Eat, Pray, LoveText
Besides me, the only tourists on the island were a few couples who came for their honeymoon. (Gili Meno is too beautiful and too isolated a place to come here alone; only crazy people would do that.) I looked at them and envied their feelings, but at the same time I thought: “Now is not the time for socializing, Liz. You have a completely different goal." I stayed away from everyone. People on the island avoided me. I probably scared them. I felt very bad all year. A person who has suffered from insomnia for so long, lost so much weight, cried so much for a long time, simply cannot help but look like a psychopath. That's why no one talked to me.
Although no, it's not true. Some people did talk to me, every day. It was a little boy, one of those guys who run along the beaches trying to sell fresh fruit to tourists. He was probably about nine years old, and, apparently, he was the leader of the guys. He was a cool ragamuffin, I would say, brought up by the streets, but there are no streets as such on Gili-Meno. Raised by the beach, I guess. God knows how he learned English perfectly - it must have been while he was pestering sunbathing tourists. And stuck to me like a leech. Nobody asked me who I was, no one touched me, but this restless child came to the beach every day, sat down next to me and began to ask: “Why are you always silent? Why so strange? Don't pretend you don't hear - I know you can hear me. Why are you alone all the time? Why don't you ever go swimming? Where's your boyfriend? Why aren't you married? What's the matter with you anyway?"
I wanted to shout: “Fuck off, guy! Have you been tasked with voicing my darkest thoughts?”
Every day I tried to smile sweetly and send him away with a polite gesture, but he did not leave until he managed to get me out. And this happened inevitably. I remember one time I couldn’t stand it and yelled at him: “I’m silent because I’m trying to achieve fucking enlightenment, you little bastard, just GET OUT OF HERE!”
And the boy ran away laughing. Every day, having gotten an answer from me, he ran away, bursting into laughter. I, too, usually started laughing as soon as he disappeared from sight. I was afraid of this annoying little guy and looked forward to meeting him to the same extent. It was my only chance to laugh during a really hard time. Saint Anthony wrote about going into the desert and taking a vow of silence. On his spiritual journey, all kinds of visions appeared to him, both demons and angels. While alone, he sometimes encountered demons that looked like angels and angels that looked like demons. And when he was asked how he distinguished those from others, the saint replied that this can only be understood when a being leaves you, by the sensations that arise. If after his departure you are in confusion, then there was a demon. If your soul is light, you are an angel.
I think I know who that kid was who always managed to make me laugh.☆★☆“It’s okay. I love you. I accept you. Come into my heart. It's over."☆★☆"I love you, I will never leave you, I will always protect you."☆★☆I organized my own salvation.☆★☆I remember the Zen Buddhist wisdom I once read in a book. Zen Buddhists say that an oak tree grows due to the simultaneous participation of two forces. There is an acorn from which it all begins; a seed that carries possibilities and potential from which a tree grows. This is clear to anyone. But only a few see that there is another force - the tree itself, which strives so strongly for life that only with its help the acorn comes to life, only it pulls the sprout upward, wanting to escape from the abyss, controlling the process of transition from non-existence to the mature stage of development. If you reason in this way, Zen Buddhists believe, it is the oak that causes the acorn to appear, which is the cause of its occurrence.☆★☆You know what’s strange: Felipe speaks all the most romantic languages in the world, except Italian. But I still tell him before I jump:
- Attraversiamo.
Let's go to the other side.
Structure and main sections
The book “Eat, Pray, Love” includes three parts, each of which contains 36 chapters. In the annotation, the writer herself compares the content of her work with oriental rosaries, calling them 108 beads in a rosary for reading mantras and seeking happiness.
Each section describes Elizabeth's time in one of the three countries. For example, in Italy, the author describes in detail how the heroine learned the local language and became acquainted with Italian cuisine. In this country, women came to understand simple human joys. She realized that she needed to accept change without fear and trepidation, to step into a new day with confident steps and enjoy everything that it brought. First of all, you need to enjoy food and not be afraid of gaining excess weight. At the end of the first section of Eat, Pray, Love, author Elizabeth Gilbert sums up the first journey. Thanks to her four-month stay in Italy, Liz learned to hope and believe, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A quote from the book will help convey the heroine’s experiences more accurately:
…picked up the pieces and, with the help of innocent pleasures, transformed into a much more complete being.
In India, Elizabeth, exhausted by mental anguish, gets a unique opportunity to understand herself and open herself to God. According to the plot, the heroine lives in an ashram - the abode of a sage, meditates, and meets new people. During the time spent in India, Liz's inner world changes seriously, and she notices these changes herself.
The heroine has high hopes for her upcoming trip to Indonesia. Arriving on the island of Bali, she quickly gets used to the way of life of the local people, begins to seek communication, and build relationships with them. At the end of Elizabeth Gilbert's novel Eat, Pray, Love, a woman shares her conclusions. She finally realized that the world is harmonious, but in order to feel it and become a part of it, you need to open your heart to love.
Positive Feedback
In general, the book is extremely popular with people who dream of traveling to distant lands. Gilbert interestingly describes the customs and foundations, the appearance of local residents, their values and attitudes, and points out the main differences in the mentality of Americans and Europeans, people of the West and the East. A competent and unobtrusive historical excursion, which was conducted by the writer, is distributed in doses in the text. If you believe what readers write in their reviews, “Eat, Pray, Love” by Gilbert is an accessible and easy-to-read work, not overloaded with foreign phrases and complex philosophical treatises.
The work of a writer makes it possible to understand that all people are different. Here we meet completely different heroes with their own history. Each of them contributed to this book, sharing a piece of their life and philosophy. Readers note the advantage of monologues over dialogues in terms of quantity - this allows you to better understand the feelings and desires of the main characters. The book seems to absorb you, involuntarily forcing you to plunge into Elizabeth’s world and experience all the events with her.
This novel will be especially useful for ladies who have experienced the hardships of the divorce process. The book is also worth reading for pregnant women, who, due to hormonal imbalance, often become suspicious, whiny and unsure of themselves. The work of the American writer motivates self-improvement and self-development, and is an excellent incentive for reading books about yoga and meditation, about Indian gurus and Indonesian healers, and the social structure in Bali. After reading the book, many readers have a desire to go to Italy and enjoy the best dishes in the world, learn the language and never lose heart!
Criticism of the author
Elizabeth Gilbert's work “Eat, Pray, Love,” according to reviews, is not liked by those who have already visited the countries about which the American wrote. The description of national characteristics is too superficial, and therefore does not contain any valuable information. On the other hand, the scant information about India and Indonesia can be an incentive for readers to want to know more about these countries.
The novel will not be to the liking of those who are familiar first-hand with the methods of meditation, yoga, have been searching for themselves and once experienced the pangs of reassessing life values and self-determination, or, on the contrary, have always known what they want in life. The heroine often irritates such people. Men also show little sympathy for Elizabeth.
Many readers consider this book to be shallow and false. Allegedly, the work was written insincerely, taking into account the psychology of a modern woman and taking advantage of the weaknesses of female readers. Some people find the novel so boring and dull that they don’t have the strength to read it to the end.
Another drawback of the work is its Americanism. Gilbert's novel is not much different from typical American stories, in which there is far-fetchedness and exaggeration of problems. There is falseness in the atmosphere, which causes rejection, especially among readers from Russia. On the other hand, you won’t find here either the banalities of romance novels or abstruse philosophical maxims.
What is better - a movie or a book?
Hollywood film studio Columbia Pictures bought the rights to the novel and based on this work they released a film of the same name. Some points that are in the full book “Eat, Pray, Love” are missing in the film. But still, the film turned out to be quite interesting and successful, as evidenced by huge box office receipts, more than three times the budget.
The film was released in the summer of 2010. The main role in the film was played by American actress Julia Roberts. Written and directed by Ryan Murphy. In addition to the Hollywood “beauty”, other stars also starred in the film (James Franco, Richard Jenkins). The role of Felippe was played by Javier Bardem.
And the picture begins and ends in Bali. At first, the actress appears in the image of Elizabeth, standing on the brink, in the end - in the image of Liz, who has already found her right path. As often happens, when making a film based on specific works, directors usually take into account the idea, concept, main points, but little things and some events are missed. This is what happened with the film “Eat, Pray, Love.” The book describes in detail why the main character makes the decisions she does, why she acts this way and not otherwise. In the movie, the footage seems fragmentary, although for those who have not read the full version of the novel, the result may seem successful.
The film, based on the book “Eat, Pray, Love,” is often called a brief retelling of the work in reviews. A successful selection of actors is also of great importance for the successful film adaptation of the novel. According to the audience, the director did an excellent job with this task. All actors fully correspond to the types of their characters. Viewers also note the comfortable psychological atmosphere of the film, and the organic combination of what is happening on the set with music, landscapes, and extras, which allows you to directly immerse yourself in the culture of each of the countries in which the action took place. Overall, the film creates a positive impression, as many people find it bright and optimistic.
Many people ask what is better: reading a book or watching a movie. Most recommend both. But if you really want to join the work and delve deeply into its essence, keep in mind that the film is simply an illustration for the novel. That’s why it’s better to start with Gilbert’s memoirs. The length of the film is just over two hours - in this period of time it is quite difficult to fit all the multifaceted aspects of this story.
On the other hand, watching the film will set the right mood, and the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert will allow you to delve more deeply and fundamentally into the heroine’s thoughts and find out the reasons for her actions. Only together the film and the book will help you better experience the story and get positive emotions.
What impression does the novel make?
At the end of the work “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, it becomes clear to the reader that the entire path taken by the main character was not meaningless. If you look at the plot superficially, it may seem that the trip is nothing more than an escape from problems and from oneself. In fact, the woman went to wander through her inner world.
Reading the book “Eat, Pray, Love,” according to reviews, makes each of us think about how well we know ourselves, whether we are able to forgive others or recognize our own mistakes, whether we allow ourselves to act according to the dictates of the heart, not the mind, or fear. One day, every person asks the question: what is more correct - to live a normal life or to dramatically change everything in it? Everyone has their own answers.
The heroine is depicted in Elizabeth Gilbert's book “Eat, Pray, Love” as a bright personality, an active and emotional woman, and a talented writer. The novel shows all aspects of her life, describing in detail her experiences, worries, resentment, pain. Many readers, judging by the responses, compare their feelings during reading with what Liz feels. In some places it can be very difficult to follow the author’s thoughts, which is slightly hampered by detailed descriptions of rituals and traditions (especially in the section on India). But despite the fact that the book is overloaded with information of secondary importance, it provides a strong impetus for introspection. Gilbert shared many wise and valuable thoughts. One of the interesting quotes:
…We agree to suffer because we are afraid of change. We must appreciate ruins because they are the path to change. You must always be prepared for rapid and continuous changes...
A few words about the author's life
Elizabeth Gilbert was born on July 18, 1969 in Waterbury, Connecticut. The writer's father was a chemical engineer, her mother was a nurse. In addition to Elizabeth, there was another child in the family - her sister Katherine, who later also became a writer.
Together with her parents and sister, Elizabeth spent her entire childhood on a small family farm in Litchfield, where the family grew Christmas trees. Surprisingly, the Gilbert family had no neighbors, no television, or music player, so they received all their news from the newspapers. Reading books and writing short plays was the main entertainment in the family, especially for the sisters.
The author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” Elizabeth Gilbert, graduated in 1991 from a New York university with a degree in political science. But despite having a bachelor's degree, after studying she had to work as a cook, waitress, and journalist. Interestingly, Gilbert wrote short essays and notes about her culinary experiences, some of which appear in her book The Last American Man, which was published in 2002.
The debut in her writing career was the publication of the story “Pilgrims” in 1993. At that time, Gilbert collaborated with Esquire magazine as a freelance writer. The young writer’s work received a lot of reviews, and Elizabeth herself received offers for permanent work as a journalist in leading national publishing houses (The New York Times Magazine, SPIN, Travel + Leisure, Allure, GQ, Real Simple).
In addition to the book “Eat, Pray, Love,” the full version of which is now freely available, Gilbert is the author of another filmed work. We are talking about the memoir “The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Salon,” which tells the story of Elizabeth’s work as a waitress in the East Village establishment of the same name. They were published in 1997 in GQ magazine. The film “Coyote Ugly Bar” was made based on this work.
According to Watkins' Mind Body Spirit magazine, in 2012, Gilbert was ranked sixth in the ranking of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time. The writer’s personal life was not so successful. Gilbert has two marriages behind her. She first married Michael Cooper. This union lasted from 1994 to 2002. Five years later, the writer tied family ties with Jose Nunez. In the summer of 2021, the couple broke up. In September of the same year, the famous writer came out and announced a relationship with her friend Raya Elias. Apparently, this was the reason for the separation from Jose Nunez.
Three countries
The moments that Elizabeth experienced are familiar to many women, but, despite a strong desire, not every one of them has the courage to make drastic changes in their lives. The main character did not just decide on a difficult year-long trip, which implied a change in the outer shell of her existence. Liz longed for complete inner rebirth. Gilbert's book “Eat, Pray, Love” is a story of renewal, revolution, the transformation of a broken and unhappy woman into a happy, harmonious and purposeful one.
So, the path to reincarnation lay through an amazing and long journey through three countries, in each of which she spent four months:
- Italy (“There is”). Here Elizabeth learned to live for pleasure, eating national dishes and learning Italian.
- India (“Pray”). In this country, the main character was in search of spirituality. Here she was able to let go of her suffering and accept herself, clearing her mind through prayer and serving God.
- Indonesia ("Love") On the island of Bali, Elizabeth regained her inner balance and harmony, gained inner wisdom and met true love in the person of the Brazilian Felipe. By the way, Jose Nunez, the former husband of the writer, is the prototype of this hero.
