"Eat Pray Love"-Elizabeth Gilbert

Book Title: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Version: Paperback
ISBN: 9780143038412
Published: January 30th, 2007
First Published: 2006
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Non Fiction Memoir
Voice: First
Number of Pages: 334

NOTE: By now I am sure that everyone has heard about the Julia Roberts blockbuster "Eat Pray Love" and/or know about the book that it was based on. With that in mind (and the fact that I am not at 100% capacity) I am skipping the synopsis portion. Plus it's fun to mix it up every now and again. For a quick synopsis for the few that do not know the story head here.


REVIEW: When I read this book I was at a hectic time in my life, I was working three jobs and living in my own apartment for the first time. I was feeling less then on top of things and in need of some sort of guidance. It sounds maybe a little strange but I was looking for something. Anyway I was told by a friend, that was never a big reader, that "Eat Pray Love" was a very good book. I decided to go and pick it up and see what all the fuss was about.

I started reading it and I found what I was looking for. In some ways while reading about the journey that Elizabeth Gilbert took I felt that I was taking the journey as well. I thoroughly enjoyed every part, from her Italian adventure eating rich and delicious food and learning the language to her spiritual journey in India to finding love in Bali. I loved it all and took it all in like a dehydrated woman finally getting water.

Reading about Italy made me want to hop on the next international flight and start my own food tour through the country. Each dish she described made my mouth water. I have always wanted to travel and reading about Ms. Gilbert's journey through Italy was mouth watering and inspiring. I wanted to follow in her footsteps and do nothing but learn the language, see the sights, and eat the food. It seemed so idyllic and refreshing. 

Making a complete 180 turn Ms. Gilbert then heads to India where she checks into an ashram in order to find a center of spirituality. She is looking for some sort of answer (kind of like I was) and hopes to find it through meditation and reflection. Ms. Gilbert had been to India on a previous assignment and had met a medicine man while there for her praying she went to visit him again. She spends a lot of time with him learning about prayer and meditation, talking to him about God and spirituality. At one point the medicine man draws a picture for Elizabeth and to explain he says "To find the balance you want, this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it's like you have 4 legs instead of 2. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way you will know God." 

I found this quote to be very moving. I do not believe in God but I do believe in faith and that looking at the world through our hearts is a really great idea. It was this section, the section of "pray" was especially moving to me. For some reason reading about her struggle to find a spiritual center was something I understood and for some reason it helped to ground me. I can't explain why but it did help in small ways. 

The third section was great as well. Reading about what she did and how she found love was a heart lifting experience. It made me feel as if it were a possibility for me as well. Finding friendship and eventually love in the most unlikely of places is always a good read. The whole book really spoke to me in weird ways to be sure but it did. And the most important thing about it was that it lifted my spirits. I felt a renewed sense of happiness and hope in my life after reading this book.

This is a book that I feel everyone should read. It is a universal story and one I think that everyone can appreciate. If you haven't already I say go out and find a copy of this book and give it a try. I think that it really is a wonderful story and to top it off it is well written and very entertaining. I loved it and would love to share it with everyone. It's just a beautiful book and an incredible journey, one that should be shared and enjoyed by all.

Intriguing Non-Fiction:

"The Kennedy Detail"