Eat Pray Love
When I first saw Eat Pray Love's colorful cover facing me in the entrance of Barnes and Noble I steered right towards the magazines and didn't give it a second thought. I'm not the bestseller kind of reader. But the second time I saw the book, in the entrance of the university library, I decided to give it a peek, and read the following:"By the time she turned thirty, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern, educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want--a husband, a house in the country, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love and the complete eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be."
I immediately returned it to the shelf it belonged to. What young woman experiencing the best times of her life wants to read a book about a frumpy gal’s mid-life crisis? And to the guys in the class, I’m assuming the thought, “What guy wants to read about some 30-something chic, or any chic for the matter?” If any of the guys had seen this book, they would have dropped it immediately and ran for "graphic novel" section.
I saw this book for the third time when it was given to my sister for her thirtieth birthday, to assuage the fact that she is 30 and still childless and clueless, (which did not make the book any more appealing to me.) In fact, when I saw her reading it I merely said, "Ha ha, you're thirty!" and let her slam her door in my face, as she went off to read it, sulking in her bed. But when she left the book behind, I decided to give it a chance...and I didn't put it back down until I was finished. I still haven't apologized to my sister, though.
Eat. As the introduction tells us, Elizabeth decides that she is not happy with anything in her life, so she decides to pick up and go to Italy and devour everything Italian, from the language, to the food, to the men. But she ends up breaking down in one of the most beautiful places in the world, surrounded by beautiful people, eating delicious food, and getting drunk daily from the best wines in the world...what gives? Elizabeth is well aware of the incongruency, and shows the reader this with self-deprecating humor on almost every page. What I thought would be some mopey tale turns out to be as funny as an episode of The Office. Elizabeth is smart and witty, albeit a bit eccentric, which is actually refreshing. She embraces the death of her twenties and her old life with the attitude of a child by breaking down into fits; but eventually she gets back on her feet while laughing at her own pettiness.
Pray. Elizabeth then goes to India, to hang out with spiritual gurus and get in touch with her inner yogi. We see Elizabeth go from a wild, flighty, horny drunkard in Italy, to a peaceful, celibate mute in India. She goes there merely for the purpose of learning how to meditate, so you’d think this part of the book would be boring, but surprisingly, it’s where things really get started. We see through her how hard it is to maintain inner peace and to have faith in yourself and the world around you. Suddenly, her mid-life crisis turns into the crises that every searching human being suffers through every day. Being at peace with yourself is actually hard work! It’s nice to see how this chapter contrasts with the previous one, seeing how one must balance pleasure (drink, leisure, and sex) and serious spiritual work.
Love. It’s the perfect ending to her trying journey, to fall in love, isn't it? Which she may or may not do. But I can tell you this: she goes to Indonesia, the last stop of places starting with the letter "I." Why she chose this methodology of traveling is a bit unclear, but if anything, it gives you a sense of her off-beat sense of humor. In this last chapter, Elizabeth finds enormous amounts of treasures, monetary or not, hidden away in a little desolate village in Bali, making for quite a surprisingly ending, and a fitting conclusion to her mid-life crisis.
In Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert takes us through three very interesting localities, introducing you to out-there characters that make you laugh and make you scratch your head, all while Elizabeth discovers what the world has to offer her, and her the world. It’s an inspirational book that also keeps you chuckling to yourself the entire way. I would recommend this book to anyone of any gender, age, or religion. It’s not reserved only for the pop culture isle, nor for only thirty-something’s who are on the edge. It’s simply for any person who enjoys some good food, some time to themselves, and a lot of love.
I immediately returned it to the shelf it belonged to. What young woman experiencing the best times of her life wants to read a book about a frumpy gal’s mid-life crisis? And to the guys in the class, I’m assuming the thought, “What guy wants to read about some 30-something chic, or any chic for the matter?” If any of the guys had seen this book, they would have dropped it immediately and ran for "graphic novel" section.
I saw this book for the third time when it was given to my sister for her thirtieth birthday, to assuage the fact that she is 30 and still childless and clueless, (which did not make the book any more appealing to me.) In fact, when I saw her reading it I merely said, "Ha ha, you're thirty!" and let her slam her door in my face, as she went off to read it, sulking in her bed. But when she left the book behind, I decided to give it a chance...and I didn't put it back down until I was finished. I still haven't apologized to my sister, though.
Eat. As the introduction tells us, Elizabeth decides that she is not happy with anything in her life, so she decides to pick up and go to Italy and devour everything Italian, from the language, to the food, to the men. But she ends up breaking down in one of the most beautiful places in the world, surrounded by beautiful people, eating delicious food, and getting drunk daily from the best wines in the world...what gives? Elizabeth is well aware of the incongruency, and shows the reader this with self-deprecating humor on almost every page. What I thought would be some mopey tale turns out to be as funny as an episode of The Office. Elizabeth is smart and witty, albeit a bit eccentric, which is actually refreshing. She embraces the death of her twenties and her old life with the attitude of a child by breaking down into fits; but eventually she gets back on her feet while laughing at her own pettiness.
Pray. Elizabeth then goes to India, to hang out with spiritual gurus and get in touch with her inner yogi. We see Elizabeth go from a wild, flighty, horny drunkard in Italy, to a peaceful, celibate mute in India. She goes there merely for the purpose of learning how to meditate, so you’d think this part of the book would be boring, but surprisingly, it’s where things really get started. We see through her how hard it is to maintain inner peace and to have faith in yourself and the world around you. Suddenly, her mid-life crisis turns into the crises that every searching human being suffers through every day. Being at peace with yourself is actually hard work! It’s nice to see how this chapter contrasts with the previous one, seeing how one must balance pleasure (drink, leisure, and sex) and serious spiritual work.
Love. It’s the perfect ending to her trying journey, to fall in love, isn't it? Which she may or may not do. But I can tell you this: she goes to Indonesia, the last stop of places starting with the letter "I." Why she chose this methodology of traveling is a bit unclear, but if anything, it gives you a sense of her off-beat sense of humor. In this last chapter, Elizabeth finds enormous amounts of treasures, monetary or not, hidden away in a little desolate village in Bali, making for quite a surprisingly ending, and a fitting conclusion to her mid-life crisis.
In Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert takes us through three very interesting localities, introducing you to out-there characters that make you laugh and make you scratch your head, all while Elizabeth discovers what the world has to offer her, and her the world. It’s an inspirational book that also keeps you chuckling to yourself the entire way. I would recommend this book to anyone of any gender, age, or religion. It’s not reserved only for the pop culture isle, nor for only thirty-something’s who are on the edge. It’s simply for any person who enjoys some good food, some time to themselves, and a lot of love.
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