I haven't been writing much about my readings lately; still, for some reason I feel like I should, after all, I am just as much of a bookaholic/bookworm as I am of a scriboholic. Nevertheless, I've just realized that I haven't managed to read as much as I had planned to in the past month, and it's probably because I've been busy with some other stuff... Do you remember, that a little over 5 weeks ago Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love was the book of the week, and I was about halfway through it when I wrote about it. Well, it took me some time to read it, I even put it aside for a few days and read something else, but in the end I did manage to complete it. I'm happy to report that all in all and mosty I enjoyed it; however, I do have some controversial feelings about the book.
Eat Pray Love is basically about a thirtysomething writer living in New York, who, after a failed marriage, a tantalizing divorce, and a painful breakup, decides to take off for a year and spend four months in Italy, four months in India, and four months in Indonesia in order to find herself and her peace of mind. I always enjoy novels written in first person narrative, so no wonder I liked this one too, especially since Gilbert's style is fairly entertaining, for she's a great storyteller, and she simply makes you want to turn to the next page. I adored the way she wrote about Italy, the Italians, their beautiful language and mouthwatering food in the first section of the book, for it made me yearn for going to Italy, see the places she visited, meet the people she met, and eat traditional Italian food. Boy, it even made me want to learn Italian! But then I can't say that I enjoyed the second part, which is set in Indonesia where she lives in a temple of some sort, spends her time either meditating or scrubbing temple floors while looking for her religion. ("That's me in the corner, in other words. That's me in the spotlight. Choosing my religion."/279/ I love this allusion, by the way.) As I'm not into this kind of meditational (?) and religious stuff as deep as she writes about it, this part failed to interest me, and at some point I even found myself skipping pages... But then the third part, the one set on the exotic island of Bali got good again, I enjoyed reading about Indonesian people, their way of life and thinking; and I especially loved the character of the odd but so cute old medicine man, Ketut Liyer.
In the end I thought of Eat Pray Love as a really well-written, wise book, that could pass as a self-help book just as much as a highly entertaining memoir. The reason why it could not sweep me off my feet is probably because right now I'm not in such a phase of my life when I feel like I need help. Maybe I'm too young to read it, since I haven't been through a bad marriage or a painful divorce, and these days I feel like everything is all right with me and around me and my life is going into the right direction. ( I do know that I should not write so self-confidently! But I guess I'm yet to lose that intimidating self-assurance the youth have, for I still believe that everything will turn out the way I want it to be.)
Still, Elizabeth Gilbert is a pretty fine and wise writer with a fairly entertaining style, so no wonder I grew interested in her and planning to read her other works. As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I found her first novel, Stern Men in a second-hand book shop and bought it on the spot. (Haven't gotten around it yet though, I will probably read it over the summer.)
Finally, here is a quote from Eat Pray Love, I completely agree with it. I used to have a soulmate once, and he did exactly the same thing to me. So I guess I should thank Elizabeth Gilbert for putting these thoughts and feelings down to paper so clearly. (By the way it also proves this theory of mine that friends are only periodic and no friendship lasts forever.)
"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.
A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.
A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."
Image was found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment