The Inky Thumb: Eat Pray Love: A Review

Everybody has read this book or is looking to read it. I finally did! I fell in love with the character, which is to say; the writer herself, since this is a true story and she wrote a memoir of a period in her very own life. She described a time in her life when she experiences a sort of mid-life crisis, (but she’s only 34,) post-divorce, and decides to spend 4 months each in Italy, India and Indonesia, chasing worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and a balance between the two. She chronicled her travels in an excellent manner and very quickly I found myself absorbed in them.

I found her narration extremely witty and entertaining at times. Often times I could not help myself from laughing out loud while I was reading, for instance, when she describes her train of thoughts as she tries to meditate in an Ashram in India: "I was wondering where I should live once this year of traveling has ended. . . . If I lived somewhere cheaper than New York, maybe I could afford an extra bedroom and then I could have a special meditation room! That'd be nice. I could paint it gold. Or maybe a rich blue. No, gold. No, blue. . . . Finally noticing this train of thought, I was aghast. I thought: . . . How about this, you spastic fool — how about you try to meditate right here, right now, right where you actually are?"

Her writing is deep and insightful, easy to read, and very captivating. She is self-deprecating; and is not one bit ashamed to bare it all out. I enjoyed the book for the most part, but found some parts boring. But I am really glad I read this book. And I will certainly read this book a few more times for sure. To describe this book in one sentence: Travel journal meets self-improvement guide. Go figure!

Here is one of my favorite conversations from the book:

So, when the old man asked me in person what I really wanted, I found other, truer words.

“I want to have a lasting experience with God,” I told him. “Sometimes I feel like I understand the divinity of this world, but then I lose it because I get distracted by my petty desires and fears. I want to be with God all the time. But I don’t want to be a monk, or totally give up worldly pleasures. I guess what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights, but also devote myself to God.”

Ketut said he could answer my question with a picture. He showed me a sketch he’d drawn during meditation. It was an androgynous human figure, standing up, hands clasped in prayer. But this figure had four legs and no head. Where the head should have been, there was only wild foliage of ferns and flowers. There was a small, smiling face drawn over the heart.”

“To find the balance you want,” Ketut spoke through his translator, “this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it’s like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way you will know God.”