
Of course I read Eat, Pray, Love by
Elizabeth Gilbert.
It was such a big hit a few years back. Plus, it was a woman-penned travel memoir, and I'm a big fan of that genre.
I'm also a fan of Elizabeth Gilbert. She is a great essayist--smart, witty and insightful--so I was looking forward to her new book.
It's called Committed and it is about the institution of marriage. In it, Gilbert is struggling with the idea of getting married. She's already been married once, which didn't go well, and now she is planning to get married a second time. In order to help herself feel more prepared and educated this time around, she decides to research the history of marriage.
For those who are expecting another travel tale -- don't. While most of the book does take place somewhere other than the U.S., she mentions being in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Bali, really this is a book about her marriage research and her own thoughts on marriage. There are some travel bits, which keep the narrative lively, but this isn't a travel memoir.
However, I loved the book. I read it straight through in one weekend. Gilbert's writing style makes it so easy to keep humming along.
I loved reading about the history of marriage. I found it very interesting, and as a married woman myself, and as a woman who has worked for a feminist newspaper and has written about women's issues, I agreed with much of what Gilbert had to say.
If you've got what we'd call here in the U.S. "traditional" views of marriage, your ideas will be challenged reading this book. But I wouldn't let that stop you. Gilbert is a great writer and by the end of the book, she does make peace with marriage.
Now that I've turned the last page, I'd be very curious about a man's point of view on this book. Gilbert, because she is a woman, spends most of the book musing on the meaning of marriage for women. I can't help but think this title will end up being required reading somewhere down the line in women's studies classes.
I'm wondering what the chances are that I can convince my own hubby to give this a read . . .
Labels: My Reading List