Book Review : Committed

Title : Committed

Author : Elizabeth Gilbert

Publisher : Bloomsbury

A very logical sequel in Elizabeth Gilbert's life is chronicled in this book. In Eat Pray Love (reviewed here) - her previous bestseller, she very transparently walked us through the feelings she underwent coming out of a long and ugly divorce process and her resolution to travel to three 'I' places - Italy, India and Indonesia as her way of healing.

In Committed, the transparency is still very neatly maintained and she takes us to another phase where she has actually moved on and is now seriously contemplating committing herself to a new relationship.

EPL ends with Elizabeth finding the love of her life in a Brazilian-born businessman - Felipe, who met her while she was in Bali, Indonesia. They both share similar background of being broke once from previous relationships and they are on the same plane as far as entering into marriage institution is concerned. They enjoy the togetherness but at the same time do not feel the need to walk the aisle once again. But this changes rather abruptly not by their own choice though. The only option they are left with (which interestingly a total stranger suggested) is to get married.

This change of scenario brings them to a juncture where they both have to reconsider their earlier firm resolve of abstaining from marriage forever. While awaiting the legal procedure taking its course, Elizabeth tries to make the best use of the time by analyzing this old and sacred institution - Marriage from all possible angles - whatever she thinks could help her getting ready to take this step forward.

She delves deep into the history of marriage and while travelling in South Asian countries during this time, she tries to understand the meaning of matrimony and commitment from the eyes of people belonging to diverse cultures and varied belief systems.

Some may consider it as a mere paranoia on the part of the protagonist (author herself) considering that they both were anyway committed to each other but then this whole exercise makes Gilbert even more sure about her decision to take on the responsibility of this relationship as a complete package.

She has the knack of giving beautiful words to her feelings flawlessly in a very fluid manner and that is the quality which makes the readers hook on to her books. But every book offers something different so its better to read this book without having the hangover of EPL. There are some chapters in which she digs deep into the history which takes it to a little impersonal level in an otherwise very personal writing but other chapters make up for those parts beautifully. Overall an interesting read but no comparison to her previous work so read with an open mind, not expecting similar results as were derived from EPL.