Book Review #30: "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

 

“Eat Pray Love” will first wink at you to make you believe that it’s a normal tale of finding peace within. But it has so much. So much of unanswered questions, so much of self-realizations, so much of carrying guilt throughout life. But believe me, no matter if you love it or hate it, you will surely agree to think in a different way after reading this gem.

I will first tell you my experience. It’s not like I was astonished after reading her journey, but there was something very unparalleled process of going with the flow. Gilbert was a normal girl, having everything in life and still fool enough to neglect the importance of stability. So are we, aren’t we? She too fell into the trap of rebound pleasure and again got trapped in the spiral of heartbreaks. She was not sure of the decisions of traveling to different countries, and still made a giant leap towards her unprocessed outcomes. She had experienced an abundance of life through her expedition to Italy, India and Indonesia. I just want to thank her for showing us her courage. I am sure, at that time, there were millions of opinions against her - Why not married? Why traveling alone? This is not a safe decision! Bla bla.. But she just knocked it out and showed a different prospect of freedom.

Honestly, I was so thrilled to read her India’s section. How beautifully she showed the actual colors of saffron among the hearts of natives. I was fantasized to read her Italian dialects and comfort foods. The Indonesian existence showed a surreal platform of still lives and innocence. I loved the journey, undoubtedly.

Regarding her writing style, it was as simplistic as a teen’s way of abstract thoughts. She polished it repetitively just like she did in Indian temple floors. The slight humor inside the table of serious breakdowns, and the unnoticed implementations of huge emotional states, everything she covered just like her go to word “Little Suzy Creamcheese”

I would like to point out few of many incredible lines from this book, which definitely threw me in the lost world:

• “God dwells within you, as you”

• “Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotions, we are only robots”

• “It is strange and true that sometimes intense emotions can cause us to respond to cataclysmic news in exactly the opposite manner logic might dictate”

• “Heaven, you go up, through seven happy places. Hell, you go down, through seven sad places. This is why it is better for you to go up..”

She pointed out a random thing where everything or everyone has a word for themselves, like in Gilbert’s book she referred to terms for Italy as “sex”, for herself as “antevasin” and a lot more. I think this is a great method to establish a word for ourselves too, to understand ourselves better.

I believe the word for me is “Nephophilia”. What’s yours?