Book # 19: Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert

This was another book that I chose to read because of the movie coming out.  Afterall, the movie has Julia Roberts, and most any movie with Julia Roberts will be one that I see.  And as the books are often better than the movies, I had to read the book first.  Elizabeth spends four months in three places:  in Italy to eat, in India to pray, and in Indonesia to love.  I was skeptical to be honest.  And it was hard to relate with Elizabeth.  Afterall, she is the one jumping out of marriage at age 30 to roam the world and pursue writing, while I am the one at 28 who jumped out of teaching and am home, married, and raising three kids.  Very different perspectives and priorities.  However, she is such a person (and she admits it in telling why she is a good traveler) who makes friends easily, and this came across in her book, thus making it easier to see her side.  I don't agree with a lot of what she wrote about or a lot of what she necessarily decides to do.  But I found a surprisingly large amount of truth in her prayer journey to India.  As an Orthodox Christian I would not agree with the general principles of her found religion, but some of the practices that she found are truth, such as fasting, praying constantly, and even the description of heaven and hell that she finds.  So it was intriguing to see where truth could be found.  I didn't love it, but I liked it enough to be seeking out the sequel.