ISBN: 1408809362
ISBN13: 9781408809365
Edition language: English
Literary awards: Puddly Award for Nonfiction (2008)
My Rating: 4/5
I should say that the book didn't turn out to be as horrible as it seemed after reading some of the reviews in GR. I actually enjoyed reading it a lot, though i would say it was quite boring in some parts.
The book is actually a memoir by the author during a time when she got divorced (a bad time in her life as she describes it) and her life looks shattered. She decides to go on a trip to 3 different places- Italy, India and then Bali (Indonesia).
As the title suggests, Italy is about eating/food, India about praying/meditation/yoga/finding yourself/nirvana and Bali is about finding balance in life.
The Italy part was really enjoyable with pizza from maples, pasta n all kind of food. But when it came to India I found it quite boring/less enjoyable. This part is about her feelings about guru gita and meditation and how she later understands them deeply. You can get disinterested with the never ending explanations. But, when it comes to Bali the novel gets better. Here she learns about balance in life from an old medicine man named Ketut Liyer. and she finally finds her love.
At the end of the book you will end up knowing a lot about the cultures and the people in the 3 places the author visits.
I think what you should remember is that this is a memoir of the author and she has written it quite frankly. There are chances that a reader gets judgmental about her decisions and about her divorce. I think one should just see this as a novel and enjoy reading it rather than give opinions on the author's life.
On the whole it was a good read and I enjoyed the movie too.:-)