So finally I bought myself a copy of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love. There was a waiting list at my county library of about 64 people ahead of me. Hello!! Library!! Buy another copy why don't you?
I was at Borders today and saw it on a buy one get one 50% table. So I bought it along with the bestselling book Columbine, published by the incredible new publisher called Twelve which only puts out twelve books a year. Anyway, I digress. Back to Eat Pray Love.
IT IS AMAZINGLY AWESOME LITERARY YET LIGHT FUN REAL SPIRITUAL DEEP PLEASURABLE BEYOND BELIEF. To use just a few adjectives that come to mind as I'm reading. (Sorry, didn't mean to shout at you with the all caps lol.)
I'm sure all of you have heard of it and I don't need to recap the story of the book here, but in a nutshell it is exactly what I'm talking about on this blog. Writing one's story. Although she's brilliant and had an agent already, not to mention a publisher who paid her a hefty advance to go to Italy, India and Indonesia to live for a year and get balance. Most of us aren't this talented or this far advanced in our literary careers-- ahem--Still, we CAN do it. We can write our stories. We can pick a theme or two and write about it. Her theme was that her life was a mess, and thus she went abroad to find herself.
See, she didn't try to write her entire life history from age ten until the present. She wrote about one period in her life and she did it brilliantly. Her voice is a delight. My life is completely different from hers in every way, yet I related to her as a woman and I understand her on a level so much deeper than age, marital status, financial standing, motherhood or not, religious beliefs-- none of these differences matter as I soak up her voice in the pages of this book.
I am so glad I found it. Do I miss my sisters or something? They live back east and I'm here in Utah. For some reason, I have been craving the sisterhood of the woman's voice. (That's way different from the sisterhood of the traveling pants, just so you know.)
So glad to find this gem of a book, a fast read, yet penetrating memoir of a woman in crisis who finds her soul.
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I really enjoyed the book, too, although I prepared to hate it after all the hype. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I was, I couldn't tear myself away!
ReplyDeleteTalli, you sound like me! I wait forever to read the hyped up books, because 1) I'm jealous because MY books don't get hype, and 2) I dislike following the pack mentality :)
ReplyDeleteOooh thanks for the info for this book - I have seen it on the shelves at Waterstones and will now have a closer look!
ReplyDeletethank you
Take care
x
Kitty, I have a feeling you would love it.
ReplyDeleteI read that book ages ago and like you say, it spoke to me on so many levels as a woman. Very enjoyable indeed.
ReplyDeleteOur lives can be very different from someone else's, but on an emotional level we can empathize. Aren't books awesome!!
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