Luba Gurdjieff: A Memoir With Recipes

Rating:
Summary: a minor work with nice pictures
Review: Luba Gurdjieff's memoir is a delightful reflection on her life with a most unique family that included her Uncle G.I. Gurdjieff. For those of us keenly interested in the philosophy of Mr. Gurdjieff, you may find yourself wanting more reflections on her remarkable Uncle and less on her joys and tribulations of operating a bistro in London for many years. Yet for those who love the Gurdjieff Work, any stories and memories of that remarkable social experiment known as the Priory, relish any memories of those heady days. And for this alone Luba's memoirs are enough. Only Thomas & Olga deHartmann's "Our Life With Mr. Gurdjieff" comes as close to providing that feeling of domesticity & intimacy with the great man as this book does. Moreover, she conveys an earthy appreciation & savor of life itself (very much her Uncle's neice)in her approach to feeding the bodies and souls of those who came her way. The cuisine is standard European bistro fare, with the odd exception of corn on the cob! Her borsht recipe is one of the best I've had, as well as her remembrance of her Uncle's famous salad recipe is a joy to read. This book is a delight for both gourmet & gourmand, but it's real quality is the warm, open hospitality of the old world that shines in every page.

Rating:
Summary: The Fueling of the Work
Review: Luba Gurdjieff's memoir is a delightful reflection on her life with a most unique family that included her Uncle G.I. Gurdjieff. For those of us keenly interested in the philosophy of Mr. Gurdjieff, you may find yourself wanting more reflections on her remarkable Uncle and less on her joys and tribulations of operating a bistro in London for many years. Yet for those who love the Gurdjieff Work, any stories and memories of that remarkable social experiment known as the Priory, relish any memories of those heady days. And for this alone Luba's memoirs are enough. Only Thomas & Olga deHartmann's "Our Life With Mr. Gurdjieff" comes as close to providing that feeling of domesticity & intimacy with the great man as this book does. Moreover, she conveys an earthy appreciation & savor of life itself (very much her Uncle's neice)in her approach to feeding the bodies and souls of those who came her way. The cuisine is standard European bistro fare, with the odd exception of corn on the cob! Her borsht recipe is one of the best I've had, as well as her remembrance of her Uncle's famous salad recipe is a joy to read. This book is a delight for both gourmet & gourmand, but it's real quality is the warm, open hospitality of the old world that shines in every page.

Rating:
Summary: Full of Life
Review: Luba's book is enjoyable in many ways. The recipes, like the memoirs, are down to earth and represent good honest cooking, most of it Luba's and not her uncle's.

Luba tells of the ups and downs in her life and demonstrates how in spite of difficulties with the help of her fighting spirit she made it. Her life-span takes us through both of the World Wars. The first caused the family to emigrate, the second required a great deal of hard work to survive.

Full of life and laughter, and reminiscent of her uncle, she tells of her visit to Coombe Springs, run by J. G. Bennett, two years after she left the place. She came there at tea time and was looking for her friend:

"...they were all sitting around on their bottoms, the legs all cross. I said, "Hey, everybody - anybody know where is Nottie?" It was as if nobody was there. Nobody even looked at me. They were all concentrating, or constipated - I don't know what they were. Just sitting there. I started clapping my hands, shouting, "Wakey, Wakey!"

Rating:
Summary: a minor work with nice pictures
Review: This is a padded-out excuse to present a few anecdotes about Gurdjieff, plus some old photos and such and make a few bucks off the Gurdjieff cultists who must have every book pertaining to him, but so what. It does give another perspective, however insignificant, to the events of three-quarters of a century ago, something that is sorely needed in the environment of true believers of various stripes with the entrenched positions about the man they worship as a living god or dismiss as a charlatan. The truth is somewhere in between, and this work is one of the few that seems to reflect that. And it is quite well presented.