been tighter and tauter at the very least. An overly sappy finale is also disappointing.
October 16, 2012
To be fair I was listening to the audioversion. The first 2 discs were fine but the third disc was blank/nonfunctional and the 4th disc badly scratched. That said, the story neither caught nor interested me in the portion I heard. Most mysteries ensnare you enough to at least wonder about the murderer. Not so this one. Gabriel is a self-centered character who I doubt will grow endearing. His self-interest over-rides everyone else's welfare. When the audiversions are scratched or damaged in someway I will return them to the library with a note to that effect and try them again later. I will not be revisiting this one.
February 18, 2017
A strange mix: I enjoyed the book initially and the kitchen scenes – particularly everything that surrounds the actual cooking; the characters in the kitchen are initially interesting but end up as either exaggerated (a depressive French pastry chef reinvigorated by Prozac and Viagra) or surprisingly unexplored (a Liberian ex child soldier); the crucial Lena part of the plot is implausible; the gradual re-writing of his own past is very good (and especially that subtlety while he is obsessed with the back stories of others and how their lives have affected them he is blind to the same in his own life) but his own madness unconvincing;
October 24, 2019
Had high hopes for this one. Monica Ali who wrote the amazing Brick Lane! And a book set (partly at least) in a restaurant, with a chef as the main character. Sadly it was a rather tedious read. It starts out interesting with the death of a man, one of the restaurant staff, in the kitchen cellar. And a mysterious young woman appears, needing help. The kitchen staff is a great mix of migrant workers and all the scenes set in the kitchen or restaurant are great. I guess I just didn’t really care about the main character Gabriel enough and in the end, the dead man seems to have been forgotten. A bit of a disappointment.
June 29, 2009
Monica Ali is, quite simply, one of those critically acclaimed authors I just don't "get." I found "Brick Lane" pretty forgettable and I felt her newest book, "In The Kitchen," was forced, uninteresting, and clunky.
In “Kitchen,” Ali layers subplot upon subplot and quirky character upon quirky character in such heavy-handed style that the novel crushes under its own weight. It tries to be and do so much that it ultimately is and does nothing. I really wanted to like this book, but found myself wanting to just be done with it.
In “Kitchen,” Ali layers subplot upon subplot and quirky character upon quirky character in such heavy-handed style that the novel crushes under its own weight. It tries to be and do so much that it ultimately is and does nothing. I really wanted to like this book, but found myself wanting to just be done with it.
August 23, 2009
Let me preface this by saying I think Ms. Ali writes beautifully.
With that said, all I can say when I finished this book was "I'm so glad I'm done with that". There are so many reasons not to finish this book. Unfortunately, once I start one, I feel the need to finish it. This book was a drag, and many times I just thought "ugh". The characters are not likeable at all, and there's no reason to enjoy the reasons they aren't likeable.
I have not read "Brick Lane" but plan on it. I do hope it is better than this book was.
With that said, all I can say when I finished this book was "I'm so glad I'm done with that". There are so many reasons not to finish this book. Unfortunately, once I start one, I feel the need to finish it. This book was a drag, and many times I just thought "ugh". The characters are not likeable at all, and there's no reason to enjoy the reasons they aren't likeable.
I have not read "Brick Lane" but plan on it. I do hope it is better than this book was.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 446 reviews