Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Title: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: February 16, 2006
Pages: 349

From Goodreads:

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls "Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

I finished this book a few days ago but had to think about how I really felt about it. Initially, I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads and really liked it. But as I started thinking about it more, I started liking it less and less (hence the current 3 star rating now on Goodreads). 

To start with the positive: I think my favorite aspect of the book was learning about all of the different cultures of the countries the author visited. I always like to learn about different cuisines, ways of life, and traditions around the world, so learning about Italy, India, and Indonesia was a major plus. After reading the book, I realized how perfect the title fit, although it didn't make much sense to me before I read it. I also admired the author for laying it all out there in a no-nonsense way - I mean, would I have the guts to admit doing half of the things she did? Probably not.

Now on to the not-so-positive. After a while I found myself emotionally drained from all of her ups and downs. It almost started to get a bit whiny after a while, and almost made it a chore to read at some points. I realize it wasn't meant to be a fun, light-hearted book, but it got a bit too much for me at times. 

I am glad that I finally read this book and I would recommend others to read it. Just be prepared for a lot of emotions and ongoing inner-monologue :)