Response to Omnivoracious’s book-beer pairings — Guest blog by Ciara
Editor’s note: I met Ciara through zines in the mid-90’s. We kept in touch through the years, and she went on to establish & edit successful online literary magazine The Furnace Review — while also honing a fine taste in books & beers, as you’ll see in her guest post below.
The writers at Omnivoracious are right: why should wine snobs and smelly cheese lovers have all the fun? It may seem silly at first, but the more you think about it, the more beer & book pairings make sense. After all, tortured novelists (and tortured novel-readers) are renowned for admiration of all things boozy.
After reading their article on beer-book combinations, I gave it some thought and came up with my perfect pairings for the books I’ve read lately — all of which come highly recommended.
To the brews!
The book: On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
The beer: Three Philosophers
Lauren Groff’s description of the beer — “fruity on the surface with a dark, rich texture beneath” — inspired this one. On Chesil Beach is all about hidden feelings, an entire novella devoted to things left unsaid. On one hand, the deep tones of Three Philosophers mimic the action in the plot; on the other, the fruity surface helps to even out all the angst.
The book: A Woman Trapped in a Woman’s Body: (Tales from a Life of Cringe) by Lauren Weedman
The beer: Raspberry lambic
Weedman’s comedy stems largely from her inability to turn her mouth off. The best parts of her stories occur when nervousness fuels a stream-of-consciousness babble that’s so completely inappropriate you have to laugh. Tucked between the humor, though, there’s enough sincere emotion to have you completely sympathizing with her by the collection’s end. Raspberry lambic’s sour-but-sweet flavor combo is a perfect fit.
The book: The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
The beer: Wittekerke
They’re both so royal-sounding, aren’t they? How terribly cultured you must look to observers unfamiliar with Gregory’s work, reading a tome of historical fiction. And how very classy the name Wittekerke sounds. If the guy next to you at the bar asks, you can very haughtily tell him it’s a little-known Belgian white. But of course it’s all pretense; The Other Boleyn Girl is nothing but a trashy, bodice-ripping beach read, and Wittekerke generally comes out of a can with just a hint of flavor. (And it’s not even filtered. Scandalous!) Deep down, they’re both just trash. Tasty, tasty trash.
The book: Nature Girl by Carl Hiassen
The beer: Great White Beer
Words that describe both of these include: light, complex (but not too cerebral), refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. Plus, Great White is my beer of choice for camping trips and beach picnics (planned or unplanned).
The book: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
The Beer: ginger beer
For Rae, of course. (Pick up a copy and see what I mean.)
E-mail Ciara at ciara.lavelle@gmail.com, and visit her literary magazine at thefurnacereview.com.
