Parting Gift

       As a conclusion I wanted to say some words about the blog and its creation. 

To be honest, it was the first time that I had to create a blog. When the professor said you will be evaluated on a blog and the relation between food and literature on a particular topic, I have to say that I was quite scared. Indeed, But finally, I found a topic which I found interesting because of the cultural dimension as I am French living in London with British people. I really had fun making it because in fact for some article I found myself like a detective trying to discover English traditions for breakfast. The other funny thing is that by writing this blog, I had a little argument with British people of my flat about bread. According to them, toast is bread however, according to me, toast and bread are two different things because indeed, I consider bread, fresh one such as baguette. It was very interesting to see and understand that and we conclude that we did not have the same representation of bread because of the different culture and traditions we live in. 

       I have also tried to relate breakfast with different scene in literature that I like and thought they were interesting in this particular topic. 


Here is the list of the books I used in this blog: 

-Tolkien J.R.R, The Hobbit (1937), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Anv edition (September 21, 2007)

- Levin C. and Perley W.(2002), The Good Enough to Eat Breakfast Cookbook. Grand Central Publishing.

- Beeton I, Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861),  Oxford University Press, USA; Abridged edition (August 1, 2008)

- Read J. Manson M., The Great British Breakfast (1981), Michael Joseph Ltd; 1st Ed. edition (June 22, 1981)

-Acton E., Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845), Southover Press (August 1, 2002). 

- Bronte C., Jane Eyre (1847), Readable Classics (October 19, 2009)

- Somerset Maugham W., Three Fat Women of Antibes (1933), Penguin Classics (September 1, 1992)

- Toklas A. B., The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book (1954), Harper Perennial (August 10, 2010)

- Rolling J.K, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Scholastic Paperbacks (September 1, 2000)

- Hibbert C, Let's eat Breakfast (2011), Evans Brothers (November 30, 2011)

- Probst P., 'Bobby the Dog' in A Little Golden Book (unknown), Golden Press (January 1, 1961)

- Rolling J.K, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), Scholastic Paperbacks; 1st edition (September 8, 1999)

- Prevert J., 'Déjeuner du Matin', La Cinquieme Saison (unknown), Gallimard (2000)

    To conclude, I would like to share Jacques Prevert's poem Dejeuner du Matin (Breakfast) that I really like because the rhythm is very slow and it is very French the way the persona behaves.  

"Il a mis le café
Dans la tasse

Il a mis le lait

Dans la tasse de café

Il a mis le sucre

Dans le café au lait

Avec la petite cuiller

Il a tourné

Il a bu le café au lait

Et il a reposé la tasse

Sans me parler

Il a allumé

Une cigarette

Il a fait des ronds

Avec la fumée

Il a mis les cendres

Dans le cendrier

Sans me parler

Sans me regarder

Il s'est levé

Il a mis

Son chapeau sur sa tête

Il a mis son manteau de pluie

Parce qu'il pleuvait

Et il est parti

Sous la pluie

Sans une parole

Sans me regarder

Et moi j'ai pris

Ma tête dans ma main

Et j'ai pleuré."

Translation

He poured the coffee

Into the cup

He poured the milk

Into the cup of coffee

He added the sugar 

To the coffee and milk

He stirred it

With a teaspoon

He drank the coffee

And put back the cup

Without speaking to me

He lit a cigarette

He blew some rings

With the smoke

He flicked the ashes 

Into the ashtray

Without speaking to me

Without looking at me

He got up

He put his hat

On his head

He put on 

His raincoat

Because it was raining

He went out 

Into the rain

Without a word

Without looking at me

And I

I took my head

In my hands

And I wept.