Book Review

I decided to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert for a couple of reasons. One, I needed a break from the murder mystery anthology I’m reading. Murder stories always have a …murder. The victim usually has people who mourn him or her, and that’s sad. Two, every now and then I pick something that’s way outside my normal fantasy sci-fi fare. Three, the idea of a woman traveling alone through parts of Asia I felt might help me with my own book about a woman traveling in Asia.

I enjoyed this book. I did learn some things about the countries Gilbert traveled to, although not as much as I would have liked. This was more of an internal journey.

And what a journey it was. The author is, without a doubt, a fabulous writer. Her rich descriptions plunked me down in Bali, in Rome, in India. Even something as mundane as eating pasta made my mouth water. That’s talent. My only complaint about her lush language is that she uses metaphors to distraction, at least, they often distracted me.

This book reminded me of why I don’t usually read biographic stories; they are too personal. The tale she told was fascinating, don’t get me wrong. I read it in one sitting. It was that compelling. But I was left with a slightly ick feeling of knowing, perhaps, a bit more than I wanted to know about Ms. Gilbert.

This is me and my taste. The book was a best seller, after all. But I guess I’m just a fiction girl at heart and always will be.

Back to murder and mayhem. Fictional, please. :-)