A couple years ago, my friend let me borrow one of her books she was sure I would love. She and I often share the same literary taste so I was excited for her new find.

Enter: Eat, Pray, Love.

I actually wouldn’t say I loved the book, certainly not as much as she seemed to, but I did really enjoy a number of things about it.

Setting.

• Pro: The author travels to Italy, India and Indonesia to discover the three areas outlined in the book’s title. Only having been to Italy, I was excited to learn more about her experiences in India and Indonesia, both of which I would like to visit. I ended up enjoying her descriptions of the people, culture, food and religion of these areas.
• Con: The book is about the author’s journey toward self-discovery so much of the discussion focused on her personal experiences v. a holistic view of the country she was in. I enjoyed her discussions about those areas, but I would have enjoyed more cultural discussion and less personal issues discussion.

Plot.

• Pro: I too have traveled in order to find myself and to purge my life of the trivialities that have made me take things for granted. Through these travels I’ve become more self-sufficient and aware of the world around me. Rather than finding more significance in my everyday activities, I really found how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things.
• Con: I think many people have experienced this sort of self revelation through travel, and in literary format, it can sometimes morph into a rather self-absorbed tale. For me, this book was border-line.

I was finally able to watch the movie on my flight home from Germany (I’ll write about that soon). I thought it was a fairly accurate portrayl of the book and I enjoyed it. But, I’m also a big Julia Roberts fan.