Month: December 2010
Genre: Memoir non-fiction:
Book of the Month: Eat, Pray, Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Question source: http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/eat_pray_love.html
Discussion Questions:
2. After imagining a petition to God for divorce, an exhausted Gilbert answers her phone to news that her husband has finally signed. During a moment of quietude before a Roman fountain, she opens her Louise Glück collection to a verse about a fountain, one reminiscent of the Balinese medicine man’s drawing. After struggling to master a 182-verse daily prayer, she succeeds by focusing on her nephew, who suddenly is free from nightmares. Do these incidents of fortuitous timing signal fate? Cosmic unity? Coincidence?
3. Gilbert hashes out internal debates in a notebook, a place where she can argue with her inner demons and remind herself about the constancy of self-love. When an inner monologue becomes a literal conversation between a divided self, is this a sign of last resort or of self-reliance?
4. When Gilbert finally returns to Bali and seeks out the medicine man who foretold her return to study with him, he doesn’t recognize her. Despite her despair, she persists in her attempts to spark his memory, eventually succeeding. How much of the success of Gilbert’s journey do you attribute to persistence?
6. Gender roles come up repeatedly in Eat, Pray, Love, be it macho Italian men eating cream puffs after a home team’s soccer loss, or a young Indian’s disdain for the marriage she will be expected to embark upon at age eighteen, or the Balinese healer’s sly approach to male impotence in a society where women are assumed responsible for their childlessness. How relevant is Gilbert’s gender?
7. In what ways is spiritual success similar to other forms of success? How is it different? Can they be so fundamentally different that they’re not comparable?
9. Abstinence in Italy seems extreme, but necessary, for a woman who has repeatedly moved from one man’s arms to another’s. After all, it’s only after Gilbert has found herself that she can share herself fully in love. What does this say about her earlier relationships?
10. Gilbert mentions her ease at making friends, regardless of where she is. At one point at the ashram, she realizes that she is too sociable and decides to embark on a period of silence, to become the Quiet Girl in the Back of the Temple. It is just after making this decision that she is assigned the role of ashram key hostess. What does this say about honing one’s nature rather than trying to escape it? Do you think perceived faults can be transformed into strengths rather than merely repressed?
11. Sitting in an outdoor café in Rome, Gilbert’s friend declares that every city—and every person—has a word. Rome’s is “sex,” the Vatican’s “power”; Gilbert declares New York’s to be “achieve,” but only later stumbles upon her own word, antevasin, Sanskrit for “one who lives at the border.” What is your word? Is it possible to choose a word that retains its truth for a lifetime?
1 comment:
1. Pleasure is defined as “an enjoyable sensation or emotion; delight.” while entertain is defined as “to hold the attention of; amuse.” I think there is a very fine line between pleasure and entertainment. I think of all the kids in front of their video games, a nation playing Wii, watching movies, and not really learning how to enjoy a moment or experience. People only looking to multi-task and be continually stimulated. Therefore, I think Gilbert does make a fair, if very sweeping statement.
2. I think they signal fate. I think things happen for a reason, not that we don’t have choice or that our actions don’t effect outcomes, just that sometimes things happen at a precise moment because that is how they were meant to happen.
3. I think it is a sign of self-reliance. Sometimes we have to be our own motivators and voice of reason. I think you can ask for help, but I believe that everyone inherently knows what they should be doing, even if they don’t want to listen, aren’t strong enough to make the changes, or haven’t taken the time to listen yet.
4. I attribute a lot of her success to persistence, selfishness, and her fortunate circumstances. I think there are many people who would love to do what she did, but don’t have the resources.
5. I think that you have to find the right way for you personally to pray or meditate. There are many ways to achieve the same thing, but usually not all of them are right for you.
6. I don’t think Gilbert places much emphasis on her gender in the book. I think she had a different journey than a man would have had and her view was what was recorded in the book...it is her story.
7. I don’t know that how could compare spiritual success to other forms of success. I think you don’t ever reach “success” spiritually - it is a lifetime pursuit. When you are successful in other things it involves setting a goal, working towards the goal, and achieving the goal. Although Gilbert does these things I think she will always be seeking spiritually.
8. I think travel is a wonderful thing. It opens us up to new places, people, food, cultures. I think by going on the trip you sign the unwritten contract that you are going to try new things and do things you don’t do at home. You are outside your comfort zone and sometimes to survive that you just do things you wouldn’t have done otherwise.
9. I think it says that she didn’t really know herself or those that she was with. She finally realized that the best relationship she was going to have was coming after she learned herself.
10. I think it is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses - using your strengths to your advantage and working on your weaknesses. We all have them - no one is perfect. I think you can work on certain things - becoming a better listener for example - but if you are an extrovert you probably aren’t going to wake up one day and be an introvert, which is what Gilbert was trying to do. I think it is a lifetime process.
11. I had a really hard time picking a word, but I think my word right now would be status quo - trying to maintain things while knowing there are big things in my life I should/need/want to change. I think words for people change although this is probably the most appropriate word for while.
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