Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ***

I enjoyed this book the way I feel like its author enjoyed a lush Italian dinner during her stay in Rome. The timing was perfect, the writing style went down easy, and I always felt like a nap afterwards. During a stressful time, there are few things you can hope for when you're looking for an escape like a good book.

Recommended to me by a friend, I took my (opposite from everyone else) standard approach to books that also have a movie counterpart: I saw the movie first; enjoyed it. Then read the book and was also able to enjoy it. I almost always find I enjoy the book better than the movie, and in this order, I'm still able to enjoy them for what they are. I don't feel like the movie misses anything, I just feel like the crevasses get filled in nicely - like pouring hot fudge over mounds of firm, rich ice cream. The vanilla by itself would be fine, but the hot fudge just makes it so ... delectable.

Regardless of your movie/book philosophy, I would recommend both to 1) girls, 2) over 30, 3) who have been through or know someone close to them who has been through a divorce, 4) who are looking for an escape. Gilbert basically gets to do what everyone wants to do who goes through a difficult time: leave everything behind and completely reinvent yourself. Her voice is so conversational, I found myself wondering how we weren't already friends in real life. But her experiences are so incredible, I kept forgetting I wasn't reading fiction.

Some of my favorite parts:

• "You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."
• "Letting go, of course, is a scary enterprise for those of us who believe that the world revolves only because it has a handle on the top of it which we personally turn, and that if we were to drop this handle for even a moment, well--that would be the end of the universe. But try dropping it ... watch what happens."
• "Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying, 'Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.' "
• "Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I'm aiming for, how will it ever occur?"

The one part I couldn't get around (and the reason I don't feel like I can give it 4 stars even though I did really like it) is that I feel like her approach was ultimately selfish, even though she addresses this very issue in the book very articulately. Admittedly, I've never gone through a heart-breaking split on the heels of a messy divorce which happened right before September 11th, after realizing that my entire life wasn't where I wanted it to be. I don't mean to judge or sound harsh. It's just not something I can fully understand. Part of me wonders, Where was all this intention while you were building the life you didn't want? Those were choices you made too - even if the choice was to let someone else make the choice for you.

In the end, this tale of self-discovery is a wonderful read, it would just be a difficult reality despite the happy ending. And, since it's a non-fiction all those hypotheticals get thrown out the window.