Books we can't stop

recommending

Commited

Elizabeth Gilbert 2010

maybe you should talk to someone lori go

You all know her because of Eat, Pray, Love and I'm guilty of just seeing that movie, but as usual, books are always better, so hopefully you read it. Committed is the story after the "they lived happily ever after", although there was just love, no marriage in Bali at the end of the book. You know why? Because both of them were sceptical about it. Reality kicked and an issue that affects many nomads and expats made them take marriage into consideration. He could not enter the USA any more. The book is about their further travellings which she used to understand what made people commit during different eras, in different cultures, the importance of religion or economics and families in general. If you're a sceptical too it might be appealing to confirm your doubts and you get even more into the biases of intercultural shocks, while discovering an abundance of interesting factoids.

Get to know the author

Yes, after the success of “Eat, Pray, Love,” she was freaked out and self-conscious and wondered if she was finished as a writer, in spite of the fact that she’d written three earlier books, all well received and one nominated for a National Book Award. In this TED Talk she talks exactly about these feelings and if you don't know her already, might be a good way to get into her world.

Quotes and pages

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ancient Roman law recognized marriage between aristocratic males, she says. Divorce rates skyrocket when arranged marriages give way to “love marriages.” Papua New Guineans have a special category of songs about “marriages which never came to pass but should have.” Gilbert also shares practical tips, including a remarkably clear and simple recipe, drawn from the research of the psychologist Shirley P. Glass, on how not to cheat on your spouse (the short version: Don’t confide in anyone else more than you do in him or her).