« November 2008 | Main | January 2009 »
December 30, 2008
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert as a book club read. It's author Elizabeth Gilbert's autobiographical story about her year-long travels to Italy, India and Bali following her divorce and the breakup of a subsequent romance. Ms. Gilbert's goals on this trip were to find pleasure, inner peace, and a way to balance the two in her life.
This was an interested read. What was more interesting was the number of people who came up to me to talk about the book - apparently this was featured on Oprah, so a lot of people are reading it.
As someone on Weight Watchers, Ms. Gilbert's Italian gluttony was sometimes hard for me to read (how does one person eat two pizzas at dinner? I'm GLAD she gained 23 pounds in four months!), but in general I found her adventures and insights to be interesting.
I also liked Ms. Gilbert's descriptions of visiting a place for several months, rather than as a tourist. On our last trip to Bermuda my hubby and I discussed living there for six months at some point after retirement, so I appreciate the concept of loving a place enough to want to visit there substantially, but not necessarily wanting to live there permanently.
In any event, Eat, Pray, Love is an interesting account of one person's adventures in life - her physical life and her inner life as well. It's a good read and it's one that will make you think.
Posted by In Repair at 02:13 PM | TrackBack
December 18, 2008
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I had read Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince (aka Le Petit Prince) several times, in English as well as in its original French. The other day, I felt like reading it again.
For the uninitiated, The Little Prince is the story of an aviator whose plane breaks down in the Sahara. While repairing the plane, the aviator meets a young but wise person who has come to earth from Asteroid B-612. Through the little prince's stories about his travels throughout the universe, the aviator is reminded about the essential truths of the world that are known by youngsters and forgotten by grown-ups.
I enjoyed revisiting de Saint-Exupery's classic tale. The story was, obviously, familiar, but it was was a different experience reading the story as an adult (and the mother of almost grown children). It is important to be reminded that "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
The Little Prince is a sweet and touching story. It is worth reading, or re-reading, in order to remember the things that grown-ups cannot remember.
Posted by In Repair at 03:36 PM | TrackBack
December 17, 2008
My Movie Business by John Irving
I just read John Irving's My Movie Business: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Academy Award-winning film The Cider House Rules. This is Irving's recounting of the 14-year process of getting his controversial (due to its abortion politics) 1985 novel made into a movie.
This is a book for John Irving fans. It's at his best when it's most personal; when Irving discusses his personal politics and his family background. It's at its worst when it gets into the nuts-and-bolts aspects of movie making, because Irving's calling is as a novelist, and his dislike of the movie business is palpable. The book is also somewhat incomplete because it was written prior to the movie's release; a postscript about the film's release, reception, reviews and awards would have made this a more fulfilling reading experience.
There is one quote from the book, though, that resonates strongly with me -
Let religious zealots practice their religion, but let them keep their religion to themselves. Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be free from having someone else's religion practiced on us.
John Irving fans will enjoy this glimpse of the man behind so many provocative novels, and his recounting of the process of getting one of those novels put onto the silver screen.
Posted by In Repair at 08:23 PM | TrackBack
December 14, 2008
An Innocent, a Broad by Ann Leary
I was looking for something on BarnesandNoble.com recently when I noticed An Innocent, a Broad by Ann Leary. I knew Ann Leary and her husband, Denis, shortly before Denis hit it big because we lived in the same building on the Upper West Side. Ann and I bonded because we were both mothers of preemies, but while my daughter was five weeks premature, her son Jack was three months early. An Innocent, a Broad is her recollection of Jack's premature birth in London.
I enjoyed this book, and I'm reasonably sure I would have enjoyed it even if I hadn't previously known the author. Ann tells her story with both humor and the neurotic emotions that are a part of first time parenthood. This is a human story, and an entertaining one. And while the author is self-deprecating, Ann's humor and intelligence are evident in the writing. I found this to be an enjoyable read, and one that I recommend.