Eat Pray Love

【摘要】本文是對美國小說家伊麗莎白.吉爾伯特所著自傳性小說《一輩子做女孩》的管中窺豹。基于本文作者個人的閱讀體驗，文章將該書可能為讀者帶來的益處分為三個方面進行討論：文化方面、精神方面、心理方面。通過具體引文以及個人閱讀感悟，本文旨在拋磚引玉，吸引更多讀者去看這本書，去吸收有益于他們生命成長的養料。

【關鍵詞】《美食祈禱和戀愛》;伊麗莎白吉爾伯特;文化;精神;心理

【Abstract】This article is a brief introduction and discussion of the book Eat Pray Love， written by Elizabeth Gilbert. Based on specific quotes from the book， the article categorizes the reading benefits into three main aspects： cultural aspect， spiritual aspect， and psychological aspect， aiming to interest more people to read this book and get their share of benefits.

【Key words】Eat Pray Love; Elizabeth Gilbert; culturally; spiritually; psychologically

【作者簡介】張曉麗，上海政法學院外國語學院。

It was quite by accident that I got my hands on the book Eat Pray Love written by Elizabeth Gilbert in a bookstore. On the cover， the introduction goes： “In her early thirties， Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want——husband， country home， successful career——but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled， she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success， and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression， Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature， set against the backdrop of three different cultures： pleasure in Italy， devotion in India， and on the Indonesian island of Bali， a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.” So， this book is not fictional but about true （or almost true） things that actually happened in the authors life. This idea interested me immensely and I immediately decided to buy and read it. Thanks to this wise purchase， Ive been blessed with almost one months time of getting engaged， amused， thrilled， illuminated and finally elated by this incredibly wonderful book.

Having finished reading this book， I am pretty sure Ive benefited tremendously from it. To be more specific and analytical， I will present these benefits in three main aspects——the cultural aspect， the spiritual aspect and the psychological aspect.

1. The Cultural Aspect

Often， the term culture sounds pretty abstract to our ear. In this book， with Gilberts observatory eyes， sensitive feelings and expressive words， culture comes across as being something concrete and solid， appreciable and touchable， unfolding itself in details.

Example 1.1 （P.79-81）

“While I have come Italy in order to experience pleasure， during the first few weeks I was there， I felt a bit of panic as to how one should do that. Frankly， pure pleasure is not my cultural paradigm. I come from a long line of super-conscientious people. My mothers family were Swedish immigrant farmers， who look in their photographs like， if theyd ever even seen something pleasurable， they might have stomped on it with their hobnailed boots. （My uncle calls the whole lot of them “oxen.”） My fathers side of the family were English Puritans， those great goofy lovers of fun. If I look on my dads family tree all the way back to the seventeenth century， I can actually find Puritan relatives with names like Diligence and Meekness.

My own parents have a small farm， and my sister and I grew up working. We were taught to be dependable， responsible， the top of our classes at school， the most organized and efficient babysitters in town， the very miniature models of our hardworking farmer/ nurse of a mother， a pair of junior Swiss Army Knives， born to multitask. We had a lot of enjoyment in my family， a lot of laughter， but the walls were papered with to-do lists and I never experienced or witnessed idleness， not once in my whole entire life.

Generally speaking， though， Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation， but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one. Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused with everything from porns to theme parks to wars， but thats not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment. Americans work harder， longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today. But as Luca Spaghetti pointed out， we seem to like it. Alarming statistics back this observation up， showing that many Americans feel happy and fulfilled in their offices than they do in their own homes. Of course， we all inevitably work too hard， then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas， eating cereal straight out of the box and staring at the TV in a mild coma（which is the opposite of working， yes， but not exactly the same thing as pleasure）. Americans dont really know how to do nothing. This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype --- the over-exhausted executive who goes on vacation， but who cannot relax.

...

...But even against that backdrop of hard work， il bel far nente（ meaning “the beauty of doing nothing”） has always been a cherished Italian ideal. The beauty of doing nothing is the goal of all your work， the final accomplishment for which you are most highly congratulated. The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing， the higher your lifes achievement. You dont necessarily need to be rich in order to experience this， either. Theres another wonderful Italian expression： larte darrangiarsi--- the art of making something out of nothing. The art of turning a few simple ingredients into a feast， or a few gathered friends into a festival. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this， not only the rich.

For me， though， a major obstacle in my pursuit of happiness was my ingrained sense of Puritan guilt. Do I really deserve this pleasure？ This is very American， too --- the insecurity about whether we have earned our happiness. Planet Advertising in America orbits completely around the need to convince the uncertain consumer that yes， you have actually warranted a special treat. This Bud is for You！ You Deserve a Break Today！ Because You are Worth it！ You have Come a Long Way， Baby！ ... Such advertising campaigns would probably not be as effective in the Italian culture， where people already know that they are entitled to enjoyment in this life. ...”

Personal note： In the first weeks of the her stay in Italy， where she planned to experience that famous pure pleasure， the author experienced kind of a cultural shock， as demonstrated in the above quotation. Influenced by puritan tradition， Americans tend to value discipline， diligence， work and responsibility， whereas in Italy， people tend to demonstrate their love for “the beauty of doing nothing”in almost every aspect of their life， even to the extent of regarding it as the highest achievement of their life. One negative side effect of the American culture is that people there tend to work too much to relax themselves in an appropriate and pleasant way， as evidenced both by the authors experience of her inability to taste “pure pleasure” in the initial phase of her stay in Italy and “that great sad American stereotype --- the over-exhausted executive who goes on vacation， but who cannot relax”. Though the negative side effect of Italian culture is not mentioned in the book， I believe there is one. Maybe， the love for enjoying “the beauty of doing nothing” is to blame for the reportedly sluggish Italian economy in these years！？ The differences between the American advertising campaigns and the Italian ones， as mentioned in the above quotation， also make me stop to notice that our Chinese advertising campaigns share more characteristics with American ones than Italian ones. For example， in our Chinese TV Commercials， we can hear encouraging lines going like：”You Deserve It！ （你值得擁有！）” and “Parents Have Worked Hard Their Whole Life， and Its Time for Them to Enjoy a Wonderful Relaxing Lifestyle. （父母辛苦了一輩子，是享清福的時候了！）”.? Obviously， the philosophy behind these lines is close to that of Americans. Also， in todays fast-moving Chinese society， more and more people find them experiencing a sense of loss when having nothing to be busy about. So， one question for us Chinese to think about ： Shall we warn ourselves against following that “sad American stereotype”？