The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Feb 25, 2011 Jeff Scott rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, magical-realism

The problem I had with this book was one of expectations. Rose Edelstein discovers on her ninth birthday, that she can taste emotions in food. She would know what the cook was thinking and feeling when the food was prepared, even where the food was grown and processed. The premise of the book immediately reminds me of Like Water for Chocolate. There is that immediate element of magical-realism that I love in Latin American Fiction (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende both come immediately t The problem I had with this book was one of expectations. Rose Edelstein discovers on her ninth birthday, that she can taste emotions in food. She would know what the cook was thinking and feeling when the food was prepared, even where the food was grown and processed. The premise of the book immediately reminds me of Like Water for Chocolate. There is that immediate element of magical-realism that I love in Latin American Fiction (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende both come immediately to mind). However, Bender seems to be the only author that can take a concept that can tell such a great story and make it very pedestrian.

I think the most annoying aspect of this book is the lack of emotions and empathy from the characters. It would seem that someone who has the power to taste the emotions of the cook, that she would be very sympathetic to everyone. In fact, I would read this ability as a metaphor for growing up. There is that understanding as a child growing up that the world does not revolve around you and that your parents have their own separate lives and their own identities. This power doesn’t develop that feeling for Rose; in fact it stunts this development. Yet nothing is done with this concept. There is a line in the book that I feel aptly reflects the potential in the book that goes nowhere:

"Ugh, you Edelsteins, he said. Come on, It shouldn’t be some kind of secret, what you do. I know Joe was working on something, working hard, he showed me a few pages once, years ago, some of the graphs he was making. It was incredible work. Really. Unbelievable. Now, where does any of that go?" P. 258

It seems that all the characters have no emotions. The father just works, comes home, works, and watches medical dramas. The mother has a quiet desperation that is very, very quiet. Joseph has even less emotions than these two. It almost seems that he is the ideal character for this book of emotional coldness. Rose is most annoyed that she has to feel anyone else’s emotions since she doesn’t like her own. The author is some sort of Wizard of Oz giving her Tin Man character a heart and she rejects it.

The concept is introduced and then the story just drags with some muddled attempts to get the father to notice that the mother is unhappy with an ending that didn’t really bring the story to a conclusion.
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Jan 10, 2011 Gina rated it really liked it

Upon closing this book, I felt a little unfulfilled. There wasn't much closure, and I was left with that old feeling of "but what happened next?" It was a great story, however. Very unique to anything I've read before. I was drawn in immediately by Rose Edelstein, and her peculiar gift of being able to taste the feelings of anyone's food she eats. It begins on her ninth birthday, when her mother bakes her a lemon cake. Mrs. Edelstein was always cheerful and positive on the outside, but Rose soon ...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Gina rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Obscure, sad, beautifully written; I loved this book. The story of Rose who is cursed with the ability to taste the emotions of whomever has prepared her food--every ingredient. Beginning with her mother, she has to taste her mother's dissatisfaction in her marriage and subsequent affair (and guilt) that follows. Her character is most interesting, especially how she develops and learns to deal with her abilities. The book takes a bit of a strange turn when it focuses on her brilliant but strange ...more

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Jan 21, 2015 Gayle rated it did not like it

OK, it's been a long time since I've read a book and walked away thinking, "WTH?" I'm usually pretty good at finding some symbolism or meaning in things/actions/thoughts/etc. But...........I can't figure this one out. I'm hoping once I read some reviews on this, that it will shed some light on whatever it is I'm missing. Not to mention, I was completely and totally annoyed at the lack of quotation marks for all the conversations!!! Again, perhaps I'm simply missing the meaning of this. ...more

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May 09, 2011 Judy rated it really liked it

This is a book about a girl who can taste the emotions of the cook in any food she eats. It's a book about people whose receptors are wide open, who feel so much from the people around them, and what that does to them and how they live with it. Having just finished it, I am so moved by the book that it's hard to distance myself enough to write about it. As in her novel, "An Invisible Sign of My Own," the world is mostly as we know it, but slightly askew. The main characters and her loved ones ar ...more

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Jul 25, 2010 Melissa Wiebe rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2010, books-on-the-nightstand

Very interesting book. It seemed that reading the book in short spurts was just enough for me to enjoy it. It was a very pleasant read and it was just heavy enough to not be so fluffy that I would have rolled my eyes.

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Jul 08, 2019 Sam rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books

Some magical realism, good concepts but I feel like the the main character wasn't the most interesting. ...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Adrienne rated it really liked it

A lovely read.

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Jul 31, 2010 Cindy rated it liked it

This book is not at all what I expected when I first picked it up. At first the lack of proper punctuation bothered me but after a few pages it didn't anymore. It gave me a feeling of the narrator, Rose, telling the story in a very non-emotional tone. The story was weird to be sure, and it ended a little... oddly, but overall I enjoyed it. ...more

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