samarnold1975 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 So are you the love it or loathe it category. The book has been in the press for a while, be it the reviews for the book itself of the amazing hype about the movie version starring Julia Roberts. Not normally a person who is persuaded by others what books to read I succumbed to peer pressure and brought myself a copy. Feeling a little full of cold I thought now would be a good time to sit and read a book so out came my fresh new copy of Eat Pray Love. To say I was disappointed would put it mildly. The first section dealt with the authors travels around Rome I greatly enjoyed but the middle section of the yoga commune bored me there was so much more the author could have added about the wonderful country of India. The last section picked up a little however, I felt that the book had already been spoilt by the middle section. I know I am in a minority with this book as otherwise why else would it have been made into a book but not one of my top reads. Product Description It’s 3 a.m. and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. She’s in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, they’re trying for a baby – and she doesn’t want any of it. A bitter divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises it is time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing: pleasure, devotion and balance. So she travels to Rome, where she learns Italian from handsome, brown-eyed identical twins and gains twenty-five pounds, an ashram in India, where she finds that enlightenment entails getting up in the middle of the night to scrub the temple floor, and Bali where a toothless medicine man of indeterminate age offers her a new path to peace: simply sit still and smile. And slowly happiness begins to creep up on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyzenthlay Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Meh, is how I feel. I'm happy she managed to crawl out of her depression, but I wasn't particularly interested reading about it. I think it's very average. The journey she went on was hard for me to relate to, especially the spiritual part. I believe in finding happiness where you are, so this went against some of my more fundamental beliefs. I'm positive that others will be able to connect better with the work, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemimapd Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I was on jury duty here in the States, and despite the very boring nature of sitting in a big room and waiting for hours, I could not get past approximately page 18 of this atrocious book. Perhaps the rest wasn't so bad, but that first part was so terribly written and such an exercise in cliches - bad ones, at that - that I had to stop. Maybe I'll get back to it one day, but it's certainly not in my plans any time soon. The part where she introduces herself to God had me rolling my eyes. It was like a very bad sitcom from a very long time ago; it did not seem professional, or good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Wow! Not read the book but by the reviews so far how did this ever get made into a film? It seems to me (perhaps unkindly) that only people with lots of money can indulge their depression in this way, us poor people have to suffer and get on with it where we are instead of jetting off about the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen Andrews Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Can't say I hated it that much, though I agree with the comment that the middle section was blah. I guess I wish I'd had the money/chutzpah/motivation to do what she did during my own mid life crisis. Not to mention the foresight to write about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I was surprised to read somewhere recently that Gilbert was actually paid to do the travelling and write the book. So she knew before she left that her story was going to be published and she had already been paid in advance for it. That would make it much easier to have an interesting trip, I guess. I feel so much less inclined to read this now that it almost seems like a 'set-up' and not someone looking back on their experiences and thinking 'hey, that would make a good book'. Yep, I think I'll remove this one from my TBR pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrugalBookShopper Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I enjoyed the book. The middle part did drag a bit and there was quite a bit of complaining on Gilbert's behalf during that section. I was glad when that part was over. The first section always made me hungry for pizza (which I can't say is a total bad thing) and it had better characters and I could picture the setting better than the middle part. The last section, again, had better characters and a better plot that kept you reading. The middle part was sort of a stand-still part of the book and I was always waiting for it to get going, and it just never did. Also, I thought the movie actually followed the book quite nicely. I read the book and then watched the movie and they seemed to go together well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imma89 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I kind of blame the advertising and the whole media attention for ruining the book for me. I thought it was easy to read, fun, smart and interesting, so I bougth it. Everyone was talking about it like it was genius and everybody seemed to like it and there was such a hype about it. So my expectations were really high and I had no idea I was going to read about spiritual stuff and god from the first page! I'm "spiritually open" and I do yoga so I thought this would be a good reading for me, but it just wasn't. It was boring, depressing and I always had this silly feeling when I read it. I feel like they were marketing the book as Chick lit when it should be a self-help or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Though I have not read the book 'Eat Pray Love' that you people are talking about, from what I have read what you guys have posted about the book I don't want to the movie was bad enough(so I thought)The bookk I have read also titled Eat Prey Love is part of a series that Kerrelyn Sparks has written that's a paranormal romance and if I am correct it is the last book of the series, these are worth a read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemimapd Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) "I was surprised to read somewhere recently that Gilbert was actually paid to do the travelling and write the book. So she knew before she left that her story was going to be published and she had already been paid in advance for it." I'm not really surprised; I've thought how suspiciously pre-planned some of these books seem. I think it would be a very legitimate thing for reviewers to point out more openly the disingenuous nature of these books because it does make a difference in how people will view them. It also would make a pretty interesting story. Edited September 1, 2011 by jemimapd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloup Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I was hesitated to read it because I've watched the film and like it, but after have read your posts, I'm suddenly less motivated... Maybe I'll try nevertheless, that can just be a likes's difference... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossygirl100 Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I read the book the first time it came out of print and I love the book.I didn't watch the movie because I know they will make it commercially attractive and lose all good points of the story. I love it because I do meditation and I feel that I was with her especially in the second portion. Not so much in the first portion of the book. I like the portion when she went to India and she started meditation. How meditation transformed her life personally was not part of the whole book. I know there's so much more that she could share probably next time, if there will be. And that would be very boring if she goes into details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twingijon Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 From all the reviews... I wanted to hate the book... but did not. I did not think it was incredible either. Same thing with the movie. cheers.. twingijon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelie Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Wow, many times I have come across this book and actually wanted to buy it. After reading your reviews i am not so sure anymore! Although, I am a little bit intrigued as to why so many people thought it wasn't so good, but then was made into a film... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola Booth Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Loved the movie but hated the book I'm afraid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleonora Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Did she really travel in the mentioned countries before she wrote the book?! Very strange.. the real Rome is so different from the one described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carm Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I started this book with a lot of hope The firsts r&r of her journey was fine; the middle uninspiring and by the end I was struggling to finish it. Yes depression is terribly debilitating and hard to come out of. The book was just relentless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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