My Take: Eat, Pray, Love

“Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Typically of me - two years after the movie release and 3 years after seeing the book lying around my house - I finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat, Pray, Love'. This is primarily because I was reading other things, living life and I was, to be frank, lazy as hell. 

I'll be honest. Liz didn't endear herself to me much when starting the book. There were times when I longed to slap her and say "enough with whiny, self-indulgent ranting!" But I warmed up to her. I cried when she left Italy and I felt her pain in settling into the calm spirituality of India. I was overjoyed when she seemed to have found her balance in Indonesia. 

She is funny, and fierce and lost and relateable . She voices fears that many of us have but are too afraid to admit. She questions and argues and her pain is REAL. She is open about her shortcomings and frank about her lack of direction. She gives you the assurance that no one is as together as they seem, and most of all lets you know that it is okay to not want what you have - even if it's what everyone else wants.

It's not quick and easy reading, but it is not heavy duty reading either. The book draws you in slowly, the first 6-10 chapters are read slowly when you have time. But then as the book progresses you are drawn further and further in, and you find yourself longing to get back to it when you can. 

It inspires a longing to travel, to be free, to cast off your own life and see the world. It's passionate and real. And it emotionally invests the reader. Also I want to go to Indonesia now. India I have been and Italy has always been on the list.

If you are a lover of books that are offbeat, not necessarily adventurous  and about personal journeys - it's a must read. And if you love travel - go for it. If you are only a 'heavy duty' reader  - this may not be the book for you.

(Massive props to the designer of the book cover. It's simple and striking and one of the best designs I have ever seen)

I however, wouldn't go as far to say I adored it, but I enjoyed it a great deal. And there are parts I would totally re-read.