Committed and Schopenhauer’s Porcupines

Somehow writing about the second novel by Elizabeth Gilbert - the Eat Pray Love author - reminds me of the biblical story of Jesus turning water into wine. Not because it is some kind of miracle but because to me the second wine was better than the first.

When I bought it I was thinking it would be more of the same story in a different cover. But surprisingly it was not. Of course it started from where Eat Pray Love ended and how she and Felipe had to get married. A situation which arose as a border guard not granting him a visa letting him in to the USA.

I found the book an absolutely wonderful read. I love her writing style and structure. I actually savored every word and sentence whilst reading as if it were a nice meal. While Eat Pray love got a little boring towards the end you cannot say the same of this book.

It was also full of info about the origins of marriage and what marriage is to different people in different cultures. It was like reading a script to a documentary with a story line woven in.

There are two facts which I thought was interesting enough to share with you. Just in case you don't get a chance to read the book. I did speak to someone who thought the author was whiney.

The first interesting fact was that most extra marital affairs actually begin as friendships.

And the second was about Schopenhauer’s Porcupines.

Basically what it talks about is two porcupines hibernating in Winter. And as it gets colder the two porcupines begin to huddle closer and closer together. At one point they become so close their quills start to prick one another. And by this time since they are nice and warm they move apart. But once they begin to feel cold they start to move closer to each other once again. And the entire cycle keeps repeating continuously. Schopenhauer’s theory is certain human relationships are like this.

And all I could think of was how true!