Food critic and traveler Moira Hodgson’s memoir, “It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time,” reads like one of her food critiques. Simple, crisp descriptions of food frame the experience of a particular restaurant. Hodgson writes like she is whispering a secret in your ear about the flavors and flaws of a restaurant experience. Unlike her critiques, however, Hodgson’s novel does not have a gripping plot. The simplicity of her descriptions allows the reader to experience her life quite vividly, and like her critiques, these experiences are enhanced by mouth-watering descriptions of food.
Hodgson’s novel is well-written and clear. It is definitely worthwhile to pick up if you are a fan of the culinary arts, travel or just need an escape. After you read this book, food transforms, and it becomes a challenge to be inventive.
“It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time” is not as sexy or intriguing as Gael Greene’s novel “Insatiable,” nor is it as inspiring and entertaining as Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling novel “Eat, Pray, Love,” but Moira Hodgson’s novel is thoughtfully written and planned. As if performing her own psychoanalysis, Hodgson connects parts of her childhood experiences to explain events in her adult life. From her first experience with eating snails to her adventures in Mexico, Hodgson shows a great deal of adventurous curiosity. This curiosity stems from her obsession with Oscar Wilde, whose portrait she even painted in art class. Wilde’s words and pursuits and interpretations of beauty are inspirations that are carried with her throughout her travels into adult life.
Hodgson traveled and moved extensively throughout her life. People and experiences moved in and out of her life like flavors of a meal pass over taste buds. Hodgson showed incredible strength when coping with these losses. In an interview with The Eagle, she shared what she learned from moving so much.
“I hated leaving places,” Hodgson said. “It seemed that no sooner had I learned a new language and made new friends, I had to pull up stakes and start all over again. But it made me less shy about making friends quickly. I also learned to accept people with different backgrounds and traditions from mine.”
Though Hodgson is a friendly and bold woman, her book is not as sparkling with personality and experience. While the book’s plot is not really engaging, it inspires the reader by showing Hodgson’s passion and dependence on food. It is this connection with food that is particularly moving. Food was her solace through the hard times and transitions in her life, as exemplified when she writes, “Food for sympathy. Food for love. Food for keeping death at bay.”
It would seem from the novel that Hodgson eats just about anything; she has eaten pig’s heart, jellied goose liver froth and even pigeons. She is as open-minded with food as she is with her travels. Her life is filled with movement and transitions. Hodgson has seen so many things and tasted so many different types of food it makes the plot move forward rapidly. It is easy to travel with Hodgson when she ventures to Mexico or Morocco because these experiences are brief.
“It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time” is a scrapbook of Moira Hodgson’s life containing anecdotes, pictures, recipes and minute memories. While this style of writing makes it seem like there is no cohesive plot, it allows the reader to put the book down and then come back later to experience the flavors of Vietnam or Paris. Hodgson confessed to The Eagle that she coped with moving through the process of becoming “a bit of a pack-rat, keeping scrapbooks filled with mementos as a way of holding on to the places I’d been and the people I’d met.” She uses this strategy in her novel, reflecting on how these experiences made her the person she grew up to be.
The next time you are in the dining hall, try being adventurous like Hodgson and be bold by experimenting with flavors — it can’t be worse than boiled sheep eyes.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
