<p>Taking a year off for self-exploration sounds like the perfect thing for me to do right now, so naturally this book appeals to me greatly. Has anybody read the book? I’m aware of its criticisms, but I think I want to read it anyway and decide for myself. I also want to see the movie.</p>
<p>I’m embarrassed to say I read it a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Will not touch the movie. Even Elizabeth Gilbert looks embarrassed these days. Talk about too much of a good thing.</p>
<p>I read part of it but even though Eddie wrote a song for the movie ( & they are also using The Long road which I love)
[Eat Pray Love gets the video treatment - HitFix.com](<a href=“http://www.hitfix.com/articles/watch-music-video-to-eddie-vedders-better-days-from-eat-pray-love”>http://www.hitfix.com/articles/watch-music-video-to-eddie-vedders-better-days-from-eat-pray-love</a>)
I liked Holy Cow much better -I may see the movie though especially if they filmed in Goa.</p>
<p>I had read her first novel, “Stern Men”, and I loved it. I bought the “Eat Pray Love”…could not get through it…did not help when I saw an interview of her. It is all a bit self-absorbed for my taste, though obviously that is the whole point of it…silly me.</p>
<p>I’m trying to read it right now. Parts of it are funny and charming, but I also find it to be annoyingly self indulgent. I’ve had a really tough year, and I don’t sit around sobbing. I also don’t have anyone willing to pay me to explore myself for a year.</p>
<p>Hmm. That last line sounds kind of dirty. :-)</p>
<p>I read it, I enjoyed it, and I’m planning to see the movie. I want to see the movie not because of the book but because of Julia Roberts.</p>
<p>I barely know anybody who has NOT read it. I liked it a lot and so did my husband. It does bog down in parts, but I got a lot out of it. I do plan to see the movie.</p>
<p>I do very little recreational reading (except reading cc, LOL) so I have not read it-- but am going to see the movie tonight. Stay tuned!</p>
<p>I have not read it either( and I read a lot). My friend and her twenty-nine year old D both read it and liked it. The movie trailer looks interesting but I can’t imagine DH sitting through it. I’ll have to find a girlfriend to go if I decide to see it.</p>
<p>^
Or just go by yourself. I’ve done that several times when I wanted to see a chick flick and friends weren’t available:)</p>
<p>Read the book and enjoyed it – even though it is incredibly self-absorbed. I guess I just didn’t get hung up on why she gets to spend a year doing those things and I don’t – there’s always someone/something to envy. I took it as an interesting read and that’s it. I’m sure H would hate the movie, so I’ll have to go with friends.</p>
<p>I read the book awhile back and really enjoyed but, but for some (unknown) reason, I have zero interest in seeing the movie.</p>
<p>The trailer makes it look more like she traveled to meet men rather than to “find herself”.
( but hey! if I was younger and single- that seems like a valid reason- or even just single 
)</p>
<p>THe reviews say the film is more self indulgent than the book- so since I am really picky about what I am going to go see- I probably won’t be going to that one.
( I might buy the soundtrack though) </p>
<p>I also prefer to see a movie by myself- H has different taste oftentimes, plus the seats make his back hurt & my friends either talk or they are wiggly- *boy. they sound like little kids *</p>
<p>I read several books set in India when my youngest was there last year-
Not only * God of Small Things<a href=“which%20I%20would%20recommend%20even%20if%20you%20have%20zero%20interest%20in%20India”>/i</a> & * Holy Cow<a href=“an%20Australian%20womans%20memoir%20of%20two%20years%20in%20India%20with%20her%20tv%20news%20correspondent%20boyfriend/husband”>/i</a> but * Anil’s Ghost* set in Sri Lanka ( D was in Tamil Nadu & could hear the bombing in Sri Lanka) & * The White Tiger* which won the Man Booker prize.</p>
<p>Eat, Pray, Love , didn’t really hold my interest enough to finish it, but if you are a fan of women’s travelogues I found Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World, to be more palatable, even if still self indulgent.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the book. It was a pleasant, easy read, and it is fun to imagine yourself in her shoes or think about where you would like to travel so extensively if you had the chance. I usually don’t like it when less plot-based books are made into movies, but Julia Roberts is a gem and I’m curious to see what she does with the character.</p>
<p>I read it but only liked “Eat.” It went downhill after Italy.</p>
<p>^^Agree, Puzzled88^^
I had to force myself to finish it only because I never leave a book half-read. But then again, I loved (and am still talking about Inception).</p>
<p>one of the books you read and leave on the plane.Don’t understand all the attention…</p>
<p>Read the book. At first found the voice narcissistic, but she won me over. Not an earthshaking book, but pleasant. It’s hard to get good things about women’s lives published.</p>
<p>Am picking DD up at the train station in a half hour and we’ll go directly to theater. We’ve been waiting to see the movie. Inception was good, yes, but there hasn’t been much out this summer.</p>
<p>She starts law school Monday so we thought we’d be a little indulgent ourselves. I’m a college prof who goes back to work in three weeks.</p>
<p>No one in my book club was able to finish it. Too self absorbed.</p>
<p>I really liked the book but I think you have to be in a certain place in your life to appreciate it. She was on a spiritual journey and a journey of self-discovery, which is why it seems so self-absorbed. She does incorporate a lot of non-Christian religious practices and views into the book and I have found that many people really can’t identify with that or it makes them uncomfortable.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it was #1 on the best-seller list for over a year. Obviously, lots of people liked it.</p>
<p>Personally, I would love to take a year off to do something like she did. She didn’t have any kids and she is a writer (which can be done anywhere) so I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. I don’t believe that life has to follow a prescribed path or else you’re being too self-indulgent. </p>
<p>To the OP: You might want to read the book first. I’m not sure about the movie - I’ll go and see it but my experience has been that books like this are hard to make into good movies because most of the action in the book takes place in the character’s thoughts.</p>
<p>The book is a very easy read - something you could probably do in an afternoon or over a few days.</p>