Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and IndonesiaElizabeth Gilbert
So I finally rode the Eat, Pray, Love train, even though this book isn't exactly new and exciting to most people. I feared the hype machine would trick me into reading yet another turd, but I was pleasantly surprised. The latest stop on my reading resolution tour wasn't perfect, but it was a fast, engaging piece that -- for the most part -- lived up to its hype.
Eat, Pray, Love is a memoir that recounts one woman's quest for fulfillment. Elizabeth Gilbert's life falls apart when she realizes that her marriage is over. After a bitter divorce, Gilbert leaves the US to find herself. She spends a year abroad and travels to three different areas to learn three different lessons. She travels to Italy to embrace physical pleasures and lots of pasta. From there, she travels to India to embrace spiritual fulfillment in an ashram. Finally, she travels to Indonesia to achieve balance between the worlds of the physical and the spiritual.
I enjoyed Gilbert's style, and found her writing to be conversational and enjoyable. Part of me felt more than a little bitter at her ability to just "run away" for a year and live totally free of any "real life" issues. (And I'm not saying that her journey was problem-free -- of course that isn't the case, but you get my point.) I also balked at the ending, which was just oh-so-perfect and not entirely believable. I'm sure her reality wasn't as neat and tidy, but it did come across that way.
In a nutshell: Eat, Pray, Love didn't rock my world, but it was enjoyable enough. Some parts were less believable than others, but overall the experience was a good one.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
Eat, Pray, Love is a memoir that recounts one woman's quest for fulfillment. Elizabeth Gilbert's life falls apart when she realizes that her marriage is over. After a bitter divorce, Gilbert leaves the US to find herself. She spends a year abroad and travels to three different areas to learn three different lessons. She travels to Italy to embrace physical pleasures and lots of pasta. From there, she travels to India to embrace spiritual fulfillment in an ashram. Finally, she travels to Indonesia to achieve balance between the worlds of the physical and the spiritual.
I enjoyed Gilbert's style, and found her writing to be conversational and enjoyable. Part of me felt more than a little bitter at her ability to just "run away" for a year and live totally free of any "real life" issues. (And I'm not saying that her journey was problem-free -- of course that isn't the case, but you get my point.) I also balked at the ending, which was just oh-so-perfect and not entirely believable. I'm sure her reality wasn't as neat and tidy, but it did come across that way.In a nutshell: Eat, Pray, Love didn't rock my world, but it was enjoyable enough. Some parts were less believable than others, but overall the experience was a good one.
Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars
2 comments:
Tuesday the 2nd of March is my last court meeting with my ex, after this we are each on our way to other lives...I wish I had it in me to just up and go.I have to read this book even if it is only to see how the author profited from her travels (I like her stop in Italy for sexual pleasure first :D.)
Thank-you for a positive review.
Hope you have a nice week
I loved the book, but I, too, thought it must be nice to be able to drop everything. If you haven't read it, see Gilbert's biography of Eustace Conway. Brilliant work.
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