Heartburn (Nora Ephron)

Summary:
Rachel is a successful food writer, a published cookbook author, and seven months pregnant with her second child. She's blindsided when her husband, Mark, tells her that he's in love with someone else, and he's not going to leave the other woman. What follows is the breaking down of a marriage, the realizations of when he was cheating, and where, and who knew it was going on before Rachel did. Rachel tries to see the bright side of all of it, but who wants to be a pregnant woman going through a divorce?

Thoughts:
This was really difficult to read. Not only because of the subject matter, but because it was so dryly written. I loved Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. They're go-to romantic comedy gold for me, and When Harry Met Sally... is another great movie. I knew Nora Ephron could write great things, and I was looking forward to reading something from her. I was sadly disappointed. The book took me nearly two weeks to wade through. That's an EPIC amount of time for something that is literally 178 pages. 178 pages. I could've read it in the space of a few hours if I'd put my mind to it. Particularly because it talks through 15 different recipes. But it was so damn dismal. I had to force myself to get through it. Now granted, this book was published in 1983, so its references were bound to be stale. But the whole thing was completely depressing, and Rachel was so downtrodden through the whole ordeal. Rachel was also very stereotypically Jewish and wore her religion like a banner on her chest throughout. I understand that Jewish people are sometimes like that, and I don't have a problem with it by any means, as they have every right to proclaim their religious affiliation. But it did make it all the more difficult to relate to Rachel. (A side note: I'm a Presbyterian, a protestant. I have no problems with religion. If Rachel was stereotypically Presbyterian or Catholic or Baptist or Lutheran or Atheist or anything else, I'd probably still be put off by it. It just irks when people exaggerate such things that don't have much other reason to exist within a book. I find it boring and unnecessary.) The cover carries with it three quotes from the Chicago Tribune, The NY Times Book Review, and Harper's Bazaar, all singing the book's praises, of course. But I disagree with all three. The Tribune wrote at the time, "Funny and touching... proof that writing well is the best revenge." I didn't laugh. I just hurt for the poor woman. Sure, I hated the cheating husband, but it's not hard to do that when he's, y'know. A cheating husband. The Times wrote, "Great fun... Though Heartburn bristles ferociously with wit, it's not lacking in soul." It wasn't fun. It wasn't witty. It was depressing. And Harper's Bazaar. "Nora Ephron's first novel is warm, witty, and wise." Nope, nope, nope. It was almost clinical, and cynical, and sad. I hate to say it, but it just broke the heart the whole way through. The only light-hearted bit was at the end where there was a pie thrown in Mark's face. I might've laughed if not for the reason why she felt the need to throw the pie, and the fact that a page and a half later, Rachel talks about when they were expecting their first child, and Mark used to sing her to sleep and sing her awake and how sweet it used to be, and all I felt was sad for her that her husband was a complete bastard. Completely depressing. COMPLETELY.

Book 25 of 50

Pages: 178
Genre: fiction
Grade: D-
Would I Recommend?: Wanna be depressed? Then read this. Want to smile and remember Nora Ephron's great work? Watch When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. They'll make you smile far more than this ever will.