Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Eat, Pray, Love : BOOK

I just completed "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.
It has been on my list of books to read for quite a while and last week when I was at school I came across it in paperback at Costco and couldn't resist.

The novel is divided into three "books", each book one part of the personal journey of the writer.
The first book is about Italy. I was immediately captured by the writers style and humor and didn't put it down - until I reached book 2. The second part of the journey is to India where the author "pursues devotion" living in an Ashram. It was here that she lost me.

I managed to finish the book but I found the last two books to be tedious and a chore. I was completely uninterested in her personal journey to find the divine, her struggle with meditation and chanting, and her "preachiness". Completely uninterested. I was also offended by the fact that this woman leaves everything in New York to travel overseas to "find herself". I think it was a journey of the elite. It was an unreachable journey for the "everyday" person living in the USA who finds themselves in painful circumstances.

The last part of the writers journey takes her to Bali where she pursues "balance".
I would have thought that this part of the story would have captured my interest again because I am very interested in the concept of balance and how to find it. I didn't find any balance in this book.

The writers style didn't change, and honestly I liked her style of writing. I simply found the book a little to "self aggrandizing" and presumptuous. I thought the author was preachy in parts and that turned me off also. Right after I read this book I read a memoir about a man from Darfur. As I read his account of his life I was further turned off by a woman with money to burn who took months and months to "find herself" and preach to me.

This was not at all what I expected from the book and that made it even more of a disappointment. Unfortunately I won't recommend this book to anyone (not that it needs my endorsement!)

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