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I’m about a third of the way through book #8 for me… Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. There are so many thing I like about this book.
1) It’s by a woman, exactly my age (how do I keep doing this) who is a writer, and who is maybe a little lost in life (I can relate)
2) The first line is “I wish Giovanni would kiss me.” Ok, how could you not like a book that starts like that? So direct, so lusty, so Italian.
3) The way the book is organized is perfect for people like me who have obviously developed Adult Onset ADD. Seriously, I find it very hard to read anything that is not organized into short little snippets. This book is divided into 3 sections (Italy, India, Indonesia) and within those sections into 34 vignettes (not sure if that’s the right word, but I’ll use it anyway). There’s a logic behind this scheme..somethign about prayer beads, but really I think it’s because it’s just easier to write short snippets rather than long chapters. Also easier to read, though at some point, I would like to tackle my ADD and read something really long and meaty…like War and Peace. (Save that for the Fall Reading Challenge).
4) She has some interesting insights and viewpoints on things. Like depression. She is going through a nasty divorce and finally decides to try Prozac, even though she has mixed feelings about it. Then she goes into this long diatribe about how she tried to make herself feel better and tried to analyze the cause of her depression…hormones, diet, genetics.. I can’t find the passage now but there’s like 20 possible causes. And I know I tend to think along these lines too. So many things can cause so many different things and it’s hard to make them all make sense, but somehow she pulls it all together. Sort of the opposite of what I’m doing with this post.
Anyway, the premise of the book is that she has these conflicting desires. She wants to enjoy the pleasurable part of life (represented by Italy), but she also has a strong desire to explore the spiritual side of life (represented by India). Indonesia, somehow, represents to middle ground, but that’s the last chapter so I’m not sure how yet.
It’s a pretty personal book. She talks a lot about herself and her own issues, and her love life, but she does it in a way that is compelling and you’re interested in her journey. I’m really loving the first section about Italy and sort of wish she would decide to forego India and Indonesia and just stay in Italy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen, as that would ruin the whole premise of the book.
On another random note, I bought this book at Border’s and inside the book was a counterfeit $100 bill that says “This is counterfeit but Jesus is the real thing. Jesus loves you.” On the back it says “unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” and “God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son whosoever beleives in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” And where the picture of George Washington should be, it looks like a picture of Al Gore…?? Weird.
