EAT, PRAY, LOVE – The Book Nook

April 23, 2010February 4, 2017 Mindy T. Kreilein

by Elizabeth Gilbert Reviewed by Mindy T. Kreilein

In her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert takes us back through her year long journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia. After a messy divorce and a bout with deep depression, she takes a vow of celibacy and goes off searching for pleasure, devotion, and balance. Seeking to find herself, she spends four months in each location, introducing us to the people she meets along the way. Not only are we able to meet the people she has met, but we also get to know the places she visits as if we had been there ourselves. Everything and everyone, from the people to the places and events, becomes memorable. We see the colors of the clothing and feel its texture. We taste the spicy, bland, hot, and tantalizing foods of the regions. We breathe the stench of alleys, the salt of ocean fronts, and the fragrance of rare flowers and trees. We hear languages that are guttural, fluid, crisp, and lilting.

Split into three books, 36 chapters each, Gilbert describes her travels, the people she meets, the food she eats, where she stays, and even her thoughts. Bluntly honest, she holds nothing back. From her personal thoughts to the interactions between people, nothing is hidden. Sharing her triumphs as well as her struggles, we meet a real woman who is doing the unthinkable—traveling alone and venturing everywhere.

Gilbert writes this book as if the readers are right there with her, not as if the trip is already over. Her prose is very easy to understand and is written from her view. I would recommend this book to anyone college age or above because of some of the content. There is foul language throughout the book and aspects of sex are mentioned, but not graphically. While it is not a Christian book, despite the word Pray in the title, it does mention God several times. Eat, Pray, Love was a winner as soon as I read the first chapter. I loved it and could not put it down, but it requires discernment, mature evaluation, and genuine empathy for a writer who was struggling to find her purpose in life.

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Mindy T. Kreilein is a professional writing major at Taylor University and a freelance writer for Church Libraries, Pathways to God, Vista, and Christian Book Previews. (This book has just been optioned to become a movie later this year.)