Water for Elephants

I read this book for a couple of reasons. First of all, my best friend recommended it quite highly and reminded me it was only $4.99 on barnesandnoble.com for the Nookbook. Secondly, the movie is about to come out, with Robert Pattinson playing the lead role of Jacob. Inevitabley, my best friend and I will be among the first people with our butts in a movie theater seat waiting to watch this movie, and she is going to want to talk about the book. So I decided it was in my best interest to go ahead and read it, even though I typically prefer to see the movie first, and then read the book.

I have to say that I enjoyed the book, but hope they take some creative liberties with the movie. There were times in the book where I found myself getting a little bit bored. Picturing Jacob as Robert Pattinson usually helped me pull through it though! The last 75 or so pages were great! I just couldn't put it down. I also really enjoyed the note from the author at the end. It's always nice to know what parts of a historical book are real, and where those stories came from.

The best thing about this book for me was that you could actually imagine what it was like to be in a travelling circus during the depression. The details were vivid and I feel like Gruen did a great job at filling in the holes that other authors might have left empty. I do wish we got to see a  little more of the storyline between Jacob and Marlena though. It's nice that we know what happened to them, but I would have liked to read at least some of it from Jacob's point of view, as we did the rest of the book.

In reading the questions for book club discussions at the end of the book, I learned that one layer of the story follows the book of Jacob from the Bible. I am not a religious person, so I did not make that connection, but I'd love to hear from any of you who did realize that. Maybe you can fill me in!

My Final Thoughts about Eat Pray Love

The point of this blog is not to critique the books I'm reading as a whole, but I find that it's hard not to write at least about my reaction to the books. This week, the book I read has been made into a major motion picture, and I saw the film first. I'm glad I saw the film first, and read the book second. In this case, it worked.

The only thing I didn't like about seeing the movie first was that I pictured the characters as they were cast for the film, instead of how they are described in the book. The one character in particular that is markedly different is Felipe. In the movie, Javier Bardem plays the character, and although he looks like he's older than Julia Roberts, you definitely don't see the almost 20 year age difference that the book describes. He doesn't have white hair and isn't balding like the real Felipe. I have to say though, that I'm glad he was cast the way he was for the movie. If I had read the book first, it would have bugged me, but seeing the movie as a separate entity, I understand why they made the change for the big screen.

I could spend a lot longer on the differences between the book and the movie, but that's not really what I'm here for, right?!

So overall, I really enjoyed both the movie and the book. I love that it made me think about my own life in a way that I was desperately trying to do on my own, but didn't have the strength, or know-how, or whatever it was that I needed to do so. I love that in the end, she found the balance that she was looking for, and she changed the lives of others along the way. 

"So that's the final lesson, isn't it? When you set out in the world to help yourself, you inevitably end up helping...Tutti (everybody)." p 274

I am looking forward to the sequel to this book, Committed, but I want to sit with this one for a while before I jump into it. Next week I'll be reading The Doctor's Wife, by Elizabeth Brundage. I picked it up at Walmart today, and it looked like a good read. Hope I'm right! 

Week 1: Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Not the original cover, but the
one that I prefer.

I mentioned in my introduction that seeing the movie that was based on this book inspired this journey. It's the reason I am examining my life under a microscope, and the book is the reason that I'm using books as my guide. I saw the movie before reading the book because that was how I chose to do it. I've done it the other way around and find myself comparing the movie to the book the entire time I'm in the theater, instead of enjoying the movie for what it is: entertainment. Sometimes it's fun to dissect movies and compare them to the original work of art, but more often, for me anyway, it's more fun to watch the movie first and fill in the gaps with the book after. I know many of you won't share that view, and that's okay. It works for me.

So back to the book… I am now over half way through the book and I can't seem to put it down. Having seen the movie, I know (or at least I think I know) how it ends, and yet, I'm still drawn to the story like I don't know what's going to happen. That's the beauty of books, I think. You can know the overall story line, but it's how the author takes you through the story that makes it interesting. I have found that this book in particular, is kind of all over the place. There is a predetermined organization to the book that I understand, and expected after reading the introduction, but I still get a little lost trying to follow the author's thoughts sometimes. In spite of that, I have already dog-eared several pages that contain passages that I want to revisit, to either discuss here, or share with people in my life. This book is full of insight, inspiration and wisdom.

While I don't share the author's despair and history of depression, I do share her longing for a bigger purpose in life. I have what I have always wanted, yet I still feel like something is missing. In the book, Liz was missing the ability to truly experience pleasure. She was missing a connection to God and needed to find the right balance between the two. If I am honest with myself, I have to say that, like Liz, I am often guilty of not letting go and experiencing the full pleasure of a given situation...Hence, this journey. I am also searching for the right balance, but not between God and pleasure. For me, I seek a balance between living in the here and now, enjoying the ride along the way, and challenging myself to find fulfillment through learning, working, playing and loving. If I can find that balance, I hope to find the sense of calmness in my inner self that I crave.