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.

Book Review : Eat Pray Love

Image : www.amazon.com

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

The book begins with the time when the author is going through a long and bad divorce seeking process followed by a not very promising another relationship, which leaves her in a very depressed state of mind where she has to take anti-depressants to retain her sanity. After a very pricey divorce settlement, she decides to dedicate one whole year to travelling to three countries - Italy, India and Indonesia. In these three places she finally ends up eating alot, praying alot and then loving alot, in that sequence.

In these three countries, she witnesses totally different cultures and lifestyles. She comes to Italy to satisfy one of her cherished dreams to learn Italian. She notices how Italians are masters of appreciating the beauty of doing nothing. They are hard working people but behind all the work they are actually working towards fulfilling their "doing-nothing" ideal. Whereas Americans need the convincing for the pleasure after hard work. They simply do not know how to do nothing. It is not uncommon that Americans go for regular stress relieving vacations but end up not feeling fully relaxed there too.

Then she comes to India for finding and making peace with her inner self. And ultimately she does attain that peace and enjoys the state of meditation. She has narrated this journey of hers very vividly, her inner apprehensions and questions and dislikes for some of the routine things. But ultimately everything falls into place so nicely that she ends up spending the whole time of her India visit in the ashram whereas she had set aside half of her time for travelling within India and visiting different places. She understands that the misery of all humans is love and control and how the solution is so simple to just let go. It is simple yet very difficult to practice every day.

What all we keep searching every day in the outer world is somewhere deep within ourselves. We fail to recognize our deep divine character. We do not realize that there is eternal peace somewhere within ourselves and that is the supreme Self. A guide or a Guru helps us realise our dream of attaining that divine peace. A Guru, with the aid of his own merits reveals the hidden greatness in the disciples.

After successfully spending her time in the Ashram she reaches Bali. She learns another path of peace from an old medicine man, she helps her new best friend realise her dream of owning a house there and finally finds love of her life.

The author has written this book very sincerely without trying to hold back her thoughts or questions anywhere in the book. That makes it an interesting read. Personally I liked the part when she is on her spiritual journey in India whereas her time in Italy was least impressive as most of the time she has written about what she was eating and how good that was. I understand, that part was anyway devoted to "eat" of the title "eat pray love.

But overall a very transparent portrayal of her feelings throughout the book.