Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love
Elizabeth Gilbert

I did not choose this book voluntarily, it was forced upon me by my bookclub. The girl who recommended it did so knowing I’d object to it.A messy divorce followed immediately by a breakdown of a short yet intense love affair, caused a spiral in Liz Gilbert that ended in a meltdown. In order to recover she decides to go abroad for a year spending up to four months in three different countries: Italy (purely to indulge in pleasure), India (to live in a small Ashram devoting herself to reaching divinity) and finally Bali (to live close to an old medicine man who once read her palm). So far a clichéd formulae guaranteed to get her on Oprah – Oh wait Liz Gilbert was on Oprah!
I really thought it was going to be a torturous read with enough spiritual mumbo jumbo to irritate my skeptical mind. My irritation was further inflamed when I found out there was going to be a month’s wait at my local library to get a copy. Thankfully they had the audio Cds, unabridged and read by the author. From that day on I listened to Liz read me her story, one single prayer bead at a time. She climbed into the passenger seat every morning for our long drive to work and waited patiently for me to return in the evening picking up where she left off. She tells her story with clarity and stripped-bare honesty and happily, repeated passages I did not understand. She is gracious and respectful towards the countries and the people who are hosting her; thankful for the part each one of them plays in her long healing process. In each country, she takes care in sharing their folklore, myths and customs, revealing to her readers the heartbeat that is unique to each country.
I love this book. I am touched by Gilbert’s sincerity and willingness to bare all. Even though our life experiences are vastly different, I find myself agreeing and identifying with many things Gilbert writes about. My one criticism was with how much bigger simple experiences were described. I have travelled through both Italy and Bali and never thought the food or the locals were as amazing as they were in this book. I guess that’s why I love books, it allows me an entry into another person’s world, lets me walk in their shoes and see their world through their paradigm. I am still going to be skeptical about books trumpeted by Oprah, but in this case I am willing to admit I made a mistake.