I didn't hesitate a bit last week when a friend handed me her half-finished (evident by a classic bookmark: the book flap) copy of Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I'm one of few people I know personally that really, really liked the
book Eat, Pray, Love.
I liked it so much I bought multiple copies and
gave them to a few very good friends, including my sister. I thought each one of them would love it in their own unique way.
Only one of those
people actually finished it.
That's cool. It's not for everyone.
Mostly the feedback I heard was that they didn't like her voice. They
didn't like her.
Her is Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of this very autobiographical book.
They thought she was whiny.
And she's the same reason why my friend handed me her not-quite-finished copy of Committed.
I must say... during the reading of both of these books, I never even thought of her.
The words she wrote, I applied them differently to my life.
The same way I think we all do, with every book we either love or hate.
A book on one end of the spectrum or the other, for you, most likely has a recurring 'thing' about it that just doesn't let up. But, to me, books are a bunch of mundane or pretty good or fantastic lines of poetry. I get caught up in a good story as much as the next guy, but really, for me, reading is like a river that you dip your toes in and out of. Words pop out at me as beautiful, and little stories in themselves. Put together in an arresting sentence, well, you've got me. And, I wasn't an English major in spite of this fact, but because of this fact.
As evidenced, I'm not thinking of Elizabeth Gilbert. I've only ever seen her on the book-jacket and I've never heard her speak.
I don't know anything about her but what she told me in the book before this one.
So, I jump in and find the next beautiful word, wherever it may find me.
3 comments:
Hi Molly, I have to confess that I did not read Eat, Pray, Love because I heard so many people say they did not like it/her just as you have said, but I was very impressed by her talk on TED... I think you would enjoy it to. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html
so, I didn't like Eat, Pray, Love because I found it hard to relate to someone who was finding themselves in the midst of all that goodness. Eating through Italy, meditating in India (and the other stuff that I didn't read...)
To me, how could you NOT find peace in that? I want to find peace in my slog of everyday life, more of a challenge.
But...hearing your thoughts, maybe I'll give it another go, or at least get through to Indonesia!
I loved that book- and found many who didn't.Just confirms our good taste. hehehe
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