Review of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love. Don't. Read. It.

Elizabeth Gilbert's book was one of the most self-indulgent memoirs I have ever read. We learn that she has gone through a divorce, but don't get much back story on what happened. And because we don't get this information, I had a hard time mustering up any empathy for her. She came across as whiny, entitled, and annoying-- not the makings of a narrator I can get on board with. I was more curious to hear her husband's side of the story about their failed marriage than I was to hear about Gilbert traipsing all over the world to re-discover herself. (Note: Her ex apparently has his own memoir coming out one of these days).

In theory, this was a great idea for a book-- a newly divorced woman takes off on her own to experience life in its grandest forms. If this woman had been likeable, fun, and not so completely self-centered, I probably would have enjoyed her book.

Yes, some of the writing about her travels in Italy, India, and Indonesia was interesting. But I could not get past the whininess that seemed to permeate the book.

Rarely do I keep reading a book that I so dislike. I guess I kept hoping that Gilbert would somehow redeem herself at the end. She didn't.

Memoirs by nature can be self-indulgent, and it can be hard to stike a balance in them. We want to understand the narrator, get to know her and her life. We need to feel like we are on their side.

For a well-crafted memoir, where we actually get to know the narrator, like her, and root for her, pick up The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells or Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres.

Just One Pink gives Eat, Pray, Love a 4.

Review of American Pastoral by Philip Roth

Who am I to review Philip Roth, one of the greatest writers in the world? I had never read Roth before, and American Pastoral had been recommended to me by several people. So I took the plunge, bought the book, and started reading.

After reading the first 50 or so pages, I kept wondering what the big deal was. The beginning of American Pastoral was tedious-- it seemed to be a long-winded account of some old Jewish guy named Zuckerman who was recounting his childhood days in Newark, New Jersey. I almost stopped reading, unsure of what was so great about this book. But I was told to hang in there, that the book picks up.

So I hung in there, and the book did indeed pick up. And it turned out to be one of the best books I have read in a long, long time.

American Pastoral tells the story of Seymour "Swede" Levov, a man who seems to be blessed in every way-- with looks, money, athleticism, a beautiful wife, a lovely daughter, a booming business. It's the 1960s in New Jersey, and the Swede lives with his wife, a former Miss New Jersey, and their daughter in a bucolic town in New Jersey. He runs a successful glove business started by his father. But his charmed existence comes crashing down when his teenage daughter, Merry, begins to protest the Vietnam War, commits a heinous crime and goes into hiding. And this changes the life of the Swede forever.

The characterizations in this book were among the best I have ever read. Roth described each of the characters so well and with such precision that I could almost see them. I could picture so many of the scenes. And I could sympathize with most of the characters. I finished the book and was in awe at the picture Roth had drawn. I get what the big deal is.

Just One Pink gives American Pastoral a 9.5-- I could have done without the very beginning of the book.