Eat Pray Love

sorry haters I've been Gilbertpilled

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-209-eat-pray-love/

PS if you've only seen the movie and are judging the book by the movie: look, I'm not one to say that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie but in this case the book is wayyyyyyyy better

Great read!
The story, atleast the starting part (Elizabeth's existential crisis) is very relatable (No, im not married but adjusting with what the society wants). That keeps me hooked. I enjoy her experiences of pleasure in eating in Italy and love the realisations she has. The second part, in India, about spirituality is good too - since it mostly relies on belief along the lines of logic, rather than complete faith. The third part, in Bali, is about love and somehow that wasn't able to keep me interested for long.

first of all, I didn't know this was a real story.. I thought this was fiction until I picked it up. It being a real story somehow makes it worse because the person we follow in the story, aka the author, is very.. I can't explain but girl wtf

this book makes me want to travel, not far but still travel. I'll catch a bus to Sydney or something

I would've liked this better if I was 40 and VERY bored.

Some stuff in this story sounds fake. There's no way that she met that many people who said such inspirational quotes to her like they were a random npc in a game.
It's not realistic.
I want a REAL travel story. My REAL travel story is that I went to Queensland when I was 9 and nearly got punched by a old man for no reason. That's realistic. What's not realistic is that this woman met people who were Jesus resurrected. Weird.

Okay so. I came at this from a weird direction. I never read it when it first came out, partially because it was over-hyped, and partially because I have only recently acquired the taste for memoirs (let alone a tolerance for spiritual memoirs, which required some distance from my own history with organized religion).

Anyway, fast-forward to 15 years later, and I'm talking about creativity with a personal development coach and she recommends Gilbert's book Big Magic to me, and when my response is like “The Eat, Pray, Love lady??” she proceeds to fill me in on how Gilbert, since this book happened, wound up ending the marriage that was begun in Eat, Pray, Love and committing to a relationship with a woman after her best friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

(As a side note, this dovetails in some kind of way with my love for Glennon Doyle, another memoirist who went through a very similar transformation, in fact falling in love with her now-wife when actually on the book tour for the book about saving her former marriage. I'm interested to hear about any other authors in the very specific genre of “women who wrote best-selling books about their heterosexual love stories and later ended those relationships and are partnered with women”.)

So I listened to Gilbert's Big Magic podcast, a series of interviews with creators of various sorts, and liked it. I bought Big Magic on Kindle, but somehow I've resisted reading it, and I finally realized it's because I wanted to read Eat, Pray, Love first – just to have that context.

All of that being said: I was prepared to read this ironically, to roll my eyes at the middle-aged-white-woman privilege on display, to breeze through some kind of nonsense fluff or perhaps sigh through some tedious declamations about God.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-written, vulnerable memoir. I probably would not have enjoyed it in my 20s, and to be fair, I am equally a privileged asshole with First World Problems (I spent six weeks in Japan to study the language; she spent a month in Italy; I have been on a meditation retreat, though not in India; etc.). But I found it to be an interesting read, evocative of travel to exotic places in a year when I have been unable to travel, and surprisingly self-aware.

Story: 5 / 10
Characters: 9
Prose: 9
Content density: 7

not enough eating tbh

"It wasn't so much that I wanted to thoroughly explore the countries themselves; this has been done. It was more that I wanted to thoroughly explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each country, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well. I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two. It was only later, after admitting this dream, that I noticed the happy coincidence that all these countries begin with the letter I. A fairly auspicious sign, it seemed, on a voyage of self-discovery."

Great book showing the fragility of the human heart and how harmony and peace can be invoked into our lives by nurturing the soul. Beautiful descriptions of moments, wisdom tips and good humor. I recommend the audiobook too, read by Elizabeth with her delicate and enthusiastic voice.

torn on this one

I've accepted the fact that I sometimes read books I would judge to be “sort of trash” in my obscure internal I-totally-judge-books-by-their-covers mind. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Either way I like taking risks in the books I choose to read, and this one it seems is maddeningly polarizing in its goodreads reviews. People either love it or hate it wayyyy too strongly (IMHO of course). They're upset that the book isn't written how they would have done things. The author is being so honest in showing her vulnerability and shortcomings that some readers leap at the chance to compare themselves and judge her to be unworthy of their superior choices and attachments.... However, that is to be expected, this is a New York best selling book. To be honest I don't usually read books from that list, mainly because of the fact that just because a book sells well, doesn't mean it's a great book. Being on that list also means a lot of people will both love and hate the titles on it to varying degrees with the fiercest of passions. I held off reading it for so long because of these and so many reasons, primarily being that I just didn't think the book would interest me.
So one day in a Netflix induced chick flick, rom com, wine-drinking stupor... I watched the movie. (My theory that watching a movie BEFORE reading the book being often the safest method of consuming both media may have something to do with why I liked the movie, rather than being disappointed with it.) So a few days ago I decided to read the book, after a particularly funny Big Bang rerun in which Raj most passionately states that “Eat Pray Love changed my life.” reminded me that I did in fact want to read this book.

Ok so I didn't find it mind-blowingly life-changingly magical. It was good. A nice story about a woman who lost touch with herself after years of letting her life “happen to” her and failing miserably to regain the balance
she needed to feel happy and at peace in her soul. She had the means to be able to find herself through travel to exotic places and as a writer, wrote about her experiences. As this was, for her, a journey of self discovery it is understandably all about her and her thought patterns, changes and growth. So it reads the same way as I write my journal entries to myself. Which is to say it reads like you are an observer, reading this woman's journal about her Italian, Indian, and Indonesian journey towards balance between her spirituality and her pleasures in life. Along the way she heals her self (not one word on purpose) and finds things she didn't even know she was seeking.

Overall a good read. Nothing fancy. It's just watching someone else's journey, and yes there are a few words of wisdom throughout, but all in all its just someone's story that they've had the means and opportunity to share with the world.

I wanted to read this book before seeing the movie, but that did not happen. I liked the movie, and finally got around to reading the book. I felt the book was good. I especially liked the time the author spent in India and how some of her findings were revealed. However, there were times when I skimmed through pages when I felt she was going on and on about various facts I didn't find interesting. Now I look forward to seeing the movie again with a different mind view.

I wouldn't say I really liked this book. I did enjoy reading it though. It was a bit different. I read a few reviews of people complaining about how it's all about the author being all “me me me”. It kinda had to be. It was about her spiritual journey to recovery after going through a divorce and finding herself after suffering from depression for years. It was nice reading it. There are a lot of things I will take from this book and I will probably go back to it and refer to at some point. It was just hard to get used to the fact that it wasn't a story, it was a memoir. And also there is a lot of mention of god in there too. So if this makes you uncomfortable, if suggest you don't read it.

An amazing read!

I related to this book very much and I felt inspired when I finished it. Her life turned out okay! It gives me hope that mine will too.

In all honesty... I had to divide this into reading and hearing it via audio books. I'm not quite sure why this was such a HIT. I did like the humor in it and am happy that she found love and peace. I had a hard time accepting her selfishness and her rambling and her obsessiveness with the boyfriend she “fell” in love with during her divorce. A positive: I want to definitely visit Italy now and all the wonderful restaurants she visited ;-) and visit Bali. I never had a desire to visit either of these places before this book.

I'm not sure how to begin to express my complete and utter joy at reading this book. I never read memoirs because seldom to I find anything to relate to, but Elizabeth's journey through her own body and mind took my breath away. I laughed sometimes and cried often and saw so much I could relate to. As she describes her depression I felt as if she had pulled the descriptives right out of my head for that was exactly how I had felt. Her flaws were mine and I promised myself that I would try to be a better human being. All because of a book.

I liked it. But I think it stopped too abruptly, I turned the page and was looking for continuation... Really weird.
But I like her humor :-)

Author took a year to ‘find' herself and God. She had a book deal to do this. Spent a third of the year in Italy, third at a yaga retreat house in India and the last with a ashaman in Indonesia. Like the first two thirds much better than the end. Ending a bit trite.

Bleh! I am an avid reader and have traveled extensively, but this book failed to interest me in both arenas.

Nice fast read, good book!

This book is really good - but why is it so irritating? Does everyone have their own love-hate relationship with Elizabeth Gilbert? I have been trying to figure out my reaction to it for months. Is it just envy? Cattiness? Gilbert's writing is very funny, likable, engaging - just the kind of person whose memoir you want to read. I love the earnestness with which she approaches her task. I was so grateful to read about someone else's struggles with meditation, mindfulness, and self-healing. But every time I get into a conversation about this book I want to roll my eyes, and, well, just be a mean girl about it. I can only determine that it is envy for her incredible experiences, perfect love story, and now, great fame. So forgive me.

I loved Italy and all the EATing. India and PRAYer was insightful. Indonesia and LOVE was revoltingly self-indulgent. By the end, well, I was glad it was the end. A little too new-agey, feel good for me. My recommendation...read and enjoy Italy, then pray and contemplate on your own, then go out and love someone!

I think Elizabeth Gilbert's main strength lies in reflecting upon things without making the reader feel like she's trying to impart knowledge. She's very aware of her own shortcomings, but, at certain points, her self-awareness becomes plodding and whiny. Nonetheless, she's had an interesting life. I would give this book more stars except [SEMI-SPOILER ALERT HERE, FOR GODSSAKE LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YOU SICK END-OF-BOOK-READING FUCK!:] I realized rather late in the book that I strongly suspected she had cheated on her husband with the codependent boyfriend, and that sort of tarnished my sense of camaraderie with her.

Liz is miserable. One night she finds herself on the floor, sobbing, desperately crying out to God. She is startled, shocked, to hear God answer. The answer sends her on a quest to find a new life. In the course of a year, she travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia in search of pleasure, spirituality, and balance. I loved traveling with her, watching her grow and change, usually at times neither she nor I would have expected for change to occur. Just reading the book made me feel like I'd undergone a journey of my own, like I'd grown, too. Recommended.