Books into movies

Four of us girlfriends went to see Eat, Pray, Love this past weekend. It's the movie most women have been waiting to see, but whether or not it fulfilled their wishes to see a good book turned into a movie, only they will know.
The movie portrays Julia Roberts in the lead, a woman some reviewers called a "conflicted" woman. If that's the case, there have probably been a great number of "conflicted" women around over the last thousands of years.
Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the book, was one such woman; thus, her reason for writing the book.
I read the book about two years ago and found the movie just as interesting. When I watched Gilbert being interviewed by Matt Lauher the other day, she said she
was pleased with the way the movie turned out. So
was I.
But the best part of watching the movie as compared to reading the book was in getting to see all those wonderful places she visited.
We roamed the narrow streets of Italy with Julia Roberts, ate pizza with her, and drank the wine. The scenery was gorgeous. Of course, she discovered the power of nourishment and, as Gilbert said, she gained 30
pounds.
Then we sat meditation with her in the ashram's temple, went to an Indian wedding, and felt her pain as we watched her go through periods of forgiveness and forgiving. Here she discovered the power of prayer.
When she ended up in Bali, we rejoiced at the beauty of the ocean, the trees and flowers, her "house" she lived in, and the lessons she learned from a wise, little, old man. But it was in Bali she discovered love and how to conquer her fear of being hurt by loving.
If you haven't seen the movie, why not delve into the book first? Then see the movie; see if you catch the subtle changes. And then...like all good readers do, decide which one you like the best.
As for me, I love reading the books first.