Eat, Pray, Love

I think they could replace the title of the book I'm reading from Eat, Pray, Love to Fast, Slow, Slower.

This book is broken into 3 parts and perhaps it's my own enjoyment of the topic in the first section that made it more enjoyable. The author decides to take a year's journey, going first to Italy, then to India and finally to Indonesia. The reason? She is unhappy in her life after a difficult divorce and the realization that she doesn't want the things she thought she was supposed to want (kids, etc.). She has started to explore a spiritual side of herself and finally decides to make the trip.

The first leg of her trip, in Italy, is to spend 4 months experience pleasure. If you take into account that she's sworn off sex at the time, I think you could revise her goal to be something like, make friends, learn Italian and eat lots of great food.

Then, she is going to India in order to find and explore her spirituality. She goes to meet her guru at her ashram. This is where it's starting to slow down a bit and frankly, lose my interest. I guess it doesn't help this author any that I've just read about 10 books that have action, drama, love, sex and vampires. (See what Twilight started?)

And lastly, she goes to Indonesia to live with a medicine man that she met there the year before, to learn how to join the two ideals: pleasure and spirituality.

I think that many people have loved this book. But, on the other hand, I think that many people have been like me and my friends. The book starts well and then slowly -SLOWLY- goes downhill to a point where all of the momentum is gone.

I will finish reading the book however, to give it a fair chance and a real review. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and have to amend what I've written. I certainly hope so (or it's going to be a boring week).

The Gargoyle

I've lived 1/3 of my life (if I'm lucky). I try not to think about how long I might live or how tenuous our grasp on existing sometimes proves to be, but one of the books I'm reading made me start pondering this again.

Last night, as I lay in bed, trying to tuck in a few more pages before I put the light out, I got to a section in my book that shook me. The character in my story, whom I don't really love or hate at this point, was in car crash (because of his hallucinations due to drugs and alcohol) and was burned very badly. He is found and taken to the hospital and there he is in the burn ward, with too much time on his hands and all-too painful procedures to endure.

So, he decides that all he is doing is playing along with the doctors, pretending that he cares about healing. While in reality what he's really doing is acting until he's well enough to be released, at which point he plans on killing himself. It's very early in the book, so I have to imagine that he doesn't end up doing that...besides there is an interesting plot development that I see coming.

But something that the character thinks about his currently planned impending doom got me thinking. I don't know if there is an afterlife, but one day, I'll get to find out. And that, more than anything else, terrifies me. Not enough to make me pretend that I believe in some imaginary afterlife to make myself feel better, but more than anything else I can think of.

Random Thoughts

Thank you, Stephenie Meyer, for giving me a happy ending. Now I can always imagine that I'm Bella and I have my Edward.

Fifty degrees tomorrow - ahhh, something to look forward to.

I want to have good dreams tonight. Dreams of hot weather on sandy beaches, a king sized bed and a big, strong man...knowing what occupation would be fulfilling.

Off to bed.

Reading Like a Fiend

I started to think this morning about all the books I've read in the last 10-12 months. From what I can remember:

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown
Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (re-reading this series)
Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon
Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon
Drums of Autumn, by Diana Gabaldon
The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon (in progress)