Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

What's the story?:
Elizabeth Gilbert is through with marriage after having a very messy divorce. When she meets Felipe, she and he promise not to get married in order to stave off heartache. When Felipe is turned away from the American border after running into vague rules on how often a foreign national can enter and exit the country, he and Elizabeth realize that in order to be together in the U.S. like they want to, they have to get married. While waiting for Felipe's paperwork to be finished, they make a tempo...more 
Elizabeth Gilbert is through with marriage after having a very messy divorce. When she meets Felipe, she and he promise not to get married in order to stave off heartache. When Felipe is turned away from the American border after running into vague rules on how often a foreign national can enter and exit the country, he and Elizabeth realize that in order to be together in the U.S. like they want to, they have to get married. While waiting for Felipe's paperwork to be finished, they make a temporary home in Southeast Asia where Elizabeth begins researching the institution of marriage. The book is filled with small tidbits and antidotes about marriage and is not meant to be used as a research book by any stretch of the imagination. The stories and antidotes are interesting and pretty entertaining.

My two cents:

I picked this book up after seeing it discussed on one of my favorite relationship type blogs, A Practical Wedding. I thought the point of the book, which was weddings are steeped in tradition but basically it is what the two people in the relationship make of it, is a good one. This would have been a good book to read before my own wedding last year. So why not give it 4 or 5 stars? Well, I found myself saying "Just get over yourself" a lot. Getting married is a big deal but the author is not the only one that has ever gotten married before. Every couple has to make these decisions and they are huge and life changing but they are not impossible choices. I found the book to be a little over dramatic at times.

I've been married for about 6 months now so my own wedding is still in the very near past for me. I can't say that I was a typical bride. I didn't get too stressed about the wedding. I loved my husband, then fiance dearly and knew I wanted to be with him forever, whatever that forever might mean. It was a serious commitment but I never really found myself over thinking it as I felt that Gilbert did in Committed. Still, it's a very interesting read for anyone in a relationship of any kind, no matter what stage it is in.


My rating:

 3 out of 5 stars