Agawam Pageturners Book Club's Discussion of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The group had a heated discussion over Eat, Pray, Love. The book is the true story of the author's one year trip to Italy, India, and Indonesia. Some people found Elizabeth very self-centered, and did not enjoy reading about her experience with depression which precipitated the trip. Others felt she did not need to travel to change, and that she was very needy; she always had to have somebody to complete her, preferably a man, in her life. One woman saw her on Oprah and thought she was ga ga over Felipe, the man she fell in love with in the Bali part of Indonesia. She did not like her at all. Others did not like the book or her. They thought she was a whiner. One woman thought her foolish when she sat in India and got bit by mosquitoes. Some members of the group liked the book and her. One woman appreciated that she did what she could not do, travel around the world in a year. Others learned about meditation and ashrams (places people go to meditate, retreat from the world, and receive spiritual instruction). One person said she got lessons out of the book and said she learned things such as harboring bad and/or good thoughts, and that we can control who/what enters our harbor (mind). Others thought she needed to travel to change. By traveling we meet people different than ourselves and learn from others. Elizabeth picked better people to associate with abroad than in America. Another member pointed out that people of her younger generation loved the book; everywhere she went people saw her reading it and told her how much they loved it. She also pointed out that she found her life paralleled Elizabeth's somewhat, and she identified with Elizabeth in the book. It was also brought out that the book pointed out that western religions have mystical and meditative elements. Overall, it was a great discussion.