Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Author:
Elizabeth Gilbert
Published: February 1st 2007
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Number of pages; 368
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
From Goodreads
A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life.
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way—unexpectedly.
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way—unexpectedly.
My Review
This review is going to be really difficult to write. Let's just start by saying that Eat, Pray, Love has become one of my favorites and has given me such strenght and gratitude that I believe it is one of those books that everyone should read.
The story: it is quite popular since we're talking about an old book, with a succesfull movie adaptation with the charming Julia Roberts. Liz, defies all modern stereotypes of what a woman should dream for and takes a bet on her life by leaving everything behind and travelling around the world in search of herself and of her own concept of happiness.
The journey: is what each and every one of us dreames to do. I will not talk about the reasons why she chooses three specific countries: Italy, India and Indonesia. But I will tell you what her experience of those countries left me. First, my homeland, Italy, and specifically my city, Rome! I cannot express how interesting and fascinating it was to see my city through a tourist's eyes. Let's open a big bracket here and tell you that I work in the tourism field, so it's not like I'm not used to hearing americans 'comments about my country, but to see it through such loveful eyes, it was epic! Liz understands italians, our way of being, our good qualities as well as our worst flaws, but thanks to her I felt a new sense of belonging grow inside of me: I was proud to be an Italian, for once. And not just that, I was proud to be a Roman! I felt grateful to live in that city full of wonders that gained the heart of the protagonist, and I promised myself, while reading, that I would value more the incredible, living monument in which I live. And last, but not least, I loved how the author uses italian during her staying and her narration, how she analyses words, how she studies the story of our language and how she tries to make parallels of some local expressions with american's ones: Liz's favorite italian expression was "Attraversiamo", which in Italian is just the translation for "let's go", maybe, or literally "let's cross the street" (?). But through her lips, the words gained a whole new meaning for me: it stays for: "let's go! Let's launch ourselves into this new experience! And you come with me, you just take my hand and follow me!"
Second: India. Well, India was another cup of tea. You can immediately see the difference in the narration because there are no visual descriptions to help you imagine where Liz is staying, but plenty of digression about the discovery of one's self, but also about faith and love. This part of the book was probably the heaviest, and I read some negative reviews online, not liking the book because of how spiritual it was. I don't think so. The topics touched are important, heavy, thoughtful, but the strong point of this book is Liz's very voice, that makes everything bearable and extremely relatable. And I will tell you something more: after finishing this book, I felt the need to start meditating myself... have you ever tried to be alone with your thoughts? For me it was the first time and it was such a strong experience. I believe that this part of her journey was what made the book special and not just another novel about divorce or some other topic related to the central narration.
Third: Indonesia, Bali. We might say that after finding a renovated peace of mind, Liz's story continues through her last stop, so the initial pattern of "more narration, less spirituality" continues. We have more descriptions, more attention to Bali's culture and people and a protagonist that has put her pieces back together and is now ready to start living again.
Overall: it's really complicated to write a review about this book, which is not a book but the author's personal discovery of herself. Liz is real, is funny, is weak.. she laughs and she cries and she bares herself naked in front of the reader. What I'm left with after finishing this masterpiece is an incredible respect for this author and the hope to have one day just one third of the courage she had. This book teaches the importance of personal balance, of confidence and self-respect, it helps you get rid of toxic relationships and thoughts and by the end of this read, I hope you will have undestood the importance of loving yourself first.
The story: it is quite popular since we're talking about an old book, with a succesfull movie adaptation with the charming Julia Roberts. Liz, defies all modern stereotypes of what a woman should dream for and takes a bet on her life by leaving everything behind and travelling around the world in search of herself and of her own concept of happiness.
The journey: is what each and every one of us dreames to do. I will not talk about the reasons why she chooses three specific countries: Italy, India and Indonesia. But I will tell you what her experience of those countries left me. First, my homeland, Italy, and specifically my city, Rome! I cannot express how interesting and fascinating it was to see my city through a tourist's eyes. Let's open a big bracket here and tell you that I work in the tourism field, so it's not like I'm not used to hearing americans 'comments about my country, but to see it through such loveful eyes, it was epic! Liz understands italians, our way of being, our good qualities as well as our worst flaws, but thanks to her I felt a new sense of belonging grow inside of me: I was proud to be an Italian, for once. And not just that, I was proud to be a Roman! I felt grateful to live in that city full of wonders that gained the heart of the protagonist, and I promised myself, while reading, that I would value more the incredible, living monument in which I live. And last, but not least, I loved how the author uses italian during her staying and her narration, how she analyses words, how she studies the story of our language and how she tries to make parallels of some local expressions with american's ones: Liz's favorite italian expression was "Attraversiamo", which in Italian is just the translation for "let's go", maybe, or literally "let's cross the street" (?). But through her lips, the words gained a whole new meaning for me: it stays for: "let's go! Let's launch ourselves into this new experience! And you come with me, you just take my hand and follow me!"
Second: India. Well, India was another cup of tea. You can immediately see the difference in the narration because there are no visual descriptions to help you imagine where Liz is staying, but plenty of digression about the discovery of one's self, but also about faith and love. This part of the book was probably the heaviest, and I read some negative reviews online, not liking the book because of how spiritual it was. I don't think so. The topics touched are important, heavy, thoughtful, but the strong point of this book is Liz's very voice, that makes everything bearable and extremely relatable. And I will tell you something more: after finishing this book, I felt the need to start meditating myself... have you ever tried to be alone with your thoughts? For me it was the first time and it was such a strong experience. I believe that this part of her journey was what made the book special and not just another novel about divorce or some other topic related to the central narration.
Third: Indonesia, Bali. We might say that after finding a renovated peace of mind, Liz's story continues through her last stop, so the initial pattern of "more narration, less spirituality" continues. We have more descriptions, more attention to Bali's culture and people and a protagonist that has put her pieces back together and is now ready to start living again.
Overall: it's really complicated to write a review about this book, which is not a book but the author's personal discovery of herself. Liz is real, is funny, is weak.. she laughs and she cries and she bares herself naked in front of the reader. What I'm left with after finishing this masterpiece is an incredible respect for this author and the hope to have one day just one third of the courage she had. This book teaches the importance of personal balance, of confidence and self-respect, it helps you get rid of toxic relationships and thoughts and by the end of this read, I hope you will have undestood the importance of loving yourself first.
Rated
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento