Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything

Make it Happy: A short guide to long term relationshipsDuring the past three years, I have gone from believing in nothing (or so I thought) to being intensely aware of The Universe/God in almost every moment of my waking life. Falling deeply in love and taking up meditation and various other things helped too, but it all started with Eat Pray Love.I have read Eat Pray Love five times. Each time I read it, I turn down the corners of different pages, so by now almost half of it has been marked out as especially significant, so that rather than refer back to those pages, it's simpler (and more pleasurable) to just read it all through again. In any case, the reason so many pages are turned down is that each time, I get something different out of it.I first bought the book in February 2009. I was in town and it occurred to me to go and have a look for a Valentine's Day present for my then boyfriend. Now, this was simply out of convention; we were no longer in love and I was desperate to leave but too scared to actually do it. I saw Eat Pray Love and bought it for myself.The first time I read it, I was into all the bits about being despairing and suicidal, as that's how I felt at the time. I recognised so clearly the woman sobbing on the bathroom floor, wanting to get out of her marriage but not knowing how. On later readings, those passages still hit home, but I enjoyed the falling in love fairytale too.The meditation and spiritual teaching parts went over my head the first couple of readings, but, influenced by the book, I took up meditation and went on a retreat. Later readings have illuminated my understanding of spirituality as I have absorbed more of this aspect of the book.Eat Pray Love can be read as a depression survivor's memoir, a love story, a travel journal, a personal account of a spiritual journey, an introduction to meditation or as an introduction to religion. For me, it's been all of those and more. I love this book.

It is a well structured book - you can see that the person is a writer and a very disciplined one - usually happens when you have had a blue pencil taken across your work over several years (showing my age, aren't I) ... I bought it because I thought that Elizabeth Gilbert's video on TED was so interesting. She was talking about a subsequent book, but I bought the first one first, to see what had made it the best seller it became. It began like the real 'I was devastated by my conclusion that I needed to divorce this man' whine - you know, anyone who has done the divorcing thing or sat by a friend contemplating it.... I was about to put it down, but the writing style sustained it, when the plot didn't.... I carried on.Self discovery notebooks can be boring - she turns hers into a series of amusing and reflective anecdotes, and in each part of it, there is something which is not about her, which makes it more than merely bearable. What made me like it is the second section, pray. Here she had authentic experiences of prayer as it is practiced and experienced in India, which made it very exciting. Here was someone who got to speak about the experience, which is perhaps why she went there in the first place. She mingles it with humour, which is great. Love, the final section has also its immensely funny content. It also tells you something about the conventions of the world, and the US Homeland Security department, of itself a revelation to me. Overall, I thought it was worth reading. Is it high literature ? No, but over all, I think it deserves the sales it got.... people enjoyed reading this story, because it is a fine blend of entertainment and insight.

I very much enjoyed this book. It opens with Elizabeth Gilbert lying on her bathroom floor in her New York apartment in despair about her marriage. She appears to have everything: a successful writing career, a Manhattan apartment, a country house and a supportive husband. She is deeply unhappy. After a messy and stressful divorce she starts a voyage of self discovery by taking a year off to travel. She begins in Italy where she eats and drinks to excess and meets a lovely Italian family.Eating is the first part of healing herself as she leaves her skinny New York figure behind. Then she travels to India to stay in an ashram. This was my favourite part of the book. At first Elizabeth finds meditation really challenging but she masters the art and has an amazing metaphysical experience. Finally she travels to Bali and learns wisdom from a traditional medicine man. Here she learns about balance and learns to combine the different aspects of her personality. She falls in love with a handsome older Brazilian man so there is even the fairy tale happy ending.I felt a kinship with Elizabeth though she is a much richer, prettier and more confident version of me. The book is a breeze to read and often very funny. I loved how candid she is about how she feels and sitting here in cynical Britain it was refreshing to read someone talking about their personal search for God so candidly. There are no new truths here as everything can be found in spiritual texts already of course but this take on it was great fun aswell as enlightening.I found the book quite inspirational. Maybe I'll be taking a spiritual trip sometime soon.

I just finished this book and have to say it has had a profound effect on me, it was a fantastic account of one woman's journey to find herself. Admittedly its a great 'story' in itself, but its more than a story about a woman who got her heart broken, ate some food and then *skip the Ashram bit* found love in Bali. Anyone who treats this book like that is somewhat missing the point. I'm not a religious person at all, I have no religion, and I agree the Ashram section wasn't an easy read and I found some resistance to it, but that's exactly the point, her time in the Ashram wasn't comfortable, and we are made to feel that too. You can't gain anything from this book by skipping the middle section, it's only through her experiences in India that she learned to accept herself, find inner peace and strength and have the self knowledge and love to be ABLE to move on in Bali. That's the whole problem with this society, and that's exactly why she has laid herself out here as a guinea pig, an example. Rushing in life for the 'happy ending' will get you nowhere. Or it will get you divorced and suicidal at 34 looking for answers. The whole point of this book - and many others like it - is a forewarning that you will have to go through the struggles she did (albeit in not necessarily in India) if you're going to be truly happy. EAT PRAY LOVE the book is called. not EAT and LOVE. As a society we need to open our minds a little I think.

I recently read "The Signature of all Things" by this author and, having adored that novel, I decided to seek out more of her works. I had heard of this book but know nothing about it - guessing it might be a novel or a self help book. Before I started reading I did some research about the background and was particularly interesting in the funding story (turned out to be a great investment!)The idea of travelling in order to "find yourself" always seems attractive, particularly to middle aged women.Initially I found the memoir difficult to engage with. The author is in her thirties and I though she was trying to use this as a barrier to readers. I also found her chaotic thought processes quite complex to work through. What kept me reading through this was the gorgeous descriptions of sights and emotions. I'm not a religious person but strongly acknowledge a spiritual side of the world which seems to escape understanding - this book made me confront that and think a lot.At one point, the author describes that her spirituality interests her sister from a point of "intellectual curiosity" which I can understand and think this is how I approached this whole book.During the year, Elizabeth Gilbert visits Italy, India and Indonesia. In each place she looks for different experiences, all working towards giving her some contentment with her life. I struggled with the transitions between countries as they seemed to happen very swiftly. Overall, I found that I was never really given the chance to properly understand the author and gain any deep understanding of her motives - I think I~ would have preferred this book to be three separate volumes.What I did love was the open minded way that the author approached everything that came her way and the accessible way in which she described her experiences. I partly envy her religion as it does seem the means to a wonderful way to approach the world and everything that is thrown at you.Throughout the book there are all sorts of little gems which I am trying to remember to make me a better person.I may recommend this to some friends but will be very careful who I select. It took me a long time to read this book which is an indicator of my enjoyment.

I don't think this book deserves the negative comments posted on here. However, this is a very personal book which deals with very emotional issues. Anyone finding themselves in the situation the author is in will either love it as a crutch, or inspiration; others will hate it as self indulgent clap-trap. Both views are valid - it is just how you approach it. Yes she is paid to go on this journey - but who wouldn't go if they were too? At least she is sharing her experience with those who might find inspiration from it. She doesn't hide the fact she is paid for it - and I love this openness. Personally, I loved the book (hated the film). I love Liz Gilbert - I find her and her writing an inspiration, and have enjoyed many of her books (not all, though, I hasten to add). She is a positive light in my life - I enjoy her facebook updates, her TED talks and her blogs. Approach with an open mind and I think you'll end up liking her too. Don't take it at face value. Look at the actual message she is sendng.

The success of this book depends on how much you take to Elizabeth Gilbert. This account of her search for.....happiness, self-enlightenment, fulfillment.......at first makes you groan, but she is so gung-ho and so full of humour that you cannot help loving her. At first, I could not quite decide whether she was incredibly stupid, or incredibly wise..... I ended up thinking 75% wise, 25% stupid. Whatever she is, she is a terrific writer, has incredible wit, and sends herself up all the way.I would advise skipping Part Two, set in an Indian ashram, but that could be because I'm allergic to ashrams. The Part One (Italy) and Part Three (Bali) are easily worth the price of the book. She describes people wonderfully, and you do want to know what is going to happen to her. Finally, you cannot help but end up loving her, and her book, even though at times it skirts dangerously near a "Hallmark Devotional" card.This unique blend of travel, self-help, and autobiography, needs a category of its own; self-help travelogue? On the road self-improvement?I tip my hat to this writer, she knows what she is doing and she strips herself naked for the reader's pleasure. And there is a lot of pleasure in this book. Read it! There is no picture of the author, although we long for one. Why do I mentally picture Ruby Wax?

For some reason I've been resisting reading this, probably because so many people were blathering on about it years ago and that kind of things always annoys me! I decided to get it, finally, because I accidentally came across it while trawling for books on Amazon. I wanted a good book and the subject matter seemed interesting to me - travel, a personal journey of discovery and finding the unexpected in the ordinary.I've been blown away by it. It's well written, honest, engaging, very touching in parts and highly amusing. It's also very inspiring and motivating, in terms of reminding me to follow my own heart and path and to be true to myself. It reminds me of many of my travels (both personal and actual) and the insights I learned along the way, as well as gently pointing out a few other things I somehow managed to miss. I definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting to meet another person in a deeply genuine way, wanting to see life differently or seeking some inspiration.I was regularly torn between wanting to read it in one sitting and eking it out so that it lasted longer. A fabulous story.

Ein must-read! Nicht nur einfach und verständlich geschrieben, sondern auch absolut unterhaltsam!

audio bookと一緒に購入して英語学習に活用しています。丸暗記ですが、スラスラ音読できるようになると達成感があります。(^^)

The first time I saw Eat, Pray, Love I didn't really understand the cover or what it was about. I was a young new mother and had no inclination or time to read anything too heavy or too involved because days might pass before I could pick up a book again. Still, I purchased the book after a girlfriends glowing review. I began reading, tired, overworked and in the throws of mommy hood I quickly became bored, irritated, skipped ahead and like many of the poor reviews left here - I just gave up and passed the book on to someone else. I had similar sentiments in that I was just a regular joe blow who would never have the time or the money to take a year and find myself. Find yourself? Who has time for that, and like other reviewers I judged Liz for being able to do such a thing. Everyone I spoke to that mentioned the book I would say, "I just couldn't get into it." To say I was jealous of Liz was an understatement. However, my jealousy was masked with judgement.When the movie came out I was quick to line up and be there on opening night. Why I wasn't sure, but I was curious if the movie would translate better for me. My sister and I attended the movie and I completely lost my sh#t in the movie theatre, crying and relating to that dark and most honest moment where Liz asks God for a sign and he tells her, "Go back to bed Liz." The movie turned my opinion around, I felt more like I could relate to Liz and being that a couple years had passed since I'd attempted the book my life had changed as well. Don't we all want a little more from life? Why should we settle? And why do we as women jump to judgement and shaming when another woman so brilliantly takes control of her life and sets out to find happiness within her instead of relying on someone else.When friends would mention the book again I was a bit of an a@#hole - I'd say, "Loved the movie, hated the book." When the opportunity for me to travel to Italy myself became my reality I jumped at the chance and watched the movie over and over. Still judging the book based on my 20 something self who gave up without really giving it a chance. Later that year I longed to continue travelling and when I decided to go on a book writing retreat where the facilitator gushed about Eat, Pray, Love I thought, "Maybe it's time to give Liz another shot." I downloaded it onto my kindle like device and ordered a hard copy. I dove in head first the night before my flight, having seen the movie almost weekly (I love it that much) I knew I had to have missed something on my first reading.I was not disappointed. I was so in love with the book I devoured every word over the course of 3 flights. I read quickly but I savoured the end for when I was on the beach in Carmel, California. Liz had it all and felt the emptiness that sometimes come with that. We get everything we want and then we realize, Am I really happy? This is not a book about a woman with "first world problems" whining her way through a pre-paid trip. This is a woman just like you and I, a woman who has it all and knows there is something more. A woman brave enough to say, "I don't know how to be by myself". A woman, like you and I who often jumps from one relationship to another without a breather because we fear being alone.I URGE you, no, I IMPLORE you to give this book a second chance at a later time in your life if you did not like the first reading. I was a bit of douche canoe telling people it wasn't as good as the movie. It's fantastic and can stand alone, no movie necessary. But please, before you leave a negative review, reconsider any title you read. I was in a bad place when I read it the first time and that can affect anything, (like when you are in a bad mood and you stay at a hotel, you're more likely to nitpick the little details - check trip advisor if you don't believe me). This is the kind of book that you appreciate more the older you become and the more life experience you have under your belt. Perhaps if you are the type of person who is content to live life according to plan and never stray, this might not be the book for you. If you feel that taking care of yourself and learning to love yourself is selfish - this may not be the book for you. BUT, if you are ready, willing and able to understand that the grass is not always greener on the other side, then get it, read it and love it as I did the second time around.Thanks to Liz for putting herself out there so boldly and for withstanding some harsh criticism for doing what most people would never dare to do. If you love this book, check out WILD by Cheryl Strayed as well. Another fantastic read in the same genre.

One of the best books about one's spiritual journey towards finding themselves. I read it at a time when i was going through something similar in my life and it really helped me. Don't get me wrong, the book never preaches anything, nor does it advocate a certain solution for all of our life's crisis. It only tells Liz' story and the things she had to go through to get the balance. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a non-fiction book.

Eu já era uma grande fã do filme e tinha o sonho de ler este livro em Inglês. Apesar de já conhecer o filme de trás para frente, o livro superou muito as minhas expectativas. A parte sobre a Índia é mais arrastada, confesso que fiquei algum tempo tentando sair dela. De resto, adorei cada segundo lendo este livro. É engraçado, é leve e cheio de ensinamentos e frases que vou levar para o resto da vida. Adorei.