THE outlook about marriage differs from culture to culture. In nuclear family societies like in the west, the spouse becomes the centre of the life. Whereas in several Asian societies, there is more involvement of the family and a societal support system for the institution of marriage. It is not merely a contract between two individuals.
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of bestseller Eat, Pray Love married and divorced vowing not get into marriage ever again goes in search of the meaning of the term. Her travels in Asia, with the man she is in love gives her new insights, which she has shared with readers in Committed. Despite enormous doubts and skepticism, she settles into marriage once again, hoping this time it would work.
She falls in love with Felipe – a Brazilian with Australian citizenship. Marriage between them is literally forced by the US immigration authorities who declare that Felipe cannot enter the US unless they are married.
She discovers that marriage is an exercise in ‘tolerance.’ “…learning how to accommodate your life as generously as possible around a basically decent human being who can sometimes be an unmitigated pain in the ass.”
Committed is not as engaging as her Eat, Pray Love which went on to be made into a movie. Committed is in a way a culmination of the earlier book. The reason why this book does not connect like the other could be because this is intensely personal, more a book of logistics than emotion.
(Bloomsbury Publishing Plc,36, Soho Square, London W1D 3QY,)
