Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Number of Pages: 352
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert dives into the struggles that ordinary people face and illustrates how the author sought out balance in life. The book is a chronologically ordered vegetable soup with the ingredients in the form of 108 stories from her journey. Gilbert starts off the book crying on the bathroom floor hearing her own voice say, “go to bed” as a way to cope with her life stresses. The author breaks free from a toxic marriage and embarks on a three-country journey of self-love. She starts her journey in Italy, moves to an Ashram in India to work with a spiritual guru, and finally, ends her journey in Indonesia.
This novel is one that should
be judged by the praise on its cover. Gilbert’s comedic style of writing is one
that can appeal to readers (and food lovers) of all ages. You can feel the
author’s soul and personality radiating off the pages in the first section,
Eat. Elizabeth’s perspective of the world makes you feel like you are in Rome
enjoying gelato and chatting with her friend Luca Spaghetti (no, I am not
joking about that name) yourself.
I found the section set in India, Pray, to be lacking in
some respects; it somewhat lost the character that the first section was packed
full of. However, being a Buddhist and a
person who meditates, it felt like the most raw and relatable section. I love the
way Gilbert wrote about her chat with her inner self while trying to learn how
to meditate. When I was learning to mediate, I had similar hilarious chats with
myself. I found Elizabeth’s reflection on her journey to pursue beliefs in God,
a bit slow. The author snail walks the mile to get to the part of her journey
where she confronts her religious faith. The descriptions of vegetarian food at
the Ashram appealed to my senses, as I am a vegetarian myself. Journeying to
Indonesia, the Love section, was a fascinating read filled with Gilbert’s usual
humor and charm.
For those struggling in their day to day life, or those who
just need a book to escape in, Eat, Pray, Love is the book for you. It’s a
beautiful travel and self-acceptance book sure to delight any reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment