Sunday, February 15, 2009

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia - Elizabeth Gilbert

Just finished January's book. I think it was January. I've lost count. I just pick up the next one and start when I have a five minutes or so. Anyways...I liked it. I, like Angela, liked the way the woman wrote as if she was talking directly to you. I liked her sense of humor and how she would get so crazy and then talk herself out of it. Good stuff. I loved the second section the most. I like all that yoga/meditation business. Can't say that I do it or that I would be very good at, but I think it's a cool idea and it would work.

Half way through though I kind of got annoyed. Sure this lady can find balance b/c she's got enough money to leave everything and travel all these cool places. BUT..she did leave all her family and all her stuff and just went so maybe it evens out.

As always..I've listed my favorite quotes from the book below along with Heather asides.

Pg. 52 - "That's the thing about human life - there's no control group, no way to ever know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had changed." No comment here except that craziness if relative I guess. The no standard standard.

Pg. 79. She's in Italy, and she's all about food. "So Sofie and I have come to the Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds. I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair." HA..okay this one just made me laugh. I feel this way about chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream or some tuna steaks Josh has made with some Sister Shu's on the side. Love it.

Pg. 100. She's talking about her friend Linda and her hair. "Linda would like to someday grow her dreadlocks so long she could weave them into a wire-supported structure on the top of her head 'like a topiary' and maybe store a bird there." Well..this one too just made me laugh. I love her descriptions.

Pg. 132 "There's a reason they call God a presence - because God is right here, right now. In the present is the only place to find Him, and now is the only time." I like this b/c it's always now which means he's always found. Nice thought.

Pg. 146 Someone's going to have to explain this one to me. I was just left thinking the guru guy was mean. What's up with this part? The chick is telling about a dream she had where the old guru tells her to stop the waves from advancing. When she is unsuccessful, he says, "Tell me, if you would be so kind - how exactly were you planning on stopping that?" Like the guy just told her to try. So she's trying and now he's cracking on her for failing. Was he trying to say she's trying to control stuff she can't and shouldn't? I'm confused.

Pg. 149 Here's an idea on soulmates I've never heard. I was talking about this to someone the other day. I like it. Keeps a romantic idea alive but makes it doable/realistic sounding. There's no answer to the soul mate thing, but it's one of the most fun things to talk about with people. Interesting. Confusing. This is a friend talking to the girl b/c she can't get over her ex. "People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it."

Pg. 150 "You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone outta be."

Pg. 156 "Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water." Good to remember. Might be kind of frightening to see. Oh don't worry about her she's just looking for God. AAAAahhhahhahhhhh!

Pg. 197 She references Tolstoy's fabled beggar. Never heard of that. Help me remember to look it up some day.

Pg. 298 "To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life." Where do people talk like that? I've got to meet one of these people who talk in quotable phrases. I wonder if you meet someone like that if you feel compelled to carry a piece of paper around with you and just write down whatever they say all the time.

2 comments:

jsd2c said...

Must of been a good book... She would not hardly put it down once she got into it... and she randomly started saying what was going on... while she laughed out loud about it....

Angel said...

I finished yesterday, finally. Been sick so I took time away for a few days before reading the last few chapters. It was such a good book. I especially loved the ending.

I think Book 3 was my favorite section just because there were so many interesting characters that were fun and quirky, and I also liked that Liz kind of found a man. Even though there is no real ending to the story, it still feels like a happily-ever-after tale to me.

This book was such a good read, and I picked out most of the same quotes Heather did.

Re: P.79 - I agree, Heather, it totally made me laugh the way she talked about the pizza possibly loving her in return. For me, it's mint chocolate chip ice cream and my little sister's Meat Loaf. And I, too, enjoy Sister Schubert rolls on the side! I assume that is what you meant, Heather, when you wrote Sister Shu's...

Re: P.100 - The hair thing was hilarious, and I love the images Gilbert creates like this throughout the book just to throw in a bit of humor and break things up. It's great fun.

Re: P.132 - I like this, too. Very nice and reaffirming.

Re: P.146 - Since she was dreaming, I think she was probably trying to work out her need to always be in control and plan for things that are bound to happen naturally if she lets them. She had a hard time with meditation in Book 2, and I think this relates to how she tried too hard all the time to do things with too much thought or preparation instead of just going with the flow and letting herself be in the moment.

Re: P.149 - I liked this idea of soulmates, too. I think it's an interesting perspective and agree that it makes things realistic.

RE: P.298 - For real...I don't know people like that either, but I'd like to know some of them.

I thought I had some different quotes picked out to comment on, but mine are all the same as yours, HD. So there you go.

I think I'm definitely keeping this book for a while to possibly read again. It's a good feel good book.