Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

11/22/2007

Elizabeth Gilbert's life has fallen apart. Her marriage ended in a very messy divorce. The love affair she has after the separation/divorce is devastating her with the constant break ups and reunions. Finally, broken both monetarily and emotionally, she decides to take a year off and rejuvenate herself.

She divides the year into three portions - she'll spend four months each in Italy, India, and Indonesia.

In Rome she rents a small apartment and enrolls in Italian classes. She also makes a network of friends. Liz discovers the charm, verve, and food of the country. She makes friends and gets to travel around the country with them. She has Tandem Exchange Partners - she teaches them English as they teach her Italian. It is a period of decadence and relaxation - just what she needs after leaving the problems of New York City behind.

In India she goes to her Guru's Ashram to learn to meditate and discover her inner peace and aesthetic self. She plans to spend half of her time in the Ashram and the other half traveling around India. She describes her struggle to overcome herself and just be as she spends her time learning to talk to God. Eventually her whole time is spend in the Ashram.

When she arrives in Bali in Indonesia she is presented with the problem of locating the medicine man she had met once before. When he read her palm a few years earlier, he invited her back to Bali. Now she has to find him and find out if he was serious. She arrives with no plan except to enjoy the people and the country. She locates Ketut Liyer and rents a small cottage. She continues her journey of self exploration and fulfillment. She knows she has to return to "real life" in a few months, but that doesn't diminish her experience.

Eat, Pray, Love is Elizabeth Perkins' non-fiction journey of self-discovery and self-healing. It is well divided into its 108 chapters (Liz explains the significance of the numbers) and three sections. She has revealed herself deeply, yet carefully doesn't demean anyone else in the book, including her ex-husband. This is her journey of self-discovery.

I found the book to be average reading. I was able to put it down and not have to pick it up. Finally, toward the end, it all pulled together for me and I finished it in two more sittings. I also would like to read the follow up as she reenters social life as a new person in a new, unexpected relationship. This is an interesting book with a lot of insights. Not everyone will agree with her theology, which will turn some people away. At the same time, she points out that many of her worship practices are good with any religion. It is hard to disagree with her experiences in Italy - it is acceptable decadence. India is aesthetic. Bali is enjoyment and the blending of the first two experiences.

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