Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOOK:
This book was better than I expected. Yes, it was still pretentious. But it also taught me a lot.
CHARACTERS/DYNAMICS:
The whole book focuses on Liz, who, let’s face it, is going through an existential crisis.
I found Liz’s connections in Italy were too superficial. In India, I found them a little too spiritual. However, her experience in India was the most pleasant. Finally, her relationships in Indonesia were too… fairytale-like. She made Indonesia sound like heaven. As a fellow Aussie, I had strong perceptions of Indonesians and Bali already. Little to say, I was reluctant to find myself relaxing as I vicariously experienced her life.
PLOT:
1. Depression.
2. Divorce.
3. Affair.
4. Depression.
5. Italy.
6. India.
7. Indonesia.
8. Happily… ever… after…?
THEMES:
– Womanhood
– Divorce
– Life
– Self-soothing
– Spirituality
QUOTES:
“I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as well. If you don’t need the medication, I will love you, too. There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death, I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression, and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me.”
THE ENDING:
I’m slightly disappointed Liz didn’t share with us how it truly ended with her new beau, but after a quick Google, I see she was happily married for 12 years, before announcing her love for her best friend, who’s suffering from cancer.
IMPACT:
For a moment I thought to myself, I want to be as strong and powerful as her.
But I don’t want to live at all as she does.
Think I’d be interested in the foods she enjoyed along the way
LikeLiked by 2 people
It was great in the first part— in Italy, but she relates it to how she became anorexic when she was depressed and going through her divorce. Not appetising!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen some good reviews of this book but it doesn’t sound like my kind of read at all.
LikeLiked by 2 people