Review: Eat, Pray, Love

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.