The author's autobiography is subtitled, "One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia." It's a fun travelogue because she has a talent for vividly describing the places & people that she engages in her search for self-acceptance & enlightenment. I was pulled right in with her characters as if I was actually there listening to the conversations. I enjoyed her obsession with learning the Italian language. Her encounter with God in Chapters 3 and 4 ends with the funniest punch line I've ever heard.
She's a drama queen who confronts life without reservation. But the drama gets old fast as she frequently breaks into laments about her bad marriage and moribund rebound boyfriend.
There are only two points that I didn't like.
1) I found it incongruent that she was able to traverse foreign countries with unflinching courage and yet was continuously in weepy self-reproach about leaving her disabling relationships.
2) I couldn't help but feel envious of her that her carefree adventures were bankrolled by her financial success. MEOW!
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Slightly self-indulgent, but Gilbert is a funny writer. I wasn't planning on reading this until I saw her on TED - it was better than I'd expected. I found it more useful as a travel log than a spiritual awakening - but that's probably due to the age difference.
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews!
Val