Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsRead with saltshaker in hand
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2008
Take this book with a grain (or several) of salt. Although Wilson has some good and useful things to say about marriage in book, he also has a very condescending view of women. I am no feminist, but it is clear to me that he puts women on roughly the same level as children. Here, I will let his own words speak for themselves. Following are some choice quotes from the book:
1) "Wives need to be led with a firm hand. A wife will often test her husband in some area, and be deeply disappointed if he gives in to her."
Seriously? This would be great advice if you substituted "toddlers" and "parents" for "wives" and "husbands" respectively in this passage.
2) "A wife must not complain in her fruitfulness . . . . it is the wife's duty to submit to the will of God and gladly bear children for her husband." (i.e., no matter how much pain and discomfort you're experiencing in your pregnancy, just be silent and do your duty, woman.)
Another weird opinion of Wilson's, found in several places in this book, is the assertion that a husband is responsible for maintaining his wife's "loveliness." It was never clear in the book what exactly Wilson meant by this, except that he believed the results should be physically "visible." I presume that Wilson did not mean that the husband should stock up on Botox for his wife. Beyond this, however, since he never clarified his meaning, I can only speculate. I would guess that Wilson meant that the husband should ensure the growth of his wife's inner beauty, and that this inner beauty will translate into a greater physical beauty. As nice as this idea sounds, Wilson never gave any practical advice on how to accomplish this end. I'm guessing that's because it's impossible to cultivate inner beauty in another person--inner beauty is something that each person must work on for himself/herself. Therefore, there really isn't any practical advice that Wilson could give on this.
Again, if you aren't too bothered by the author's pompous tone and his attitude toward women, you can find some useful marriage advice in this book; but overall, I wouldn't recommend it. There are better marriage books out there.
