Eat Pray Love

I came to this book after reading an article describing reader's reaction as split down the middle - you either loved it or you hated it. I have to admit, I suspected I might be in the "hate it" camp, although I couldn't say exactly why. Maybe because it seemed a little too Oprah-ish, a little too "spiritual, but with a dash of humor," a little too precious, too much like a guidebook for the lost women of the world. Whatever it was, I picked up the book prepared for the worst, and ended up really enjoying the journey.

What I liked: Gilbert's writing voice is interesting and fresh and clear. It pulls you straight through the book while anchoring you in her character. Her style is sort of breezy and open but still smart. She doesn't make you read with a thesaurus next to you, but at the same time she doesn't take the easy way out. She makes good writing look easy, I suppose. She strikes a nice balance between her own story and observations and interesting historical facts and tidbits. She managed to express her own search for spirituality without sounding like she's trying to convert you to anything. In fact, I believe that I enjoyed the India section the best, mostly because of the descriptions of her search for God, and what the means. Some of the criticisms I read about this book called Gilbert selfish for taking this year long journey. I disagree. I wish everyone could take the time to think about themselves and how to be a happier person. I think we'd all benefit from a trip to an Ashram.

What I liked less: I'm not entirely sure I believed the character she portrayed herself to be, and even when I did, I sometimes felt manipulated by her portrayal. There were a lot of moments of what I thought were false modesty, where she would say things like, "I know its not a big deal or anything, and its not like I think I'm great, because I totally don't, but, I just saved this woman's life." Iwanted to be like, yeah, its a big deal. Its OK to feel like its a big deal. So just go for it. She describes herself as extremely social and friendly, but she came across to me as more awkward and self-conscious most of the time. The dialogues between her and the people she meets on her travels are supposed to sound light and witty and quick, but to me they sounded false. I kept getting the feeling that she was fighting herself, trying to make herself seem cool but at the same time not brag. Which I have to say is not an easy task. But in the end, I came out of the book with a lot of respect for her, but also thinking I'm not sure I'd want to hang out with her. Which is OK.

Ultimately, I say read it. Its worth your time. And if nothing else, you'll learn where to get great pizza in Naples!