Eat, Pray, Love in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

May 12, 2009 Arlene Allen rated it it was amazing

Such a beautiful spiritual and overall life experience. Even though I would not necessarily like to visit the same places she did, I would certainly like to have the same kind of an epiphany. Beautifully written!

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Mar 05, 2010 Nicole rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010, cigurl

It was really hard for me to decide a rating for this book, because it had some truly great parts and some parts that I really had to struggle to get through. Since this book was written as three parts, I think I will review each part separately, because they really are so different from each other.

Eat: I love eating, so this part practically had me hooked by the title alone, even before she got to Italy. Overall, I really enjoyed this part of the story. Her depression made her seem so relatable It was really hard for me to decide a rating for this book, because it had some truly great parts and some parts that I really had to struggle to get through. Since this book was written as three parts, I think I will review each part separately, because they really are so different from each other.

Eat: I love eating, so this part practically had me hooked by the title alone, even before she got to Italy. Overall, I really enjoyed this part of the story. Her depression made her seem so relatable. Unlike most "characters" you usually read about in books, her life was not a fairy tale... I found that very refreshing. Then when she got to Rome, I literally fell in love with the place, especially the fact that they don't work so hard. I seriously considered (and am still considering) moving there. It must be so nice to live somewhere where everyone is so relaxed, where work isn't the focus of people's lives.

Pray: I really enjoy yoga. I try to take the classes (mainly for exercise) at least twice a week, so it was interesting for me to learn about all the spiritual aspects of yoga as well. It was, however, really hard for me to get through this part, I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was so personal. She talked about her experiences (obviously) in the Ashram and her journey to God, but it seems to me that she lost a lot of her relatability that she displayed so strongly in the first part of the book. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about spirituality, but was glad that she left India.

Love: I was so utterly dreading this part. In my head I imagined, vomit-inducing mushiness and lovey doviness, but this part was so different from that. I feel she regained a lot of the relatability she lost in India. I love all the people she met in Bali, and love hearing about their stories. My favorite character of the whole book: the medicine lady Wayan, especially when she is talking about her "fertility treatments"... I literally laughed out loud at this part.

Overall, I would have to say I'm glad I read this book and it gives me a lot of hope. She was able to pull herself out of depression all by herself, doing what she needed to do, and I really admire that. Ideally, we could all take a trip to Rome, India and Bali whenever we need to get ourselves together, but for most of us, that isn't the case. The great part about this book was that for most of it, she didn't even have to go to exotic cities to figure out, she could have done it herself at home (the exotic cities just make an interesting backdrop to the story), and that is what is so inspiring about this book. I'm not saying life-changing, because I don't feel my life being different from having read it, but it is inspiring to see what you can accomplish if you really need to (and to know that it is possible to live a better life).
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Mar 04, 2009 Ann rated it did not like it

The last third of the book deserves perhaps a two and a half star rating. I found the author extremely self centered and very whiny. When she stops writing about her so-called issues and actually writes about the people and places she encounters, her writing becomes a lot more enjoyable. I actually want to visit Indonesia now! I usually love travel writing and memoirs so I was disappointed in this book (particularly the first third). Sometimes the hype given a book raises my expectations. I don' ...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Madi rated it really liked it

I really liked this book. It had a great message about finding yourself and your security after life as you know it has fallen apart.

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Sep 20, 2008 Roxanne rated it really liked it

I liked this book - I read it while I was traveling and maybe that was the reason. It's a mindset I think. Some of it got a little boring, but mostly it was in the spirit of a woman and her travels which I related to and appreciated - like while I was reading this I had a travel companion. ...more

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