A story of a year-long journey - spiritual, physical, emotional.
Who hasn’t wanted to just chuck it all and go on a walkabout? Just take a year off to travel like this author, or take 6 months off of life to walk the Appalachian Trail, or if you are like most of us - a Sunday drive through the mountains.
I searched for this after finding out that Julia Roberts was going to be in a movie based on the book, so of course my first thought was - I must read the book before seeing the movie!
I was surprised to find it in the nonfiction section of the library, surprised that it was a true story, more surprised that it was true after reading it, Wow! do people really just run off to find themselves, taking a whole year, having the experiences and adventures Elizabeth had? It would be a great fiction story, something made up and added to and embellished as it was written, but no, it is all real!
Elizabeth found herself at a place in her life where she supposedly had everything she ever wanted or needed, a husband, nice house, job, at that time in her life when she was supposed to want to have kids, but instead she finds herself every night on the bathroom floor crying - hence the white shiny tile on the book jacket. She felt lost, beautifully described in her words:
When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and its time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore.
Like many woman, all of her adult life she had been 1/2 of a couple, 1/2 a person, just an appendage of her partner, not standing alone, only able to function when her other half was supporting her… then it all fell apart and without this other half she learned that she could be independent and stand alone and make decisions on her own, she became stronger. Without the trappings of couplehood she searched within and rediscovered the things she liked to do and eat and see.
The book is divided into 3 sections, one for each place she traveled to - Italy (eat), India (pray), and Indonesia (love). I must admit I enjoyed the first and last sections more than the middle, it did seem to get bogged down in all the meditating, but I also realize the importance of this part and the fact that she had get through it completely before moving on.
I love to compare books to the movies made from them, usually the book is far better, but it is good to put real faces to characters in the book.
Eat, Pray, Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert. I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the movie version. Here's a little preview
