I haven’t written a book review in a while, mostly because the vast majority of my reading has been for work, and writing a review of the fabulous novel you won’t get to read for another 9 months seems kind of mean. But I feel like I’m in grave danger of losing the “Book” half of my Bookgirl tag. And what’s the fun of being just Girl? So here goes.
I read Eat, Pray, Love for my book club tomorrow night. Not the real book club. The one where we each bring a bottle of wine, and then drink it all. It’s really more of a drinking club for people who like to read. But that’s another story…
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is the story of a woman, reeling from a bad divorce, who takes a year to find herself. She spends four months in Italy pursuing pleasure (Eat), 4 months in India pursuing spirituality (Pray), and 4 months in Indonesia studying how to find a balance (Love).
I think it says something about me (and not entirely something positive) that I loved, loved, loved the first part. I laughed out loud, I read passages to whoever happened to be closest to me at the time. Loved it. The prayer part? Yeah, I kept looking ahead, asking “So how much longer can she spend in India? Seriously, she’s meditating. I get it. Can we move on now?” But then the third part, in Bali, bringing it all together, was beautiful and hopeful and touching. It’s one of those books that I’m dying to discuss with the group, or quite frankly anyone else who will listen, because everyone brings something different to, and consequently away from, the book.
For me, one of the things that stood out is that she’s a single woman who always thought her entire life’s goal was to have children, who loves kids, and now isn’t so sure she wants any of her own. I used to be so conflicted—what if I never had kids? Would I be okay with that? Could I be happy? Did I need a child to be complete? And then my goddaughter was born, and I fell head over heels in love. I take her on vacations, I spend Christmas morning at their house, I get all the good parts of being a mom. She calls me her “’Nother Mother.” (Pronounced, of course, with the Massachusetts accent as Nutha Mutha.) And all that internal drama and strife was instantly irrelevant.
My friend Dol, on the other hand, is a Buddhist, has been on silent retreats, and has a daughter. I’m dying to hear what she got from the book. Has anyone else read it?
p.s. I've posted my backlist to this site so my blog entries are all in one place, so if you look back you might find some gems.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Eat, Pray, Love
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2 comments:
I haven't read it but it sounds great. Thanks for the recommendation.
I loved it, too, bookgirl.
And I will say that the "Pray" section resonated more with me than it did with you. I'm certain it's because I've done essentially what she described in the section--gone off on retreat and spent time living a totally different life. So, I found it really interesting to see her go through a lot of the same trials I had:
"What the hell am I doing here?"
"I don't think I'm doing it (meditation) right."
"I hate this. I want to go home."
"Yippee! I'm so glad I did this."
One thought about "Pray" that comes up for me is that it's so culturally foreign for us. Not praying, but the description of her experience meditating in India. Americans in general, and most Judeo-Christians, specifically, don't do the sort of scientific spiritualism that Buddhists practice (particularly monastic Buddhists and Western Buddhists--different than the Buddhism often practiced by your Vietnamese nail lady). I don't mean to sound snooty about it, so if I do, well, it's because I like talking about it. :-)
What I mean is that Buddhism is not a faith, it's a wisdom tradition. They tell you that there is a middle way in this life, and that if you practice that middle way, you can find enlightenment (and happiness! Yay!). You find a teacher. Teacher explains method. You try it. And usually this means a time commitment and some hard work. Either it works for you or it doesn't. No one asks you to take anything on faith. This is what I love about Buddhism.
Good God. Someone shut me up. Anyhow, I can totally see how the "Pray" section was a little boring for you. It was not the most stimulating/funny part for me, either, but I found it intriguing and I related to it. There. Now I'll stop.
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