Michalyn's review

i couldn't agree with you more. from the start it felt like i was reading letters from a friend.

I was going to read this, but I KNOW the things that irritated you woudl annoy me too. I just saw her on Oprah and well... maybe I'll read it for my own critical purposes

Yes, that really is what it felt like to me. I think if this had just been a humorous book about one woman's adventures and misadventures across the globe I might have enjoyed it alot more. It was because she focused on spirituality (which really isn't her strong point) and took herself so seriously that the book sort of fell flat for me.

LOL well give it a try and see. You may well end up liking it. For me it was hard to get past those things that annoyed me but you may be able to enjoy the writing style and the humor and ignore other not-so-satisfying bits.

You took the words out of my mouth!! She totally annoyed me...how perfect it was to sit in a dirty room in Italy with asparagus and cheese and to think how much more perfect it was than her life back in NY...give it up already...She was trying to sell her story way too much in my opinion

You guys have all totally hit the nail on the head. What great blog fodder her trip and writings would have been. A novel,though? Eh.

I agree with you. I wish the story was more unforced. I guess it was inevitable since she got paid to write the book before she actually went. It was definitely a different read but not that enjoyable in the end.

Exactly! :)

I was often annoyed by the author too. She reminds me of this girl I used to be friends with. We traveled to Jamaica, and the whole time she kept saying, "Everyone's so nice and friendly. Wow they're all so happy." And I kept thinking, "Wow these people are trying really hard to sell me things because they are so incredibly poor," and "I feel so guilty because I don't want to buy any of this stuff and I spent all my money on the plane ticket to get here." This is not to say people in Jamaica aren't nice and friendly, just that I couldn't believe that my friend wasn't at all touched by the obvious struggle to survive going on all around as she traipsed merrily around with her hair in tiny braids.

But I forgive Elizabeth Gilbert because I really enjoyed many parts of the book, and honestly, I wish I could see the world in a more positive light. Sure, she should realize that just because someone smiles doesn't necessarily mean that that person is happy, but if we all approached the world on the premise that everyone is nice and happy, wouldn't it be a better place? Maybe? I guess I don't really think that. Ignoring poverty isn't any kind of solution.

Either way, she's a decent writer and I found the book engaging, funny and occasionally moving. I loved the India part in particular. I would love to go on a spiritual quest (or go to Italy and pig out for that matter) and if someone wants to finance said quest (or overeating) if I write a book, even better.

you have managed to take almost everything i was thinking and feeling while reading this book and put it into the words i am always unable to articulate when someone asks me if i liked the book. thanks for the insightful review.

I totally understand what you mean. I think Gilbert's positive attitude and bubbly personality were what kept me reading even though there was a lot I wasn't comfortable with in the book.

She does seem awfully oblivious though and for someone so intelligent it's hard for me to understand why.

Thank you! I'm so glad you liked my review. I had a lot of of trouble putting into words exactly what I was feeling about this book so I'm glad what I said resonated with you. For a book that's supposed to be so "universal" it's funny how difficult a read it can be.

I think you've convinced me to pick up this book. Thanks!

John,I'm glad my review got you intrigued :). I hope you enjoy it!

I kind of suspected all of this. Thanks for confirming it. I know I'm going to have to read this book, because I'm the reader 'round these parts, and I can't stand when people are all 'have you read THIS book' and I haven't. But I feel like I'll have all these same difficulties. Great review.

I appreciated her brutal honesty. In her book she admits to things we all think but would never say out loud or in a book printed for millions to read.

Thanks, Raych! I think the book is worth reading because so many people are reading it right now and there's lots to discuss about it at least. I think it's one of those books you either love or hate. Gilbert is great writer and she's incredibly funny but if you're the type to want to dig a little bit more beneath the surface, it can be hard to get into it.

Claudine, you're definitely right. I think one of the most enjoyable things about the book is the openness and the honesty. Without that, I don't think I could have ever kept reading Eat, Pray, Love at all.

" I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it.. "

You are so right with this statement!
That's how I felt, too, when reading this book.

Also - I truly had a problem with her language. While I prefer comfortable reading flow to overly difficult many-pages-long descriptions, this book often left me missing a challenge language-wise. It simply was almost too easy, too fast to read - don't you think?

In the end, I only read the Italy part :)

I loved the first part of the book EAT. It was so funny I could not read it aloud to my husband from laughing so hard. Then came the hideously self absorbed part. GET OVER YOURSELF!! Now that she is rich and famous and could live anywhere, why is she living in New Jersey??? I would recommend this book only if you read the first part.

I saw Gilbert on the Oprah show and went out to buy the book. I read it and wondered what all the Hype was ?! I was not trying to judge Gilbert's experiences or her writing but there was a sever let down in the end... Not because the ending fell short, although it did; but because you were left realizing the whole book was a self-absorbed journal and the author felt very little if any responsibility to "enlighten" the reader. Actually, it makes me think... maybe, I should publish & sell my journals!

I read this book and my only thoughts were that I thought she acted liked a spoiled child. How many women have so much less and just have to deal with the situation. It was a good story, but I would not recommend it to anyone.

Great review. When you wrote:

"She seemed almost relieved that the non-duality of existence would ensure that one would not necessarily be punished by the universe for selfish deeds. I felt like Gilbert embraced that aspect of the philosophy without realizing the equal importance those cultures place on the balancing notions of reciprocity, duty, of being social beings in the truest sense (often taking it to the other negative extreme)"

you described something that I've been thinking about a lot lately but hadn't yet managed to articulate so well.

When Gilbert spoke in my town, a town full of people who have embraced the same kind of spiritual quest that she herself has, she said she was relieved to know that no one was likely to ask her if going on a spiritual quest was a self-indulgent thing to do.

Most people I've met who are immersed in any kind of New Age-New Eastern spiritual path have been taught that focusing on themselves and working to raise their own consciousness is, in fact, not a selfish act but something done for the greater good of the entire world. I think the idea is that the more enlightened people there are on the planet, the better life will be for everyone.

Your comment made me realize that a big part of the problem with this idea is that America is such an individualistic culture that that abstract idea rarely has anything to ground itself in. Combine that with the fact that many of these spiritual teachings get warped into a form of judgement against those not walking the path with you and you have the makings of a disaster.

I enjoyed Gilbert's book a great deal because I found her engaging and thought she brought a great sense of humor to a subject which is often taken MUCH too seriously. But I know enough about the scandals behind her chosen guru and the general messed up dynamics usually found in a guru-devotion environment not to be concerned about the impact such a widely popular book will have on peoples' interest in that sort of guru path. So thanks for writing such an insightful and useful review!

I think it's interesting that everyone is complaining about Gilbert being self-absorbed. Of course she's self-absorbed. She's supposed to be. She wrote a memoir. Isn't that what memoirs are? It would be naive to pick up a memoir and expect it to be about how to end poverty or how to raise awareness about social injustices. She's writing a memoir about fumbling through a rough point in her life and how she comes out the other side. It's a journey of self-discovery. Gilbert never claims it's anything more. When I pick up a memoir, I never expect it to be anything less than self-absorbed.

I just finished the book and am tempted to start all over again immediately.

As a writer, I tend to fall in love with books (or not) initially because of the quality of the writing, and Gilbert delighted me on every page (in spite of a couple of jarring grammar gaffes).

And I didn't get the feeling that she's shallow--at least not any more shallow than the rest of us. I think she just has no internal censor that tells her, "This is way too personal for you to put in print for the entire universe to see." Stuff that I might be ashamed to write about--my own shallowness and insensitivity and failures--she isn't.

I found dozens of paths to enlightenment in this book.