Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

storm2811

So I've been reading reviews and people say it's fantastic, the thing is though, nearly every review has been written by a woman.
I'm a woman myself but I wanted to hear some male views on it, I'm not really into the usual cliched books that are targeted at women.

Some people say it has even "changed their life".

So, any men here read it? What did you think?

I did a search btw and didn't see any other threads on it, sorry if there is!:o

emeraldstar

Can't give a male point of view on this, but as a woman I've got to say I found it awful. Ridiculous tripe. I really hate the whole spiritual 'finding one's self' type stuff so it wasn't the best choice of reading matter for me to begin with, but I thought it might be ok. But no. I did force myself to finish it as I have this thing where I can't abandon half-read books, but it was with great effort. My flatmate (female) also found it hard to get through.

storm2811

emeraldstar wrote: »

Can't give a male point of view on this, but as a woman I've got to say I found it awful. Ridiculous tripe. I really hate the whole spiritual 'finding one's self' type stuff so it wasn't the best choice of reading matter for me to begin with, but I thought it might be ok. But no. I did force myself to finish it as I have this thing where I can't abandon half-read books, but it was with great effort. My flatmate (female) also found it hard to get through.

Oh right, yeah I was looking at some excerpts and quotes and I'm not sure I like her writing style either.
There's so much hype about it though I don't know what to think, have to try it for myself I suppose to find out.
I'll wait and see if I get any more opinions and then make up my mind on getting it.

Thanks for the input.:)

tyler71

As a guy, I absolutely hated it - the only reason I read it was for a book club, however it made for a very entertaining night, as the group, mostly women, was split into those who either (very vocally) loved it or hated it -there didn't seem to be anybody in between, I'd say about 2:1 in favour of the book.
It's written in a style that's quite similar to a diary column in the newspapers, particularly Roisin Ingle in the Times, so if you like that approach you might like it - however it's written with absolutely no sense of humour or self awareness which really started to grate with me (after about page 2).

indough

the name alone should be enough to put someone off it

storm2811

tyler71 wrote: »

As a guy, I absolutely hated it - the only reason I read it was for a book club, however it made for a very entertaining night, as the group, mostly women, was split into those who either (very vocally) loved it or hated it -there didn't seem to be anybody in between, I'd say about 2:1 in favour of the book.
It's written in a style that's quite similar to a diary column in the newspapers, particularly Roisin Ingle in the Times, so if you like that approach you might like it - however it's written with absolutely no sense of humour or self awareness which really started to grate with me (after about page 2).

Hmm, think I'll stay away so, never found it too easy to read diary style writing either, usually lose attention pretty fast.
Thanks.

Silverfish

I'm about 10 pages in, I bought it from the kindle store, and I wish I could return it already.

_Whimsical_

Silverfish wrote: »

I'm about 10 pages in, I bought it from the kindle store, and I wish I could return it already.

Save yourself now while you can and delete it. The first part (Italy) is the best but that really is not saying much. If you must continue just read that part because it just gets worse and worse. By the time you're finished you'll want to kick yourself for wasting time on it.

I really would love to know exactly how it ever appealed to anyone. The "spiritual" part of the book lacked any conviction and she displayed as much depth and self reflection as a muddy puddle throughout. The love story made me cringe like no other and the cultural observations were dull and sparse. The only part that didn't sound utterly hollow was when she was talking about her despair over the relationship with David but that was only a page or two. I also thought the writing style was dire.

Asphyxia

I've heard that it was good I saw it today and was going to pick it up, I might wait awhile and listen to some more reviews.

Kate P

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Save yourself now while you can and delete it. The first part (Italy) is the best but that really is not saying much. If you must continue just read that part because it just gets worse and worse. By the time you're finished you'll want to kick yourself for wasting time on it.

]

Have to disagree - I thought the Italian section was awful - why go on a voyage of culinary discovery entitled 'eat' and say nothing of consequence about what's eaten? That should have been the section that appealed to the senses but didn't. It was intensely disappointing.

I really would love to know exactly how it ever appealed to anyone. The "spiritual" part of the book lacked any conviction and she displayed as much depth and self reflection as a muddy puddle throughout. The love story made me cringe like no other and the cultural observations were dull and sparse. The only part that didn't sound utterly hollow was when she was talking about her despair over the relationship with David but that was only a page or two. I also thought the writing style was dire.

Hmmm.

I don't think the point was to show that she was suddenly enlightened, rather to show the journey. If you want depth and self-reflection you can read Augustine or Aquinas but that, I felt, wasn't really the point. She's bright enough to know and to make it clear that she's not revealed or released or new and improved by the end, rather that she knows a bit more about herself than she did.

I enjoyed the middle section most, principally because Richard from Texas was such a great character and she used him well to undercut her own pretension. But he was one of the few highlights in a pretty dull sea. I think what made the book sell, is that she's a modern, young woman with modern interests who wants to go on a personal journey that doesn't involve joining a cult, battling her way through addictions or giving her life to Jesus. That seems to have been the revelation for most as far as I can see, not that it says much for the readership...

The writing was of that ditsy, floaty type that is intensely irritating. But there were moments when it gleamed. The problem is that there weren't enough of them. The follow on book (the first chapter of which was at the end of the copy I read, borrowed - thank God - from someone else) looks like it's going to be really silly. It will probably have a lot of good information in it - she's good at research, but her style is distracting.

On the other hand, she gives a talk on ted.com about creativity which is very, very interesting and entertaining. It's over-long but she gathers it all together at the end. It shows perhaps that her style is more suited to speaking than the kind of writing she looks to be forever pigeon holed in now.

Giselle

Nobody I know who's read it liked it. Most found it irritating.

Anything made into a movie starring Julia Roberts isn't likely to be something I'd appreciate anyway.

George83

I had to read it for work, but, I hated it.

looksee

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670034710,00.html?sym=EXC

I just read an excerpt from the book and found myself skipping before I got to the bottom of the page