Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Book Details

Paperback

Pages: 348

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007

Language: English

ISBN: 9780747585664

Book Review

It seems like for most, Eat Pray Love is a book that you either love or hate. Personally, I really enjoyed it. I did take a while to warm up to it. The manner in which is it written is very unusual. I am not used to reading books written from so personal a perspective. Although initially I found it a little off putting, I got used to it as the books progressed.

The manner in which it was written suited the story. For those that don’t know, the book is Elizabeth Gilbert’s record of her journey of self-discovery following a heartbreaking divorce and the end of her following relationship. She dedicates a year to travelling around the globe, experiencing pleasure in Italy, living in an ashram in India and dedicating her time to getting closer to God, and finally finding balance and love in Bali.

At times it was perhaps a little bit preachy, and every now and again I began to feel a little bit bored with all the facts that are shared (at least I hope that they are facts). Still, I appreciated reading about someone’s journey to self-discovery, and the time and effort was dedicated to healing and coming to know herself.

There were a few passages in the book that really got me thinking. So rather than focussing solely on a book review this time, I thought that I might actually share some of the passages that really made me reflect upon myself.

Internal peace

“The Yogis, however, say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity. We’re miserable because we think that we are mere individuals, alone with our fears and laws and resentments and mortality. We wrongly believe that our limited little egos constitute our whole entire nature. We have failed to recognise our deeper divine character. We don’t realise that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self who is eternally at peace. That supreme Self is our true identity, universal and divine. Before you realise this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair…” pg. 129

I really like the idea of having a supreme Self that is eternally at peace. I actually think that this might be true, that somewhere deep inside me there is a person that might be at peace, and I like the idea that there might be a way of bringing that person closer to the surface.

Destiny and Choice

“Destiny I feel, is also a relationship – a play between divine grace and wilful self effort. Half of it you have no control over; half of it is absolutely in your hands, and your actions will show measurable consequences. Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods, nor is her entirely the captain of his own destiny; he’s a little bit of both… There is so much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under my jurisdiction… I can choose how I’m going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life – whether I will see them as curses or opportunities (and on the occasions when I can’t rise to the most optimistic viewpoint, because I’m feeling too damn sorry for myself, I can choose to keep trying to change my outlook). I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts.” Pg. 187

She also goes on to say that this concept is a radically new idea for me, and I think that I can say that it is a new idea for me too. I think that sometimes I do have a tendency to fall into negative thoughts. I can brood and worry and think bad things about myself when I know that I shouldn’t. I loved reading this because it was a really acute reminder for me that I can choose not to be like that; by trying hard I can change my own thoughts and patterns. Things might happen to me (whether by fate or by my own actions), but how I deal with these is in my own control.

Barriers to belief

“What I’m seeing in some of my friends, though, as they are ageing, is a longing to have something to believe in. But this longing chafes against any number of obstacles, including their intellect and common sense.” Pg. 217

I really liked reading this because I think that it reflects my feelings to a certain extent. I am not religious, or even spiritual in any way. Sometimes, though, I almost wish that I was. It would be nice to believe in something. My problem though is what is expressed above, my mind just creates this barrier – how can you ever know if there is a god? You can’t. You just have to believe. But it’s not as simple as that, for me anyway. But then… read below.

Something to believe in – karma

“The other objective of religion, of course, is to try and make sense of our chaotic works and explain all the inexplicabilities we see playing out here on earth every day: the innocent suffer, the wicked are regarded – what are we to make of all this?... Over in the East, though, the Upanishads made sense of the world’s chaos. They’re not even so sure that world is chaotic, but suggest that it may only appear so to us because of our limited vision. These texts do not promise justice or revenge for anybody, though they do say that there are consequences for every action – so choose your behaviour accordingly.” Pg. 216 – 217

This is perhaps something that I could believe in, that there are consequences for all of our actions and so we should choose our behaviour accordingly. I think that is almost a reference to karma. Believing the above would be a nice way to live, and a good way of reminding ourselves to think positively and be nice to others.

Happiness

“She thinks that people universally tend to think that happiness if a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. 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. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it… This is a practice I’ve come to call Diligent Joy. As I focus in Diligent Joy, I also keep remembering a simple idea my friend Darcey told me once – that all the sorrow and trouble of this world is caused by unhappy people.. The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world.” Pg. 273

When you stop and think about it – truly happy moments do seem like strokes of luck often, and this way of thinking about being happy, and the consequences of happiness, are really interesting ideas to me.

I found myself motivated so much by some of the ideas in the book that (being the true I am) I have signed up for a meditation course, which starts tonight. That’s right, this book motivated me to try out meditation. I think that indicates that despite some of the problems I had with it (it was a bit slow at times, a little bit preachy and the manner in which it was written was a little annoying at times), I really enjoyed this book and definitely got something out of it.


Summary


What kind of read is this?
It's not a challenging read, but it can seem a bit dense at times in terms of the facts and theories that are discussed in the book.


Do I recommend it?
Yes, I do. I recognise that it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but even if its just for the thinking that it invokes, I would recommend it to everyone.


Do you recommend that I buy it?
This will seem a bit weird, but for me, I am glad that I own it, even if I will probably not re-read it for a very long time. Having said that, I think for most borrowing it would be sufficient.

Star Rating

Really enjoyable and well written. I would recommend it.

Originally posted 4 March 2010 Page Turners