Question #1: First Impressions

[[deleted user]]

Elizabeth Gilbert is best known for her bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. If you are new to Gilbert’s work, what were your first impressions? If you have read Gilbert’s work before, how does Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear compare?

[Sylvia]

This is my third Gilbert book, after Eat, Pray, Love, and Committed. I find her an 'acquired' taste. I start not fully appreciative, and eventually I get interested, even engaged! It could be the timing in my life when I read her. Hard to say. I read BIG MAGIC from the one-week, fast- loan shelf. Whew! And I took plenty of notes! Overall, I liked it a lot, and found much philosophically relatable.

[Ashley]

I'm not the biggest Elizabeth Gilbert fan, but I'm flying through this one so far. I like what she has to say, but not necessarily the way she says it. Her writing voice, to me, sounds like it's coming from atop a particularly tall horse. But the content and the messages behind it are captivating enough to keep me engaged and taking positive ideas from it.

[Edward]

Ashley I may be having a similar issue with the way she delivers her message. It is the type of thinking that probably developed from many people telling her she is a genius and she is starting to believe it!

So far the book hasn't said anything that you couldn't get from a TED talk she gave called "Your elusive creative genius."

I never read Eat Pray Love but fell asleep trying to watch the movie with my understanding wife!

[Kate]

I've never read an Elizabeth Gilbert book before so it was interesting to hear her ideas on creativity since she's a writer who doesn't write books that I'd pick up to read on my own. She does keep you reading, though. Very informal even though it does read a bit like a transcript from a lecture at points.

[Emily]

I read Eat Pray Love a number of years ago, and saw the film, and didn't enjoy either one very much; however, leading up to the publication of Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert released a limited podcast where she discussed people's creative projects with them (often featuring high-profile friend-guests who had advice). I LOVED the podcast, which follows a structure similar to the structure of the book.

I had long considered myself 'uncreative' and 'uncrafty,' and have a history of avoiding things that I'm not particularly good at. I found that Big Magic (both podcast and book) helped me to soothe my anxieties about creativity and just give things a try. The book was imperfect, but I felt that it did provide me a bit of a gift.

[Allison]

Edward wrote: "Ashley I may be having a similar issue with the way she delivers her message. It is the type of thinking that probably developed from many people telling her she is a genius and she is starting to ..."

Edward, I'm looking up that Elusive creative genius TED talk tonight! :) I have never read Elizabeth Gilbert, but I did try to watch Eat, pray, love the film -- apart from the Javier Bardem parts, I pretty much fell asleep. :(

I am a highly-creative person (one of my greatest passions in life), and I expect I will have fun reading this one! You've all got me so curious now...

[Sylvia]

Perhaps we need to separate the message from the messenger. I see quite a few respondents here are not as comfortable with Gilbert as the ideas she brings. I thought it was just me! I see I am among more popular opinion, after all. :))

[Allison]

Sylvia wrote: "Perhaps we need to separate the message from the messenger. I see quite a few respondents here are not as comfortable with Gilbert as the ideas she brings. I thought it was just me! I see I am amon..."

Yes, Sylvia! I must try to go into this with an open mind. I very much liked your earlier comment about Gilbert's writing being an acquired taste, and I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say about creativity. As an aside, I feel as if I'm seeing a lot of books coming out lately on this subject! Has anyone else noticed this?

[Lena]

Sylvia wrote: "Perhaps we need to separate the message from the messenger. I see quite a few respondents here are not as comfortable with Gilbert as the ideas she brings. I thought it was just me! I see I am amon..."
I wish I could do that, separate the messenger from the message, but Gilbert doesn't allow the reader to do so...I feel like I'm reading, 'enough about me, let's talk about me now'.

[Sylvia]

Haha-funny-but I guess Gilbert can only speak from her own perspective & experience -what else is there to make her the creativity 'guru'? At times I got the impression that she was gratuitous, anything to churn out the next book-then I felt there were some valid points regardless of her original alleged intentions-and I thought to 'give her a break' as in the world of academia where the pressure is on to publish the next piece of 'research '. That's not my life but one of my brothers is a prof & they have to keep it moving. :))

[Allison]

This conversational style of writing, I often see in diet books. It's meant to be motivational of course. Was this her style in Eat, pray, love? I can see what everyone here is saying: she definitely comes across as breezily confident and pretty cheeky. I usually find this kind of writing engages me at first, but I also have trouble finishing a motivational book. I have no idea why. Maybe I get bored of the bantering manner and repetition...OR maybe I don't like it when people tell me what I should do. I'll have to think about this some more...

[Susan]

I agree with what Allison said about being engaged at first and then having trouble finishing. I much prefer a self-help book to be backed up by research studies and findings. The parts of Big Magic that I enjoyed the most so far are the parts where she talked about Ann Patchett and Tom Waits - two of my favorite writers/musicians. I think the book would be stronger with more anecdotal evidence from others. So I think there is too much "about me," as Sylvia says, although it's hard to argue with Gilbert's success. And often I think she comes across as quite humble, and quite disbelieving of the success she's had.

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "I agree with what Allison said about being engaged at first and then having trouble finishing. I much prefer a self-help book to be backed up by research studies and findings. The parts of Big Magi..."

She is definitely a bit self-deprecating as well. I quality which I usually really like in a person.

However, after listening to her TED talk on creativity I cannot help but compare it to Ken Robinson's (on how schools kill creativity), whose message delivery, to me, is a heck of a lot more brilliant, insightful and captivating: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinso...

[Susan]

Sylvia - your line 'enough about me, let's talk about me now' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the book. Perhaps inspiration found you when I wasn't paying attention. In any case, this is one of the most self-absorbed books I have read in a long time. I value creativity and appreciate that you have to be open, be persistent, and trust in yourself. Confession: only read half the book and decided that life is too short to waste my reading time on something that annoyed me page after page.

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "Sylvia - your line 'enough about me, let's talk about me now' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the book. Perhaps inspiration found you when I wasn't paying attention. In any case, this is o..."

Susan, I've had that feeling many times: that life is too short and time is too valuable to waste reading something that rubs me the wrong way for whatever reason. So, I hear you. Please follow my link to Ken Robinson's TED talk above and let me know what you think of his way of self-expression on the subject of creativity. It's a slightly different twist, what with the school component...but, it might be more to your liking.

[Susan]

Susan wrote: "Sylvia - your line 'enough about me, let's talk about me now' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the book. Perhaps inspiration found you when I wasn't paying attention. In any case, this is o..."
I also agree that you shouldn't feel obligated to finish a book; time is too precious and there are too many other books to read! I do hope you'll check in on us if you can later in the month - we're always open to opinions and experiences about the topic at hand even if you haven't read the book.

[Sylvia]

Hey Guys,
Just to clarify-the 'enough about me ' yadda is erroneously attributed to me -I believe it was Lena's amusing comment-I was just chuckling in agreement.

Perhaps it is nasty to say, but I think 'personality ' is what is missing from Gilbert's book. I rated it a 3 with my Goodreads review-some points were good but delivered in a yawning way. I think Emily & Allison mentioned this difficulty in reading it.
I am almost ready to publish a hybrid memoir/self-help book myself and my sole criteria is: is it BORING? It better not be!!

[Susan]

Sylvia wrote: "Hey Guys,
Just to clarify-the 'enough about me ' yadda is erroneously attributed to me -I believe it was Lena's amusing comment-I was just chuckling in agreement.

Perhaps it is nasty to say, but I..."

Sorry Sylvia (and Lena).

[Susan]

Allison wrote: "Susan wrote: "Sylvia - your line 'enough about me, let's talk about me now' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the book. Perhaps inspiration found you when I wasn't paying attention. In any c..."

Thank you for suggesting I view that TED talk ... great insight (and British humour). His view on the school's hierarchy of subject importance and how it stifles true creativity by not rewarding it in children and hence snuffing it out resonates with me. I graduated with a PhD in Science and then left the research role to enter Marketing / Communications and Public Affairs. I am sure that the school system cajoled me into science because i am good at math. While science can be creative, what I am doing now is much more aligned with how I view creativity.

[Susan]

Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: "Sylvia - your line 'enough about me, let's talk about me now' perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the book. Perhaps inspiration found you when I wasn't paying attention. In any c..."

No worries Susan ... lack of reading a book has never stopped me from having an opinion on its topic.

[Maureen]

Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: " No worries Susan ... lack of reading a book has never stopped me from having an opinion on its topic.
"

Loved this! lol

[Allison]

Maureen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: " No worries Susan ... lack of reading a book has never stopped me from having an opinion on its topic.
"

Loved this! lol"

I know, right?! :) Made me smile too.

[Susan]

Perhaps we can all read How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. Available in OPL's collection!

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "Perhaps we can all read How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. Available in OPL's collection!"

Haha! Placing a hold on that right now!

[Maureen]

You beat me to it, Allison! Wish I'd known about this one in university when I sat bleary-eyed, near brain dead, with a half-read book that was supposed to be read half-an-hour ago! :-)

[Lena]

Perfect! I needed this way back when I joined my first book club. I think I'll get the audiobook. ;)

[Rocio]

I see that this book is generating lots of discussion. It is my first time reading this author and I agree with many of the opinions expressed here. The self help genre is the only type of book that I can put down half way without feeling guilty or curious. In my view, frequently these books reveal the message in the first part and it feels like they are feeling space to make it a little longer. I got the book from the Fast Lane and I read half of it, partly because I was reading two other books, but mainly (and the real reason) because I am a very slow reader. Which makes me the first candidate for the book that Susan suggested, I will put a hold on it and I will try to finish it.
Now about the book, I find it a bit repetitive. I like the representation of the ideas floating around looking for a sponsor or host. It gives me some motivation to pursue my ideas some more because I have had many ideas that I let "expire" or that I see later being carried on by others.

[Susan]

Rocio wrote: "I see that this book is generating lots of discussion. It is my first time reading this author and I agree with many of the opinions expressed here. The self help genre is the only type of book tha..."
Rocio, I know what you mean about seeing others carry on with ideas you have had. I have been going to the One-of-a-Kind show for many years: pre-dating the advance of online shopping. I thought we should have a way of being able to shop from those vendors throughout the year, and couldn't something be done online? Well, wouldn't you know that etsy is now one of the most popular sites on the internet? I never could have imagined the size of etsy, but I sure imagined the possibility.

[Sylvia]

It's exciting and frustrating at the same time. Ideas come and you may not have the physical or financial means to act on them at the time.

It makes me think when I began writing my 'big' book, I found new people with fresh ideas ( on TED starting out) and since some years have passed, now these people are Oprah darlings. Darn! It took me so long to write the book ! :) But at least I'm hoping the basic points are universal.

Good ideas stick around for a while-so I'm crossing my fingers:))

I still find inspiration and creativity are twinned and fortunate are those who get to experience them often. It's a wonderful place to be!

[Susan]

Sylvia wrote: "It's exciting and frustrating at the same time. Ideas come and you may not have the physical or financial means to act on them at the time.

It makes me think when I began writing my 'big' book, I ..."
I'm looking forward to reading that book, Sylvia!

[Sylvia]

My humble thank you, Susan. I was beginning to think that Gilbert seeped into me because I can't stop making it 'about me' all of a sudden through these discussions ...but truthfully, authors are like that -it's their job to market/promote their books. I hope mine will be ready late summer & I would be honoured for you to read it. Thanks again & forgive the shameless promotions.

[Nancy]

Somehow I'd managed to elude Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (though not on purpose). So, reading Big Magic I was truly coming in as a newbie to this writer. Well-timed, as I was looking to get into more creative writing in my daily life. I downloaded the audiobook and am listening to it a second time as I make notes. Definitely a logical approach to creativity.

[Susan]

NancyPhoenix2015 wrote: "Somehow I'd managed to elude Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (though not on purpose). So, reading Big Magic I was truly coming in as a newbie to this writer. Well-timed, as I was looking to get..."
So glad you're finding the book helpful as writer, Nancy, and thanks for joining our discussion.

[Nancy]

Thank you, Susan. It's wonderful reading other peoples' comments as it gives me perspectives I hadn't perhaps thought of.