time for...bren's blog book review!
title: eat, pray, love: one woman's search for everything across italy, india and indonesia
author: elizabeth gilbert
like scale: 3 likes (out of 5)
change your life scale: 3 life changes (out of 5)
make you want italian pizza scale:
6 wants (out of 5)
recommend: mostly yes
i finally finished it! i mostly liked this book, i was unconvinced at first because i wasn't really sure if i liked elizabeth (the author). i mean, i wasn't sure if our personalities would mesh or if we would "click". that's important for this novel because it's a first person account of her experience and especially because most of the book you live inside her head. and it is one complex head she has. but she won me over about 3/4 of the way into the book. i started to understand her neurosis (and neurotic she is) and in the end i found myself feeling very proud of her- like we had been buddies for years. but the middle of the book drags a little and i really just wanted to yell at her "you're okay! snap out of it! cooome oooon!". in the end for me, the best part of this book were the descriptions of her travels. most notably her description of italian food (the part about naples pizza...oh my...read it just for that part). i understand now why it was so popular and the message of self-discovery and self-acceptance is wonderful (and a great message for women who so often put others first, sometimes at the expense of their own happiness)
final recommendation: 82% read it! 13% not so much and 5% mmm pizza...
this sadie is now on the look out for a new read!
any suggestions??
I love your review! I also, just finished this book. You are absolutely right; the time that she spends in Italy (especially Naples) made me itch to be traveling. On the other hand, I had a hard time buying into her meditation process in India. In the end, I became attached to the narrator because of her unique voice that stuck with me even when I finished reading.
ReplyDeleteEveryone that I have talked to about "Eat, Pray, Love" has recommended "The Help". Have you read it? Let me know what you choose because I would love to read at the same time.
Great idea with the blog.
We should do a swap!!! I just finished The Book Thief, its about a girl who grows up with a foster family in Nazi Germany and they hide a Jew... Death is the Narrator... SUPER interesting. I really enjoyed it!! Its a different perspective of WWII, and the war is really just a peripheral story. Anyway, totally recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard great things about The Help as well and will be getting it soon to read! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is a great read (even if it doesn't seem like that from the cover).
ReplyDeleteI love the book review idea!
ok, so i disagree with the review. pretty much entirely (not the pizza part). i think she is a head-in-the-sand dummy. but, that being said, i did actually finish the book and took great joy in the fact that she eventually grew up and acted like an adult. sort of.
ReplyDeletethe best part of the book is the beginning, when her life is spiraling downward and she finds herself in italy. is it horrible that i actually loved hearing her describe how her life blew up? probably. but, whatever. it was the only time she was interesting and it was the most self-aware she was during the whole book.
end book review dispute.
also, i hearts you lots and actually just created a gmail account so i can publicly stalk you on your public blog. so, yeah. <3