Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - Review 1

You’ll notice this is a bit of a different post. A friend and I read this book together and instead of being normal and writing two separate reviews, we simply conducted a bit of a “review conversation” if you will. Enjoy!

Sabrina: This is a very, very, very delayed review. This was my very last book of 2012 and I have to say I had a lot of mixed emotions about it. Hence the epic delay for this post.

Leonicka: False. This post is delayed because Sabrina made the mistake of asking me to write my review first. Since I only write if/when the spirit moves me it never happened. In fact it’s still not happening. I’m commenting on her review instead of writing my own. Laziness, thy name is Leonicka.

Sabrina: As a rule, I usually stay away from anything involving concentration on break-ups, it’s just not my cup of tea. Considering the fact that I recently had to deal with a break up (and possible am still mentally dealing with it), I really didn’t want to read all the bad emotions I was feeling through someone else. However, the book does begin in Italy and discusses a lot of food… In addition, Leonicka also had this on her TBR pile, so we decided to venture to Italy, India, and Bali through the words of Elizabeth Gilbert’s true story sabbatical-from-life together.

Leonicka: I’ve had it on my TBR list for ages because a good friend of my mine highly recommended it. The more she raved about it the more skeptical I was. She likes self-help/improvement type books that are mushy and sappy  and I… don’t. I also pre-judged the narrator (I feel bad when hating on a real person so I’ll just pretend this is fiction) as a selfish whiny ingrate. “Woe is me my life is so perfect it makes me sick let me give it all up and temporarily live like the natives!!1!” Gag.  But I liked the idea of reading a book together and I was fully prepared to have a partner-in-snark.

Sabrina: I’m not much for sappy books either and I usually don’t read anything prescribed as self-help. I prefer to be inspired by stories, rather than being told what to do. I was definitely relieved to see that there was less negative emotion and focus on Elizabeth’s break up. Instead, it began and continued with a struggle to really get to know oneself after being half of another for so long. The quest to be alone and happy at the same time. This aspect really appealed to me since I was (okay, am) going through that same step. Leonicka, on the other hand, had no sympathy. She found Elizabeth to be whiny and ungrateful. It was only when I rephrased the situation using myself as an example that she withdrew [some of] her harsh judgment.


(to be continued...)