Goodreads | Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

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Michalyn rated it:

01/26/08

bookshelves: 2008, non-fiction

Read in January, 2008

Wow, this book took me on a roller-coaster ride. I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it and it seemed like every few pages I'd go from thinking Gilbert was delightfully witty to thinking this was the most horribly self-absorbed person to ever set foot on the earth.

In the end the overall effect was rather like sitting at a party listening to someone tell a long involved story all about themselves, and you're alternately annoyed and fascinated and you want to get up and leave but she's j...more

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Cat rated it:

05/03/08

Read in August, 2007

I am embarrassed to read this book in public.
The title and the flowery, pasta-y cover screams, "I'm a book that contains the relentless rants of a neurotic 34 year-old-woman."
So, I'm afraid that the strangers on the Metro will think I identify with her.
But in the comfort of my own bed, I am totally falling for this memoir. Yes, Gilbert is emotionally self-indulgent (are we supposed to feel bad that she lost both houses in the divorce?), annoying (she's just tickled when she gain...more I am embarrassed to read this book in public.
The title and the flowery, pasta-y cover screams, "I'm a book that contains the relentless rants of a neurotic 34 year-old-woman."
So, I'm afraid that the strangers on the Metro will think I identify with her.
But in the comfort of my own bed, I am totally falling for this memoir. Yes, Gilbert is emotionally self-indulgent (are we supposed to feel bad that she lost both houses in the divorce?), annoying (she's just tickled when she gains 23 pounds after eating her way through Italy) and often really immature (oh! The endless, endless crying).
Then again, this is a memoir and when the writing is just so clever, so hospitable, so damn funny, it's really hard to hold that against Gilbert in the end.
The plot goes something like this: A 30-year-old writer has everything she wants, including several successful books, a husband and two houses. When she realizes she doesn't want to have kids and that she's not happy after all, she has a breakdown and leaves her husband. In the process, she realizes she has no identity.
Boo-hoo.
But instead, Gilbert decides to pack up and visit Italy, India and Indonesia, three places she hopes will ultimately bring her the inner balance she's been longing for. (And on the surface, this book is a really entertaining travel essay. Gilbert has this wonderfully quirky way of describing everything: A piece of pizza, a gelato. And the people.)
It's on her travels that I start to identify with Gilbert. When I was 21, I spent four months traveling in Australia. Just like Gilbert during her first weeks in Italy, I was totally elated by my freedom.
But about two weeks in, the loneliness came around and so did the anxiety.
My typical day started with this inner monologue: "I have to get to the museum before noon, so I can fit in the sea kayaking trip at 2. And then I have to rush to the grocery store to get food to make dinner in the stinking hostel kitchen because god forbid I go out to eat causeIHAVETOMAKETHEMONEYLASTFORTHREEMOREMONTHS!!!!"
Yikes. How I envied the Eurotrash who could just sit by the hostel pool and read all day. But if I didn't do everything, then I would have failed at traveling.
In retrospect, Australia was a turning-point in my young life. I had no idea that this "go-go-go" attitude was how I had been living for years. No wonder people thought I was uptight. Relaxing had never come easy to me, and it never will, but I'm getting a lot better at letting go and not worrying about seeing every last museum... so-to-speak.
Gilbert ruminates on this topic quite a bit in her book. Her first moment of true, unfettered happiness comes when she poaches some eggs and eats some asparagus on the floor of her apartment. So simple, but so fulfilling.
In India, she writes that "life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death." Gilbert is living in an Ashram, a place where people come to meditate and experience divinity. She's not very good at it, and she wonders if all the energy she's spent chasing the next experience has kept her from enjoying anything. At this point in the book, I find myself wondering if Gilbert wants to be there at all. Perhaps going to an Ashram was the thing she thought she should do, not what she wanted to do. I sure as hell wouldn't.
What I really love about "Eat, Pray, Love" is that it's all about asking the simple question, "what do I want," a question that would have come in handy in Australia and numerous other times in my life. It's so hard for some people, including me, and it really shouldn't be. I think that when you can honestly answer that question ("No. I don't want to go to that discussion on post-modernism, even though I realize that I should be interested in it and it would make me a lot cooler in your eyes. Really, I just want to watch back-to-back episodes of "Scrubs") you're well on your way to realizing your own identity and being ok with whoever that person is.

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MelissaS added it

02/08/08

Read in January, 2007

WHY? I cringe to think why so many women want to feel that this was a true spiritual journey. It was a pre-paid journey. The woman starts off with telling us over and over about how painful her divorce was, however she dismisses how it ever came to be that way. Leaving her audience only to guess it was so horrible she had to leave and find herself.
When asked in an interview if dumping her husband and pushing off wasn’t selfish, here is what Ms. Gilbert had to say:
"What is it about th...more WHY? I cringe to think why so many women want to feel that this was a true spiritual journey. It was a pre-paid journey. The woman starts off with telling us over and over about how painful her divorce was, however she dismisses how it ever came to be that way. Leaving her audience only to guess it was so horrible she had to leave and find herself.
When asked in an interview if dumping her husband and pushing off wasn’t selfish, here is what Ms. Gilbert had to say:
"What is it about the American obsession with productivity and responsibility that makes it so difficult for us to allow ourselves a little time to solve the puzzle of our own lives, before it's too late?"
This statement alone tells so much. A responsibility towards a marriage and spouse is considered an unwanted "obsession" and one's own pursuit of happiness supercedes everything else? If a man decided to dump his wife and family to flee to the Himalayas to meditate we wouldn’t be calling it a spiritual journey...we would call it irresponsibility.
India: This when she got just a little too proud of herself. I grew so tired of her boasting about how all her decisions led to a higher plan of consciousness and a new appreciation for life and a new understanding of the universe at large.
And Bali was even worse. I was hoping the little old guy didn't remember her. Didn't that whole episode just turn out a little too cutely? And then she fell off her bike! She met her doctor friend, and bought her a house. And met an old guy, and then she did things to herself! And then she slept with the old guy. And of course she's better at that than any of us because she is now enlightened. And then she made a little rhyming couplet of a life in Australia, America, Bali, and Brazil. Double cringe.
Italy: The author's angst and shallow self-discovery and pretend real people met with the express purpose of reflecting what she would like to 'learn' (lessons that most of us will have learned far earlier in life before more interesting lessons presented themselves.)
To quote a phrase from the "Italy" section of this book, "cross the street" if you dare to even glance in a bookstore window and entertain a thought of buying this book. Elizabeth Gilbert has no ideas about life. Not only does she have nothing to teach, she has nothing to say. This book is so vicarious that it reveals a profound and deeply disturbing ignorance about the complexities of real life.
The author's observations about life are simplistic and her insights so embarrassingly undeveloped and unsophisticated that she comes across as a detached observer. There are very few passages in this book that reveal any real sense of transformation in her life. She never really seems to glean anything authentic or deeply affecting from any of her experiences. And because she has gained nothing, she has nothing to offer. The reader is frustrated and unable to connect with her on any level. This memoir not only lacks readability, it lacks any real humanity.
She is right when she says that she is not a traveler; she does not have the heart or spirit of a true traveler because she somehow remains deeply unaffected. She is merely a tourist, a spectator, barely scratching the surface of the lands she traverses, the people she encounters, and the experiences of what it means to be human. She fails to see the poverty that surrounds her, or maybe she sees it? She definitely never writes about it, maybe because it is not part of the road to any enlightenment.
In spite of her year long journey she is still unable to gain true insight or wisdom from her pain and struggles. There is no profoundness in her journey, whether it is personal or physical. This book is just a simple walk through a simple mind. She is not even a good enough writer to be able to cleverly disguise her childlike observations in beautifully crafted language. I would rather read the trail journals of a young backpacker any day. At least they are 'real.'
After reading the book, I wondered how it found its way to the bestseller list. I was perplexed by its popularity. So I did some research. As it turns out "Eat, Pray, Love" is an ideal industry example of how a publishing company can "create" a best seller from the printing of a trade paperback. In hard cover, this book only generated mediocre book sales in the year in was published. However, someone at Penguin adopted it as a "darling" and created a hard core campaign to sell the trade paperback.
Well when they said “here’s $200, 000. dollars Elizabeth, now go travel and don’t forget to eat, pray, and love – when you come back I will get you the best editor and we will both feel enlightened.” So shallow, I cringe. I cringe even more for the women that buy into such shallowness.
If you really want to live with intention, live your journey here and now. YOUR here and now.

This book gets Zero stars.
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Jen rated it:

02/22/08

Read in November, 2007

Wow. I just gave Eat, Pray, Love a tearful send-off. And now I will relate to you the reasons why.

The book has helped me come to terms with the fact that this whole healing process is taking so long, longer than any of my friends expected I think, and that it's not over. But even so, it's OK. I can still live my life and do new things and make new friends and still work through it. I'm not cheating anyone by giving them what I've got right now, as opposed to the miracle woman that I think I ...more

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Chris rated it:

02/20/08

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Chris by: this red haired girl who kicked me in the crotch, told me to pay
recommends it for: anyone on a path, anyone looking for eastern wisdom in a new yorker magazine

2-20-08

anyone on a path, anyone looking for eastern wisdom in a new yorker magazine, those who like to travel, those who like italy, bali or india, those in their 30s or up, rpcvs, lovers of brazil women and brainy pale girls, i like to read it while eating a belt buster at the local dairy queen...we had one in chiang mai, but i can't find one in dc, george!, those who like to travel, those who like italy, bali or india, those in their 30s or up, rpcvs, lovers of brazil women and brainy pale...more

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Tonya rated it:

08/20/07

Read in August, 2007

Ok, I admit I still have about 30 pages to go, which I will get around to reading soon (need a break from the book though) and which I highly doubt will prompt me to change my 2-star rating. I know many people love this book for what I consider personal reasons, therefore I tread lightly so as to not come off as critical of people's personal opinions, rather, just the book itself.

First, I found the author not-so-likable. I've read other readers' reviews in which she was described as 'so ...more Ok, I admit I still have about 30 pages to go, which I will get around to reading soon (need a break from the book though) and which I highly doubt will prompt me to change my 2-star rating. I know many people love this book for what I consider personal reasons, therefore I tread lightly so as to not come off as critical of people's personal opinions, rather, just the book itself.

First, I found the author not-so-likable. I've read other readers' reviews in which she was described as 'so funny' and like 'a girl we'd all love to know' and have to tell you, I didn't feel the love. She came off to me as lofty, self-absorbed, and needy. I felt like she wanted to make herself a victim of her divorce and her depression. She was so vague about some aspects of the decline of her relationship with her ex-husband as well as with some details about the divorce, which led me to believe that she really did a number on him, but then she whined throughout the book about how HE was the one making the divorce so difficult. I don't mean to sound judgmental of how she coped with it, because I can't relate to that and it would be unfair of me, but I just couldn't help but feel that she kind of bashed the ex a little when she was seemingly the majority of the reason for their split. Plus, she acted like she is the only person in the world to suffer through a divorce, yet she was "totally in love" with another man less than a month after she realized she wanted out of her marriage (and her account isn't clear as to how long after her realization she actually got the divorce-ball rolling so I can't help but assume she was unfaithul.) So it was hard to have sympathy for her when she got hysterical over the ex disagreeing about settlement details. Um, I would think that <i>happens<i> when you blindside your spouse with a divorce request. Not saying it's right, just saying that's life.

Secondly, in her search of spirituality, I couldn't help but find some of it a little far-fetched. And could she have drawn out her stay at the Ashram in India any longer or with more mind-numbing, snooooze-inducing detail?? I found myself skipping entire paragraphs at a time, and not just because I was in a bit of a hurry to read the book before book club... but because she bored the hell out of me. My favorite part of India, ironically, was Richard From Texas. So I suppose that just sums up for us what I got out of the India section.

But I won't leave us all on a totally negative note. I enjoyed parts of the book, some of them thoroughly. I loved her friends, for instance, and am perplexed at how I find the author so unlikable but somehow she has such cool people in her life? And she was SOMETIMES funny with little sarcastic bits that caught me off guard and made me laugh aloud. When she wasn't being overly wordy, I loved reading her descriptions of Italy, India, and most especially Indonesia. And, of course, who didn't drool over her description of that pizza in Naples? YUM. I read that part twice :-)~ ...less

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Emanuel rated it:

(review of isbn 0747585660)

03/10/08

bookshelves: goodread, nonfiction

Read in March, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I do enjoy reading this book, it’s a fun reading, a compelling story of one spiritual journey in 3 different places and with my own curiosity (regarding the first two places) the book has occupied me, taking me along with the journey, feels like I’m with the author on tandem bike, nicely flow. Again, this is the kind of book which I don’t need to squeeze my brain to bleed, instead beautiful pictures played in my mind, and I’m floating, enjoying the ride... I've never been to Italy or Ind...more I do enjoy reading this book, it’s a fun reading, a compelling story of one spiritual journey in 3 different places and with my own curiosity (regarding the first two places) the book has occupied me, taking me along with the journey, feels like I’m with the author on tandem bike, nicely flow. Again, this is the kind of book which I don’t need to squeeze my brain to bleed, instead beautiful pictures played in my mind, and I’m floating, enjoying the ride... I've never been to Italy or India, (one day i will, it's on my "a-must-to-visit" list beside Greece and Turkey) but I know very well about Bali... (definitely still in love with the island)

***Spoiler Alerts***

As the author's quote on the first page, which said by her best friend; "Tell the truth, tell the truth, and tell the truth..." I'm fully believe, the book is telling all the truths... start with;

Italy, it was fun! Despite the gelatos which obvious enough; a sinfully fun, the pizzas and pastas as well (only Italian the masters for these delicacies, but funny thing; in South East Asia, only Chinese the masters of curries), I like the author’s journey in this city, I always adoring the country, wishing to learn the language, learning more their interesting cultures, and of course all those eye candy sights, the feast for the eyes (including the beautiful people). At first, I thought Italy should be the city of romance (what’s the one word describing Italy? For me it’d be “romance”), the idea of walking in stony pedestrian street in Venice, riding Vespa around the city, or sitting in gondola along the river, passing under the bridge with someone you love, that’s breathtakingly romantic... but, seems the author has another objective, I believe gelatos with thousand flavors are the best talisman to get rid the 2 demons of her own; depression and loneliness, and yet, Italy for “eat”, a good choice to start the journey for someone like Ms. Gilbert.

India, a bit slow... it was dragging with all the well-being attempts... in yogic way for sure, but, it’s quite a mind opener... of course... thanks to Richard from Texas, without him, India’s for “pray” would be as boring as meditation for hours and no words to tell, or just simply running around under the night sky barefoot, stepping on the grass and hugging trees, which is beautiful to imagine but hardly to feel it for real. Many inspirational quotes and thoughts came from this Texan guy, which I believe quite helpful to Ms. Gilbert to fulfill whatever her quests in India, even though I don’t even know what actually his purpose in Ashram is. Perhaps, he’s the real Swamiji for Ms. Gilbert, her visible “guardian angel” if it’s ever exists, I wonder if she has this thought before.

Indonesia, Bali Island for “love”... I’d say this is my favorite part and the best, I’m not saying this because I’m from where the island is. Firstly, because the Bali part is well researched; make me believe that the whole book is telling the truth. The Bali part is very “as it is”, very “what you read is what you get”... of course, experiencing the island would be the best way to believe. (Am I sounding like a travel agent here? lol...) The Island itself is very mystical; in every corner you can smell and sense it for free, mystical and exotic at the same time. The Wayan Saga, is quite representing the face of Balinese, since the two times bombing happened in Bali, the tourism there has declining, and everyone in Bali are desperate and thirsty for work and earning money. They would do anything (whatever it takes) as long as it could make “their kitchen smoky” (it’s Indonesian phrase; does not mean to burn the kitchen down, but, literally as; “if there’s smoke out of the kitchen, means there are foods to eat”) and “white lies” happened many times. One little error from the book, which bother me, when Ketut Liyer (Balinese Medicine man) told Ms. Gilbert, the simple Balinese meditation is “to sit and smile”, simply smiling inside-out and the good energy would do good things to you, I assumed, what he mean was “smile from your heart” not “smile in your liver”, there’s a confusion or mixed-up in Indonesian language (or terminology) between the word “heart” as the form of love, with “heart” as human internal organ, the actual translation of “heart” in bahasa is “jantung” (heart in human organ context), but for the form of love, the common “heart-shape” on valentines day in bahasa we called it “hati” (liver). This is just a little mis usage of the word, but the essence still there, and “smile in your liver” sounds exotic and very spiritual for the western world (including Oprah...), that makes the “telling the truth” is very true...

I wish to read her next book if any... hopefully, her Brazilian life...
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Keleigh rated it:

04/15/08

bookshelves: schooldaze

Read in March, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I came into Eat Pray Love with some healthy cynicism. My mom had been recommending the book to me for months. And a few weeks before beginning it for this class, I was in my weekly astrology class, participating in a chart reading for a woman who had recently ended a 20-year marriage and just came back from India. I mentioned this book to her and she said Yeah, she’s read it, but she’d like to write another version–one that doesn’t end in the obligatory, fairytale cliche of riding (...more

I came into Eat Pray Love with some healthy cynicism. My mom had been recommending the book to me for months. And a few weeks before beginning it for this class, I was in my weekly astrology class, participating in a chart reading for a woman who had recently ended a 20-year marriage and just came back from India. I mentioned this book to her and she said Yeah, she’s read it, but she’d like to write another version–one that doesn’t end in the obligatory, fairytale cliche of riding (or boating) off into the sunset with a handsome Brazilian.

So, with that spoiler in mind, I had my doubts about this book.

I at first found Gilbert a bit cloying and chatty. Without any tangible details about the nature of her relationship with her ex-husband, I found it difficult to sympathize with her, even as she was falling apart on the bathroom floor. I kept reminding myself that this book was written for “mainstream” readers, and any spiritual truth that ekes through has to be palatable enough for the average Oprah-loyalist.

Then I got to the part where she reveals that she’s a Cancer. I happen to be a Cancer. That “cloying” quality that irked me so? Yeah, I can own that reflection. And the chattiness complaint, once I read that she has major planets in sociable, endlessly curious Gemini (I would guess this includes her ascendant), had to be reconsidered as, quite honestly, tinged with envy. My major issue anytime I’ve traveled has been a feeling of social inadequacy–that I just don’t have the chutzpah to approach strangers and make friends with anyone and everyone; a skill that is clearly well-developed in Gilbert.

Lest this post become too astrology-heavy and alienate some readers, I’ll get to the more critical points. This book is infinitely readable. For a week all I wanted at any given time was to be lying in the bath or on my couch or at the park reading Eat Pray Love. (It helped, I think, that we were in Pisces time–a water month of deep sensitivity, spirituality, and escapism.) Gilbert’s tone is conversational, drawing even the most hesitant or shy or cynical reader in for a cup of tea, sharing her story, and before you know it you’re blubbering with her over your lost love or your deepest wishes to run away to India, or meet the man you’re going to marry, or write a best-seller that Oprah turns into an international sensation.

Another excellent gift of Gilbert’s is translating spiritual and religious teachings into comprehensible, everyday language. By halfway through the narrative I felt such a personal connection to her journey, partly because I literally relate to her story. Two and a half years ago I chose to move to Sacramento because I had just completed a “vision quest” on Mt. Shasta with a self-awareness group up here. I left the life I knew, including an obsessive and volatile 4-year relationship, and committed myself to “relinquishing the attraction of distraction.” The withdrawal process has been intense. But, as good old Richard from Texas says, “What’s the alternative? To quit whenever something gets challenging? To futz around your whole life, miserable and incomplete?”

Gilbert’s service with this book, I believe, is in demystifying the experience of “enlightenment.” The journey, as my teacher has said, is really a process of subtraction–removing everything that’s not you and revealing everything that is. Of course, the “you” or “I” becomes obsolete. And I could genuinely feel Gilbert’s progress as she became less at the effect of her victim-oriented identity, and began to use the different aspects of her personality to her own–and the world’s–benefit.

Incidentally, I also did some research on Gilbert and found out she wrote the original article for GQ that inspired the movie “Coyote Ugly.” (Article here if you’re interested.) I became fascinated with how fascinated Gilbert is–with people, with places, with how to tell a good story. Her curiosity inspired me. I wanted to nurture my own powers of observation, be less threatened by people, and treat each day in my city of residence as if I am a foreigner visiting for the first time.

At the risk of babbling on forever, I’d like to offer my two cents on the Brazilian affair. Maybe it’s because I’ve consciously chosen to revel in my own singularity for the longest period of revirgination in personal history, but I kept feeling alternately excited and disturbed by her romantic foray. (More echoes of Richard: “That’s just limited little rinky-dink mortal love…You have the capacity to someday love the whole world.”) Gilbert does indeed have great luck (or great strokes of cosmic creativity), and obviously the Brazilian was part of her divine plan. By the end, I was leaning more toward her ending–which does indeed emphasize non-dependent connection–than the more cynical version set forth by my astrology subject. Cuz when it comes right down to it, us Cancers, we’re really diluvian saps at heart.
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Jo rated it:

01/31/08

bookshelves: all-time-favorites-, living-more-naturally-and-organics, spirituality-and-exploration

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Jo by: Barbara Abercrombie through her blog,WritingTime.net in 2006
recommends it for: everyone!

though i heard of this book in 2006 (see who i say recommended it to me), by the time my interest peaked enough to actually read it, i was also very hesitant to do so because of all the "hype" about it! and i why did i go & buy the book? because the waiting list at both our local libraries is over a year long and once i saw liz's first appearance on oprah in october, i couldn't resist the book any longer! (curiosity kiiled the cat as they say!)

usually, this isn't my type of...more

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Fiona added it

04/08/08

This is the review I put on my blog - it's basically a rant about how this bokk made me ashamed to be a woman.

Eat Play Love is the monologue of a neurotic american princess ("Liz") in her mid thirties. The first few chapters background the rest of the book, a confessional that tells how she came to find her 8 year marriage distasteful, realised she wasn't keen on the next 'logical' step which is apparently to fill her expansive apartment with children, and plunges into an impotent de...more

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Martine rated it:

01/24/08

bookshelves: books-i-translated, intelligent-chick-lit, memoirs, modern-fiction, north-american, travel-writing

Read in November, 2006

recommends it for: self-seekers

I'm amazed at how huge this book has become since I translated it. I won't flatter myself and believe that my translation had anything to do with its success (I know Oprah Winfrey had more to do with that), but I will say it's nice to have worked on so hugely successful a book, and not just because my royalty check will be massive this year. It's just nice to have your stuff read.

As for the book itself, it's chick lit. More specifically, it's intelligent, New-York-style chick lit aimed at wo...more I'm amazed at how huge this book has become since I translated it. I won't flatter myself and believe that my translation had anything to do with its success (I know Oprah Winfrey had more to do with that), but I will say it's nice to have worked on so hugely successful a book, and not just because my royalty check will be massive this year. It's just nice to have your stuff read.

As for the book itself, it's chick lit. More specifically, it's intelligent, New-York-style chick lit aimed at women who are looking for themselves and their purpose in life. It's rather like Sex and the City, only with sex substituted with spirituality and with New York substituted with Italy, India and Indonesia. If that description doesn't appeal to you, the book itself probably won't, either.

In a nutshell, Eat, Pray, Love is about the author herself, a well-educated New Yorker who goes through a nasty divorce and decides that the best way to get over it is to go travelling. So she takes a year off from work to visit Italy, India and Indonesia, where, refreshingly, she decides not to do any touristy stuff. Rather than provide the reader with descriptions of the Colosseum or the Taj Mahal, she seeks to find herself against the backdrop of certain things the countries she is visiting happen to be good at: enjoying oneself (Italy), getting in touch with God (India) and finding a kind of balance in one's life (Indonesia). So she spends four months in Italian restaurants stuffing herself and putting on weight, four months in an Indian ashram meditating and trying to find a union with God, and four months in Indonesia falling in love and being happy, and then she writes about it all with great candour and flashes of wit.

Parts of Eat, Pray, Love are excellent. The people Gilbert meets on her way are fairly interesting and her anecdotes about them and transcripts of their dialogues frequently make for entertaining reading. Her love for the places she is visiting shines through loud and clear, and her descriptions of Italian food are so mouth-watering that I felt like hopping on the first plane to Italy after finishing the book, just to get some of the food she describes. Sadly, however, the tone of the book is rather self-indulgent. Gilbert is a likeable, intelligent woman with a pleasant, self-deprecating writing style, but she does frequently come across as self-absorbed. Obviously, a certain amount of self-absorption is only to be expected from an author who states the purpose of her journey as being 'self-discovery', but even so Gilbert sometimes overdoes the navel-gazing (even by New York standards), to the point where you find yourself wishing she would describe the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal instead. And if that weren't bad enough, she also takes great pride in being a very devoted and spiritual person, and goes on and on about her devotion and spirituality. I consider myself a fairly open-minded person when it comes to faith and religion, and I'm actually quite interested in yoga and meditation, but even so I found many of the ashram chapters a bit over the top. They're interesting and fairly well written, but as far as I'm concerned, they go on for too long and don't really fit into the rest of the book. After the Indian chapters, the much freer and chattier Indonesia section feels like a breath of fresh air.

So do I like the book? Yes, I do. I have enough in common with the author to identify with her, and travelling stories will always appeal to me, especially if they're as enthusiastic as these are. I just wish there had been slightly more travelling and slightly less devotion.

I'd give the book three and a half stars if I could, but in the absence of half stars, I'm going to be miserly and round it down to three.
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Julia rated it:

01/31/08

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Julia by: Claudia and my new book club
recommends it for: Amanda, Sarah, Bec, Laura - pretty much everyone except a militant Catholic or Fundamentalist

I became so engrossed with Eat, Love, Pray that I dreaded the dwindling pages left to read because I knew that the book was almost over. This would mean I was done with this great experience, but it was so well written that I still couldn't wait to finish it.

Elizabeth Gilbert is such an easygoing writer. You wish that you had a best friend a lot like her as you continue to read the book and get to know her. This book took familiar topics - family, relationships, and faith - and explored ...more I became so engrossed with Eat, Love, Pray that I dreaded the dwindling pages left to read because I knew that the book was almost over. This would mean I was done with this great experience, but it was so well written that I still couldn't wait to finish it.

Elizabeth Gilbert is such an easygoing writer. You wish that you had a best friend a lot like her as you continue to read the book and get to know her. This book took familiar topics - family, relationships, and faith - and explored them through unexpected angles. She divorces and explains facets of that process and the effects of the divorce process that were particularly illuminating. She then takes on the three simple tasks of eating, praying, and loving in three amazing locations of Italy, India, and Indonesia, respectively.

It's my first bookclub book, and it was chosen out of lots of good contenders to represent one of the best books for discussion afterwards. I am so curious what the other ladies have to say about her Texan yoga friend's definition of a soul mate being mutually exclusive from someone you wanted to live with forever. There are so many fascinating faith facets that I hadn't even considered before that are ripe for discussion.

After failing to find this in a paperback resale shop or the library, I was later grateful to have my own copy. I've never underlined so much in a book before. Re-reading some of my own notes on various underlined passages in this book reveals a lot about the book, also. "Soul mate or therapist? Where does husband fit?; ???; Forgiveness; Don't Agree; More Catholic than Western tradition, etc."

Other underlined parts I found to be so true or so interesting or put in such sunny terms - like describing herself at the beginning of the book as "the planet's most affectionate life-form (something like a cross betgween a golden retriever and a barnacle.) While in India, she wrote that she was "burdened with what the Buddhists call monkey mind - thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl."

The biggest gift I got from the book was feeling like I joined her on her fervent journey step for step and could cheer with her as she finally felt peace and happiness. Her intense dual cravings - spiritual and internal peace - took her through continents of land and emotion. The unfolding of her journey invigorated me and inspired me to extend even a fraction of her fervor and the fervor of her fellow ashramites in my own continuing journey of Christianity. There were several sections that she and I will agree to disagree on, but a surprising number of truths she uncovered for herself also fit very well in a healthy Christian's journey in faith, also.

The cliffhanger ending annoyed me after my voracious devouring of Eat, Pray, Love, but the book directs you to her follow up book that picks up where this one left off. The date concerned me - 2009! My first thought was wondering how I could wait that long. I want it now! Then I realized my time warp - 2009 is one year from now. Somehow it seemed like so much more time than that before I realized that how quickly that date will transition from future to present.

After learning so much about her ex in the book, I'll admit that I was very curious who he is. So are a lot of people, I discovered, but it's one of the mysteries of life now. In my researching, I also discovered that Eat, Love, Pray has been optioned for a movie starring Julia Roberts. I also discovered that Elizabeth Gilbert and Anne LaMott are speaking together on faith at a college in LA in March 2008. That would be so amazing to see them both in person having such an animated conversation. Wish I could be there! I would be there on my vacation this year if I still worked full time with vacations and, well, paychecks...

This book is now added to my personal list of one of the best of the best in my reading experiences. 5 stars.

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(review of isbn 0670034711)

11/04/07

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in July, 2006

I waited, and waited, in ever such impatient patience, until the duct-taped box from my daughter arrived. It was one box among many, but this particular box, she had promised, would have within it her very best and most loved books, and among those -- Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" that I had been longing to read. All of these boxes were arriving at my door because my daughter was taking wing on a journey like none before, and she is, for her 26 years, well traveled even when me...more

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

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