Started reading Julie & Julia a few days ago and have been finding it about as hard to put down as anything I’ve read recently. She is entertaining, funny and compelling. Frankly, it reminds me of reading myself, which sounds terribly immodest.

Most importantly, I did see the film when it was out, which was in question, as seeing movies at the theater for me is excrutiatingly difficult to arrange. The book was bought for me as a preemptive apology for the liklihood I’d not be able to go, so I’d at least have that. To finish the thought, most importantly, the book is not at all like the movie. I’m approaching the one-third mark and there has been little in common apart from the core characters and the setup of the challenge. The screenplay was definitely adaptive, for all it got the crux of what happened and supplied a feel for the people and circumstances.

The book contains much more retrospective and background detail. It is also overt in expressing her political leanings, which I do not share, and which manage to add humor, color, and not detract.

That’s my take so far. I highly recommend the movie version of Julie & Julia if you haven’t seen it. It appears I’ll say the same of the book.