Review: Love & War

Title: Love & War

Author: John & Stasi Eldredge

Publisher: Doubleday (2009)

Genre: Non-fiction, Marriage

Book Source: Book provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah

Publisher Link: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385529808

Publisher's Summary:

What the Eldredge bestsellers Wild at Heart did for men, and Captivating did for women, LOVE & WAR will do for married couples everywhere. John and Stasi Eldredge have contributed the quintessential works on Christian spirituality through the experience of men and the experience of women and now they turn their focus to the incredible dynamic between those two forces.

With refreshing openness that will grab readers from the first page, the Eldredge's candidly discuss their own marriage and the insights they have gained from the challenges they faced. Each talks independently to the reader about what they’ve learned, giving their guidance personal immediacy and a balance between the male and female perspectives that has been absent from all previous books on this topic. They begin LOVE & WAR with an obvious but necessary acknowledgment: Marriage is fabulously hard. They advise that the sooner we get the shame and confusion off our backs, the sooner we'll find our way through.

My Thoughts: I found this book to be fairly slow going at first, but after a while I became comfortable with the pace. A lot of the content seemed like common sense advice. Some of the topics covered are; having a shared purpose, managing conflict, allowing for the difference in your spouse's style of relating and finding time to devote to each other. I appreciated the Eldredge's realistic look at the hardships common to most marriages. Their stories sometimes highlighted the difference in perspective between men and women. This was achieved by both of them writing individually about the same event. I liked their writing style. It flowed smoothly and was easy to follow. They included many of their own stories as well as examples from popular movies and music. This helped to provide variety and worked well to illustrate their points. Love & War is based on Christian beliefs and this is a strong thread throughout.