Eat, Pray, Love January 22, 2008
I broke my resolution not to buy books to buy this one. It’s not that it was so special that I couldn’t resist it. As it happened I was at Highpoint on my own and wanted to have lunch, but I can’t stand sitting by myself and eating without something to look at. Also, I had an appointment to see my shrink that afternoon and she is always running late so I needed something to read while I waited.
Having broken my resolution to buy it, I felt particularly obligated to finish it. And I did last night. Fortunately I enjoyed it, so I don’t feel that the resolution was broken for no good reason.
Gilbert tells the story of the year she spent in Italy, India and Indonesia (Bali) following a difficult divorce and disastrous relationship. In Italy she explores pleasure. In India she develops her spiritual side. And in Bali she finds a mix of the two and, ultimately, falls in love again.
This is a true story, yet it felt like fiction to me. I don’t know if this is a strength or a weakness of Gilbert’s writing. On the one hand I’m sure this sense made the book an easier read than it might otherwise have been, but on the other I think it might dilute some of the lessons Gilbert has to impart.
I read that one a short while ago and found it both helpful and germane to my life right now. I’ve also heard some interviews with her where she talks about how much had to be cut from her experience in order to make it into a book. She too felt that it can then convey itself with both a prescriptive and fiction-y tone.