Book to Movie: Eat, Pray, Love

Summary: Gilbert (The Last American Man) grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy's buffet of delights--the world's best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners--Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. "I came to Italy pinched and thin," she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India, Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind. Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise "betwixt and between" realms, studies with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year's cultural and emotional tapestry--conveying rapture with infectious brio, recalling anguish with touching candor--as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression.~amazon.com (refers to the novel)

Book to Movie Review: As you know I'm not a huge memoir fan, unless they make me laugh; so I've never read Eat, Pray, Love but when I saw that Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem were going to be in the movie, I knew I would see it. So, my sister took me to see it for a belated birthday movie. Who knew someone's personal journey to find themselves would be so moving? I certainly didn't expect it. I cried, I laughed, I cried some more. I love how Liz had the guts to take a year off and work on herself. Sure most of us don't have the luxury and it's a day in day out process, but if I did lose everything, I might pack up and go to Italy and Bali. I would skip India and go to Jerusalem for my "pray" part. See the India part is the the only part of the soul searching that didn't ring true for me. I thought she was still trying to find peace through her relationship with David and David was Hindu. Maybe, it's better flushed out in the book, but I wasn't sure if she was there for herself or for him. She did end up getting something out of it in the end.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite part because I enjoyed all of it. I will say that eventually, one way or another, I will get to Italy and I will enjoy every single morsel of food that I eat there. It is my life mission.

I did remark to my sister that Julia seems to have come into her own. I've always thought she was pretty but these days she's just positively radiant. Javier Bardem is so easy on the eyes but also a talented actor and the two of them had genuine chemistry.

Now, just because I really liked the movie, does it mean I'll go buy the memoir and read it? Nope. Again, I don't do memoirs and well my TBR list is just so huge I can't add anything more to it.

If you are looking for a movie to see with your friends, definitely check out Eat, Pray, Love; I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Book to Movie Final Take: 4/5

Lisa's Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Review:

This book was given to me by a friend as a birthday gift and I cracked it open immediately, simply because everyone, everywhere (on the trains in my city at least) was reading this and I enjoyed.

The premise is a simple one - after a nasty divorce, a despairing Liz (I feel I can be informal) embarks on a yearlong journey, literal and figurative to find herself. She divides up her year by visiting Italy to experience pleasure, in the form of eating pasta until she is 25 pounds heavier. In India, she spends another four months at an ashram, seeking the divine through meditation. Finally, she tries to find a balance between earthly pleasures and spiritual clarity by visiting Indonesia. I am not sure if she found balance, but she found something over there in Bali.

When I was done, I too wanted to take a year off to eat my weight in pasta in Italy and relax on the beaches of Bali, (sorry Ms. Gilbert, but I have no desire to emotionally exhaust myself by singing a prayer for hours on end). The writing is witty and clever and I saw her evolve from a broken individual to someone more whole.

I've read a few reviews where people hated this book, by stating it was too self centered. It's a memoir, so that didn't bother me. In the end this is all about Ms. Gilbert's experiences and how she found her peace. It's not a manual on how one another should live their life. I liked it because it was clear to me that she felt that it is important to be brave, when making life choices, difficult as they may be - a concept, I wholeheartedly agree with.

Final Take - 3.75/5