To be honest, I've bought the book in 2010. It was a huge hit back then and most of my friends were reading it (and were done reading it THAT year). For some reasons, I got bored of the book and didn't manage to read past page 35. It was something I'm not proud of, because it took me another 7 years to dig out that book and start reading it from the top again. Geez, I can't believe it's already been 7 years!
Okay, back to the book.
It's a shame I didn't get the original cover version, which in my mind looks better than the movie poster version (which is the one I got). I'm sorry to all Julia Roberts fans out there, I prefer a proper book cover to a movie poster book cover, whatever that means. 😂
The book is about Elizabeth Gilbert's story where she discovers herself in one city and finds love in another city. It is after finishing the book only I realised the title is basically the summary of her whole journey.
EAT
Represents her journey in Italy (also what they show on the movie poster). In Italy, she set foot in an apartment she rented and started her short food-indulging journey there. She went out and met new people whom she would travel around to eat with and learn the language, Italian, from. She tried to find meaning in what she did (divorcing her husband, leaving her home) and relax into the situation she was in. This was where I dropped the book 6 years ago. I couldn't grasp the story she was telling. It was as if she herself was confused too when all these happened and she didn't know what she was doing.
She was eating so much great food every day and as any normal person would, she gained weight. At the same time, she didn't feel better than she was when she first arrived at the country. That was when she decided to move on and when the story started to unravel and become more and more interesting.
PRAY
Shows her story in India where she went to a ashram and met Richard (passed away in 2010). This is where she experienced many life impacting events and began to really transform herself. I find this part of the story truly inspiring. It rang a bell in my head and reminded me that we shouldn't live for what's in the past and be continuously haunted by it. If there is something we really need to let go, it is the PAST. It is not something we can change or turn back to. What we have to hold on tight to, is NOW. Every moment now is something we can change and we should cherish it dearly.
It took her months to get past the point and finally let go of her guilt to her ex-husband. It was then she ended her time in India and moved on to her final destination: Bali.
LOVE
What I admire the most about this part of the story is how she can easily mingle and find friends in a new place. To me, mixing with new people is like entering a minefield. I never like the idea of going out or sharing too much with someone I barely know. But it was a wonder how she managed to gather a bunch of friends that felt like family to her.
She met with a toothless medicine man, whom she taught English to and learnt how to meditate from. This medicine man, Ketut Liyer is another important character in her life story. He has a carefree soul and is always happy. His company brought her to see a different aspect of life and it was also because of him she returned to Bali after her last time here.
The whole journey wrapped up with her falling in love with Felipe, a Brazilian business man, whom she finally let in her heart.
After reading the whole book, I felt entirely a different person. It was as if I've been through the journey with her and transformed together with her. I've changed my perspective to many things in life and started seeing things as a whole rather than an isolated event each of themselves. That not only makes me happier but also gives my life a much more meaningful prospect. Had I finished the book 6 years ago, my life in the past 6 years would be so much simpler! But there is nothing I can do to change that because what's past is past. At least in every 6 years that is to come, I will live with this new gained prospective and be a better version of myself.
Thank you Elizabeth Gilbert.
Thank you for reading, see you in the next post!
This is not a sponsored post and it is strictly based on my personal opinion of the book.
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