A Belated Review of Bestselling Novel Eat, Pray, Love
In 2006, Eat, Pray, Love swept through the world and became a national bestseller. Millions devoured Elizabeth Gilbert’s story, and flocked to the movie three years later. It makes sense then that I finally got around to reading it fifteen years after its release. As someone who is perpetually late to trends, this fits my M.O. However, as I’m coming to accept with most things in my life, this book came to me right when it needed to be there.
I read Eat, Pray, Love as a buddy read with three friends and one barely committed (now ex-)boyfriend (in more ways than one). My friends and I had a group chat dedicated to the book that we posted in each day. Getting to read through with them made the experience even better. When I first tried to read Eat, Pray, Love, I realized the format could be really fun to read over a longer period of time. If you’re not familiar, Eat, Pray, Love is broken into three sections: Italy, India, and Indonesia, and in each respective country, Liz focuses on a different aspect of life, pleasure, prayer, and balance between the two. Those three sections are each broken up into 36 memories or anecdotes or stories (I’m not sure the best word to describe them). From this format launched my idea, read one story a day for however long it takes to finish, and my friends were along for the journey.
ITALY
The book starts with Liz chronicling how she got to the point where she will be spending a year traveling the world. She goes through a really hard divorce, followed by a whirlwind love affair that also disintegrates. One of the most striking things about Liz’s experiences is that she seemed to have married so young and was having to also go through this heartbreak so young. She wasn’t really that young though. I have plenty of people around me getting married at the same age she did. I put myself in their shoes and feel nervous. I’m not ready to be married; I barely feel like I can trust people. At the same time, I feel like I’m behind, and I should be in the throes of coupling and making a life with someone. At some point, Liz realizes that the events that she should’ve been excited and ready for weren’t the ones she wanted.
Reading about Liz in Italy made me jealous. It seemed like Liz was living the life: studying Italian, eating wonderful food, and overall learning the “art of doing nothing”. I did get a bit annoyed at how flippant she got to be in her travels (this resurfaces when she’s in Italy). The fact that she says she gets there with little research and no plan is unsettling to me because I don’t occupy space where that would even be a possibility for me.
A couple of my favorite lines:
“…one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation.”
“You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.”
INDIA
In India, Liz gets the chance to visit her guru’s ashram, and it was a significant experience both for her and me. Instead of staying for a few weeks like she initially planned, she decides to stay for her whole time in India. I think everyone should take time in their life to explore their spirituality and their connection to the world around them. In college (like the stereotype goes), I began to really grapple with my conncetion (and lack thereof) to the church. I now consider myself Christian-ish and have explored more what spirituality means to me.
Surprisingly, I read this section while going through a really emotionally trying time. A lot of the finding solace in the sacred felt impossible and equally important. This section had so many gems for me to chew on.
“Just keep throwin’ six months at it till it goes away. Stuff like this takes time.”
“Eventually, everything goes away.”
“God isn’t interested in watching you enact some performance of personality in order to comply with some crackpot notion you have about how a spiritual person looks or behaves.”
And finally, takeaway from my friend from chapter 65 “There are some things we are meant to do and when we find them we will excel and find joy.”
INDONESIA
Liz in Indonesia was another section that left me extremely jealous. I often hear about people living lavishly in Bali or other Indonesian islands because it’s a lot cheaper than living in western countries. That coupled with having her days completely to herself, sounded like a dream. Liz makes fast friends and a fast home in Indonesia. Reading this during the pandemic reminded me how much I miss new people. Meeting and getting to know someone is very special. Liz establishes her own nice routine. Then, after months of focusing on herself, Liz stumbles on a new love affair. At first, she resists. She cites her commitment to herself, but instead it seems more like a way she aims to protect herself. Gradually, she lets herself love. I think this is the ultimate demonstration of balance, and it’s so scary. To be able to experience pleasure and spirituality and love and life, we have to put ourselves (and our hearts) on the line.
Besides Liz’s story, I thought it was really cool to learn different things about Indonesian cultures. I especially liked the idea of Four Brothers Meditation which I want to learn about. My favorite thing about practices like that is that we often see veins of similarity throughout cultures, and I love seeing those things connect us (even if people use them to be divisive)
I’ll leave you with a lesson from Indonesia that struck me “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.” Right after finishing this book, I got to go on a trip with one of my friends to Peru. I think it was the perfect way to wrap up Liz’s story, intertwining it with my own. I know it’ll be a lifelong journey for me to find pleasure, the sacred, and a balance between the two, but it’s wonderful to have guides and friends along the way.