Reading Eat, Pray, Love & A Case for Easy Reads

 I'm 12 years late to the party and buzz surrounding this book and probably 15-20 years under the target age. In fact, if I hadn't heard so much about Elizabeth Gilbert and then hadn't seen this book at a used book store for a dollar, I wouldn't have picked it up at least for another decade, or maybe never. So why did I read it? And what'd I get out of it? Why am I bothering to talk about it here?

I'm talking about it because I think I needed to read something like this book very badly. And not for the usual idea - not because I was going through a mid-life crisis (that would be concerning at 17) - but because I needed a light read. I needed a guilty pleasure. Something to get me in the flow of reading again, to make it enjoyable again. 

This summer, I had (who am I kidding, still have) ten-ish books I was required to read, for school or for camp or for research. Every book I wanted to read that wasn't one of those required reads made me feel guilty, and all the required reads felt like a chore. Even the ones I'd chosen for myself! I started to find myself not reading at all just because it wasn't enjoyable. 

Part of this problem is just getting over my petty self and chugging through the books. Or convincing myself that just because something is required  doesn't mean it has to be a chore. But the truth is, I think I will almost always rather read for the sheer pleasure and joy of it than for the analysis of a work. 

This is a little worrisome as a realization, because I'm headed off to college in a year to probably study literature. Which means required reading will be through the roof. And while I adore discussing and picking apart works, my love of books comes from just sheer adoration of the reading process. 

Which is where books like Eat, Pray, Love come in. Did I really need this book? Probably not. Did it become a beacon of spiritual light? Not really. I would love to become more spiritual, but right now doesn't feel like the time. But was it enjoyable and easy-to-read? Absolutely. The entire book felt like an effortless conversation. I finished in four days, which was crazy considering it's almost taken me a month (traveling, but still) to get through 100 pages of a required book. 

Now I feel so much more refreshed and ready to take on the books I should be reading in the next two months. I feel like I've given my reading mind a slight walk in the middle of a run, and can't wait to enjoy really getting into the more complex, challenging reads ahead.

So while I won't be joining the club of Eat, Pray, Love devotees, I am fully willing to say a huge thank you to Liz Gilbert for reminding me why I love reading in the first place: for pleasure, for joy. In fact, my relationship with reading is a lot like Gilbert's discoveries on her travels. Pleasure is how I recognize why I read, devotion to literature is how I challenge my reading, and in the end, I have realized how important the balance between them is.