BOOK REVIEW - "EAT, PRAY, LOVE"

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having resisted both the book and the film for some time because of the hype, I finally decided I had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about. Now, I know you shouldn't see the film first, but that's what I did and, like most people, I guess, I enjoyed the Italian, "Eat" part but was puzzled by the middle, "Pray" part, which I did not particularly enjoy. I did quite like the final, "Love" part - who could not, when it's got dishy Javier Bardem as Felipe? - though I must admit I couldn't relate to Liz's reluctance to go away with him!



Anyway, it all made me want to read the book to find out more about Liz Gilbert's true story and I have to say, it is not your usual kind of travel book: it is, as it claims to be, the tale of "one woman's search for everything" and it is well written, witty and intriguing. The only problem is that many of us may think that Ms Gilbert already had pretty much everything: an acclaimed writer and journalist, she had beauty, money, a life-style to match and what most women would regard as a perfectly acceptable lover.



However, I can understand why someone with the means - and Ms Gilbert does admit that she was lucky to have the means - would want to spend time "marvelling" at the food and beauty of Italy and, apart from the fact that her character seems to think that language learning consists of absorbing the contents of a dictionary, the Italian section of the book is highly readable. Ms Gilbert does write beautifully about food but those of you who have seen the film may be disappointed to learn that the scene where the Italian landlady explains how to use the bath is not in the book;  sadly, it was always extremely unlikely that someone with pigeon English would have no difficulty with the passive tense with "get".



In short, I loved Ms Gilbert's descriptions of Rome, disliked her dismissal of the city of Messina and nodded as I read her observation that visiting a place requires a totally different kind of energy to that needed when you live there.



The second part of the book presented more problems for me, just as the middle section of the film did, and I put some of this down to my British cynicism, for it seems to me that Ms Gilbert's guru had it made: no one with any real problem was allowed to visit her ashram, those who had suffered recent trauma were also barred and people actually paid good money to go there and wash floors. I became increasingly incredulous as I read and frankly, the descriptions of chanting soon turned into endless chants themselves.



It was a relief, then , to reach part three of the book and I did learn a lot about Balinese history and culture from it. From the character of Felipe I also learned more about how people react to extreme poverty and I am grateful for that. But again, the endless descriptions of meditative processes began to pall and the cynic in me wondered again at the self-indulgence of it all. I also wanted to know far more about Felipe and the process of learning to trust again.



Would I recommend the book? Yes, because there is much to learn here and much can be forgiven because of Ms Gilbert's writing style. But do not expect a light read in the form of a straightforward travel book or romance!



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