My Review (Finally!) On The Book "Eat, Pray, Love"

I felt the need to eat and drink every time I read this book.  
It helped me get into character, LOL. :)


Wow, Amazing and Breathtaking!  That is the best way I can describe this wonderful book "Eat, Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I loved it.  I really, really did. 

I hope I can convey all my thoughts on this incredible novel in this simple, little blog post.  My writing does not compare to Gilbert's prose and storytelling abilities.  Still, I will try to sum up my feelings for you here in addition to offering some insights and interesting points about the book (without spoiling it) as well.

Section One - Italy (Eat):

Hearing Liz's experiences in Rome brought back memories for me since I traveled there with Kirk (and his father and stepmother) in 2003.  Just like the author describes, I was not much interested in the facts, statistics or deep-rooted history of the buildings, churches and paintings I saw.  I am like Liz in the fact that I loved it when our tour guide told us a story about what we were seeing, something along the lines of "This artist painted this for his lover Francesca whom he could not be with in public" RATHER THAN, "This was painted in the 18th century and uses this ____ style of brush stroke...." 

Thankfully I cannot relate to Liz's divorce, her tormented love affair with David or her suicidal thoughts.  I can, however relate to some of the turning 30 life crises she felt.  That's when I began this blog -- just a few months after turning the big 3-0.  Like Gilbert, I was questioning a lot of things in my life.  (Still do)  I became consumed with the "what is life? and what does it all mean?" mindset.  Therefore, I enjoyed hearing about her experiences, even the painful ones when she felt completely alone and lost.

I love how much Liz pokes fun at herself thoughout the novel.  She never writes in a way that you completely feel sorry for her.  Just when you start to, she makes you laugh.  And I mean, laugh out loud.

I can see why Liz wanted to go to Italy and why she's so fascinated with learning to speak Italian.  It truly is a romantic, beautiful language.  For example, the word "cute" in American English is pronounced "carina" (coh-ree-nah).  Isn't that gorgeous?  I have been called "cute" by more than a dozen people in my life.  And frankly, I always hated that term.  But if someone said, "Mandy, you're carina," then I think I'd absolutely melt in the person's arms of who uttered those words to me.   I love how much of the language Liz translates and shares with us, especially the experience when she feels like she has finally crossed over ("attraversiamo") into feeling as much of a native in Italy as possible. 

Throughout the four months of eating in Italty and learning to have a good time, Liz realizes how much Americans do NOT stop to enjoy themselves in the way that Italians do.  I wholeheartedly agree with this.  Europeans and Latin Americans move at a slower pace.  They take longer vacations.  They don't live for their work; they work in order to live.   Let's face it, like Liz and her Italian friends observe, "Americans just work too hard." 

What Liz (and the reader) learns from her travels in Italy is to add more pleasure and enjoyment into life.  Liz gained twenty three pounds while she lived in and around Rome for four months.  Besides putting on actual pounds, she learned to put on real weight in her world-- both physical and mental depths --  making her life more meaningful and worth experiencing. 


Section Two - India (Pray):

After spending four months of mostly pure pleasure in Italy, Liz moves onto a completely different way of life in India.   There she lives in an Ashram where she practices meditation for 12+ hours a day.  In addition, she scrubs the temple floors on her knees for several hours.  You have to admire her diligence!!   Especially when she sat there still for two hours letting mosquitoes eat away at her skin so that she could pray and prove the strength of her devotion. 

This section of the book is definitely the heaviest subject matter throughout the novel.  I know a few people who didn't like this part of her story.  I enjoyed it though.  Liz is very open about her beliefs and her thoughts on God (divine spirit, creator, maker) but she never comes across as being preachy.  In fact she encourages others to "cherry pick" things from religion, spirits, traditions or whatever in order to make you feel closer to enlightenment.  In other words, she's not trying to convert you to her ways and what she practices.  She encourages you to find your own way which I find most admirable. 

One of things I plan to do (like Liz did), is instead of choosing to pray (meditate, or whatever you call it) out loud (and feel silly), I wisht to write down my questions and thoughts into a notebook.  Whenever I want to get something off my chest or ask for help in some way, I want to write it down.  That is how Liz started her journey.  It makes sense to me.  She's a writer.  I'm a writer.  Why not write out my 'prayers' since I feel awkward talking to empty space and the air surrounding me?  So I hope to start doing this very soon.  I think it will be be good for me in so many ways.

I wish I had Liz's confidence when it comes to knowing for sure that there is a divine spirit and other worldly presence.  I haven't experienced what she has.  I don't know with certain affirmation that He/She/It does exist in the way that she describes her "cross over" moments.  For instance, she was up on the tower of the Ashram alone and felt she was lifted above earth, so to speak.  I don't doubt her tale, even though it is hard for me to completely understand or believe her.  There are some things, I believe, that you just have to experience for yourself.

I will say this though -- while I was reading about her "divine intervention" moments, my 2.5 year old daughter Vivian kept coming up to me and hugging me, giving me the biggest smiles.  Over and over again like nothing I've seen her do before.  She was even trying to cover me up with a blanket as I was lying on the couch reading.  Then for whatever reason, I stopped mid-sentence and looked at her for a long time....  As crazy as it sounds, I wondered if I was experiencing a "divine moment" right then and there -- my own little loving Diva, the only creature who seems to love me without any question or hesitation. She loved me since the moment she arrived on this earth.  Perhaps I've been overlooking obvious signs of divinity for a long time now??  The loving nature of my daughter's eyes (when she's not being a royal pain) is the closest to a 'heaven' I've ever experienced.

So I put the book away for a few minutes and just cried.  I hugged my little girl so tightly.  Now let me be clear.... I don't think you have to be a mom or a parent to feel this kind of moment..... I only know that since I became a mother, I've never felt so wounded, so open and so loved all at the same time.  My life is not just my own anymore but it does somehow have a greater purpose or meaning (depth) to it.  And maybe.... just maybe.... this is slowly leading me to that higher power that Liz describes in her book.  Or maybe I'm just insane.  That is probably true too. 

But I then began to wonder if maybe God (Creator, or whatever if it does exist?) is just like my own child in many ways.... That.... 
--He/She/It just wants my attention and my love and I don't always see it?
--He/She/Whatever becomes frustrated when I don't fully believe in the powers and acknowledge them?
--Is happiest when I am happy too?
--Just wants to be with me and love me? 

I know this is getting pretty deep.... but these were the questions that I wrote down as I read the ending of part two in Liz's book.  I don't have the answers to these questions yet but I did want to share my truthful experience as I covered the chapters in this book.  Maybe the above moments was my way of "crossing over" perhaps.... ???

I loved the final poems that Liz wrote on her India experiences.  I also adored the images of her kissing trees and frolicking around in a holy temple.  Who doesn't want to be a hippie at heart?  At peace, feeling love and feeling contentment all on its own (without any hallucinogenic drugs, that is).


Section Three - Indonesia (Love):

After finding pleasure in Italy and spirtual enlightenment in India, Liz hopes to find balance between the two in Indonesia.  She didn't, however, expect to find love.  Liz had vowed to have a year of celibacy while traveling but she breaks that vow after she meets her future (second) husband Felipe. 

Before she meets her lover, she first spends her time as a secretary to a Balinese medicine man, watching him spend hours trying to heal both local and visiting travelers.  She was drawn to this man two years prior when she traveled to Bali for a yoga writing assignment.  He (Ketut) read her palm and predicted her future, asking her to come back to see him again.  Of course she did. 

From him and the Balinese people, Liz learns the notion of balance and placement in the world.  The people of Bali are obsessed with direction, always asking each other, "Where are you coming from?"  "Where are you going?" and "Are you married?"  Everything and everyone has a place and an order -- that is how the natives remain at constant balance and peace -- by physical placement and direction. 

Liz befriends another divorced woman who is a local doctor, Wayan.  She and her daughter are in desparate need of a permanet home and some stability in their lives.  Finally Liz sees the opportunity to use her resources and her 'love' to help this lady buy a home and build a real family.  With the help of friends across the globe, Liz raises money to make this woman's far-away dreams come true.   She sums it up nicely when she says, "When you set out in the world to help yourself, you inevitably end up helping "Tutti" which is Wayan's daughter but literally translates to the word "everybody."  :-) 

The stories and conversations shared between Wayan and Liz are HILARIOUS!  Simply hilarious!  I won't reveal them here except only to say I laughed very hard at the descriptions of putting the local taxi drivers to work and also stroking the bananas for healing purposes.  And I'll just leave it at that until you read it for yourself!!  :-) 

Meanwhile Liz begins falling for divorced Brazilian Felipe, a 52-year old business man who has everything to give to her now strong-spirited 35-year old self.  They take it slow in the beginning but then the passion overwhelms them.  For the first time in a long time, Liz feels that someone can take of her (not that she needs it, but she wants it) and that she can offer the same in return. 

I'll now close here with probably my most favorite quote in the entire book, the one that really had me thinking....


"...People universally think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough.  But that's not how happiness works.  Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have to participate relentlessly in the manfestitations of your own blessings.  And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it...." 


In my humble opinion, that is the overall message of the book.  And that is the goal of my life -- to keep working toward my own happiness.  Because I CAN control my joy.  I CAN control my attitude and my outlook.  And to be most honest with you (and myself), I WANT my life to be filled with pleasure, with enlightenment and with love.