Eat,Pray, Lacks Guts

Isn’t it funny when we have kids, how the small things excite us? Nappies on special, putting on a dress instead of tracksuit pants and having a great washing day when everything dries and doesn’t have to be hung around the home like a Chinese laundry. Sounds sad but there are lots of ‘tragics’ out there smiling and stripping beds like me at the first glimpse of a sunny day.

Eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert, a book and current film, targets women (like me) who need to stop and smell the fragrant waft of washing powder. The only problem is this book is also about airing her dirty laundry. I wasn’t impressed that Gilbert spent chapters discussing her divorce and fickle relationships. Who cares?

I found this book self-indulgent. There are only so many mantras and chants you can read about. I enjoy yoga and meditation and understand the spiritual element to it, but I don’t need 348 pages to illustrate this point. One chapter on inner release would have been quite sufficient.

Here’s a summary:

Eat

Gilbert travels to Italy after a bitter divorce and attempts to learn the language. She meets new people, hunts down the best pizza in Naples and has a breakdown and spirals into depression.

Pray

Lots of meditation, mung beans and more silence…yawn yawn

Love

I didn’t mind the last section. It took me a lot of perseverance to get there. Gilbert meets a medicine guru who shows his appreciation for the small things in life. She binds a special ‘lotions and potions’ book passed down from generations that is almost in tatters. He is truly overjoyed. She also does a good deed by buying land for some Indonesian friends. She’s not a totally self-centred bitch. Predictably she meets the man of her dreams – hence the love part.

The language bored me. The book lacked guts and poetry like my recent reads. I’m sure Julia Roberts will make it a romantic chick flick that I may enjoy. As for the book, it will gather dust on my shelves. It’s a great title and was given to me by a gorgeous and thoughtful friend, but I think I’d prefer to sniff my washing than read it again.

Overall 5.5 out of 10