Eat Pray Love
“Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert is a …. well, I am confused here.
Is this an autobiography ? not really, author does speak about her life, but this is not just about that. Is it about amazing food in Italy, Yoga of India, and Love in Bali ? Yes, in that way, you may call it a guide to good food in Italy, or your first book of Yoga, or even a guide to life ( or finding balance in life ) love in Bali.
But Elizabeth was travelling for an year, to Italy, India and then Bali … so isn’t this a travelogue ? Possible. You better read and decide !
I picked up this one because of a Ted video of the author. The talk was really really good ; content, and the language. I was enjoying her talk, and I thought I might enjoy the book too, after all, the book says ” 5 million copies sold worldwide” on the cover. I must admit that the language and style was far better than I expected, but may be because of the huge load of expectations I had, the book did not perform the way I expected.
May be people who can relate to the situations mentioned in book may like it better. ( and yea that’s why I loved the second part of the book, where the author is in search of God, in an Ashram in India. ).
But there is something else, in Indian context, I am not sure how well this will be expected, she gets divorced because she does not want children at that time, and the she find a new lover and breaks up with him very soon, and then she travels to Italy, India and then to Indonesia, where she finds a new lover, and lives happily ever after … crazy ? Not really, if you read the story of her life, and how she finds balance in her life again, I really loved her the whole journey.
After a disastrous divorce, and a love failure soon after that, Elizabeth is totally collapsed. She decides to rediscover life, and regain control, with one year full of travelling. She will first travel to Italy to learn Italian ( only because she loves the Language ) and enjoy some good food, and then to India to practice Yoga ( you will really love this part, this is not another slum dog story, or White Tiger !! ) and finally, to find a balance between the spiritual, and the normal life.
First thing that I noticed while reading this book is the uniqueness. There is a unique story line ( real life story, btw ) and the author’s writing style supports this beauty of the subject. Not everyone does that and not everyone can afford that : spending one full year : travelling, eating, learning, and practising Yoga, etc. in three different countries.
I am feel very bad, but admit that I had wrong assumptions about what Yoga really is, before reading this book. I did not really try to understand what Yoga is, or what it used to be before being highly commercialised for tourism. Now, I promise myself to read and learn some more about it, the true Yoga that is. ( practising yoga ? no, not now ! )
I found this book refreshing, and a new experience altogether, even though it did not meet my expectations, not by degree, but buy the content, meaning, I was expecting something else. I was little worried about that when I started reading the book, but after finishing it, I have to admit that it was worth reading.
To say that I read the book, won’t be enough. I actually experienced this book.
10 comments ↓
The title has a spelling mistake!
Isn’t it more like a chic book?
amit’s last blog post..Cancer : A Survivor’s Tale
define chic book ?
and thanks, corrected the typo
a chick book is one that is written by a chick for chicks
looks like a motivational read. Hmm…. the stacks of books at home are waiting for me and am procrastinating.
Philip’s last blog post..Chargers mow down Mumbai
okay, I am unsure if it is a chic book, but it was motivational enough for anyone to read it !!
Cool review and though it doesn’t look like my kind of book but still will have a dekho of it
Smita’s last blog post..Shooo!!! to the Withdrawl Symptoms…
it’s a good one, and even better if you can some how relate to it …
Question to both the men (Amit and Liju) above: What do you mean by chic book?? I am curious about your perceptions of a chic book.
As far as I know, it is a motivational book that anyone can read. I haven’t read it though, for I don’t read self-help and motivational stuff at all. But I must admit I was tempted to check this one out.
Poonam’s last blog post..Fire-ed Up Politicians
I don’t read self help books either ..
but this one was bit different, I must say, it’s not teaching you anything in the normal way …
This is one good looking, sexy theme, love it! What theme are you using?
life colage, a child theme for hybrid .. there is a link at the bottom
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