Michalyn's review

Michalyn's review

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

205347 Michalyn's review
rating: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
bookshelves: 2008, non-fiction

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 just so entertaining that you keep telling yourself you'll leave in the next minute--and so you end up sticking through the whole thing.

<----- WARNING: LOOONG REVIEW AHEAD :) ------->

I didn't hate Eat, Pray, Love, but it left me really unsatisfied. When I first started reading the book, I couldn't help rolling my eyes and thinking "Here we go, another tale of a precious, privileged woman who is unsatisfied with her life." I stuck with it though and was...more

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comments (showing 1-25 of 43)

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message 1: by erica
01/30/2008 06:06AM

56882 i couldn't agree with you more. from the start it felt like i was reading letters from a friend.

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message 2: by Moonmidwife
01/30/2008 05:48PM

392801 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

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message 3: by Michalyn
01/31/2008 07:40AM

205347 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.

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message 4: by Michalyn
01/31/2008 07:42AM

205347 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.

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message 5: by Elizabeth
02/01/2008 06:29AM

863183 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

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message 6: by Suze
02/11/2008 06:01PM

447586 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.

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message 7: by Michalyn
02/15/2008 02:33PM

205347 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.

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message 8: by Michalyn
02/15/2008 02:33PM

205347 Exactly! :)

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message 9: by Alice
02/28/2008 06:24AM

921077 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.

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message 10: by Julie
03/03/2008 09:11AM

815162 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.

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message 11: by Michalyn
03/04/2008 05:24PM

205347 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.

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message 12: by Michalyn
03/04/2008 05:26PM

205347 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.

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message 13: by John
03/11/2008 10:58PM

Nophoto-m-25x33 I think you've convinced me to pick up this book. Thanks!

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message 14: by Michalyn
03/16/2008 09:14AM

205347 John,I'm glad my review got you intrigued :). I hope you enjoy it!

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message 15: by Raych
03/26/2008 07:56AM

544348 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.

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message 16: by Claudine
03/28/2008 06:33AM

1031007 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.

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message 17: by Michalyn
03/28/2008 08:24AM

205347 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.

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message 18: by Michalyn
03/28/2008 08:25AM

205347 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.

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message 19: by Pinkbullets
04/15/2008 01:19AM

161190
" 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 :)

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message 20: by Judi
04/23/2008 08:23PM

147888 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.

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message 21: by Angela
04/24/2008 05:25AM

Nophoto-f-25x33 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!

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message 22: by Patricia
04/24/2008 07:42AM

Nophoto-f-25x33
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.

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message 23: by Lena (last edited 04/24/2008 08:28AM)
04/24/2008 08:27AM

220791 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!

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message 24: by Sarah
04/24/2008 11:25AM

Nophoto-f-25x33 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.

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message 25: by Jane
04/24/2008 02:45PM

1013762 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.

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