Committed: A Sceptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So here’s the deal: I really liked Eat, Pray, Love. Some people really can’t stand Gilbert’s writing style, but I find it endearing and thoughtful. Committed was no different. She kind of cracks me up: whenever she needs to know about something, she needs to know EVERYTHING about it. Her ability to synthesize what must be thousands of pages of reading into quirky, funny, direct passages is really what makes her books shine. I enjoy them. Because although I claim to know a lot about many things, I have no time or patience to voraciously read everything I can get my hands on about a subject (which seems to be Gilbert’s particular talent).
This book hit a cord with me, because I will likely be entering into the institution of marriage relatively soon. I enjoyed learning about it through Gilbert’s lens. So much so, that I plan to read Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, one of the many sources Gilbert recommends. I’m fascinated by the many forms this institution has taken over the years, especially considering some in our culture act as though it has always been a beacon of stability.
Hopefully marriage won’t cause Gilbert to stop travelling and writing, because I enjoy the byproducts of those adventures.
