Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Published in 2006. 331 pages.
Eat Pray Love
Authors website
What its about (taken from amazon.com): This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali.
In what could be construed as a coming-of-age story for thirtysomethings, Gilbert leaves behind an excruciating divorce, tumultuous affair, and debilitating depression as she sets off on a yearlong quest to bridge the gulf between body, mind, and spirit.
Eat Pray Love is structured using japa mala—the beads used as an aid in many strands of Eastern meditation. This allowed the author to tell her tale using 108 sections, divided into three groups of 36, authors age at the time, with each group representing a different leg of her travels.
My thoughts: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Italy, India and Indonesia - language, customs, geography, history. This book had a calming effect on me. No real surprises, twists, anything like that. Personally, I did not connect with the author/narrator. She seemed 'distant' to me, we didn't have much in common. However, I didn't really need to feel that connection in order to feel fulfillment from her story. The book includes such a wide range of topics as: God, religion, angels, prayer, meditation, family, friendships, weight, depression, sex, impotency, infertility, art, travel, celibacy, money, forgiveness, love, peace, loyalty, trust... such a combination all in one little book! There were parts that I felt the book moved a little too slow, and I was always reading another book at the same time. It has been announced as a potential movie release starring Julia Roberts. What is it with the books I read being made into movies?!
Overall score: 4/5
When I finished it: May 5, 2008
What I'm reading now: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
1 comment:
I loved the series Traveling pants that you are reading next. I read the first three and keep forgetting to pick up the fourth and last in the series-hope you like it!
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