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In Other Words

Jhumpa Lahiri,

Ann Goldstein (Translator)

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 28, 2018

Discussion: Author's Pick

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What Members Thought

Mar 10, 2017 Cheryl rated it really liked it

Shelves: on-writing, non-fiction, memoirs

lingua come una marea, ora un'inondazione, ora bassa, inaccessibile

There are two writers whose stories are similar to stories I'd aspire to write: Jhumpa Lahiri and Chimamanda Adichie. They write about the immigrant experience, of characters who have overcome obstacles, of those who strive to simply find some soupçon of success in foreign lands. Writers like Lahiri reveal the immigrant's challenges and successes with assimilation in new cultures. So of course it was a delight to read the autobio lingua come una marea, ora un'inondazione, ora bassa, inaccessibile

There are two writers whose stories are similar to stories I'd aspire to write: Jhumpa Lahiri and Chimamanda Adichie. They write about the immigrant experience, of characters who have overcome obstacles, of those who strive to simply find some soupçon of success in foreign lands. Writers like Lahiri reveal the immigrant's challenges and successes with assimilation in new cultures. So of course it was a delight to read the autobiographical account of her own challenges in Rome, Italy, as she tries to write and speak a new language:

Just as a word can have many dimensions, many nuances, great complexity, so, too, can a person, a life. Language is the mirror, the principal metaphor. Because ultimately the meaning of a word, like that of a person, is boundless, ineffable.

Lahiri did not live in the Calcutta she writes about in her fiction and even though some insist her stories are nonfictional, she explains that she is a woman who has created stories and characters from her imagination, though using the homeland of her parents. In this memoir, the reader finally gets a glimpse of the woman behind the desk, the writer who seeks herself in books and language. There is something exhilarating about languages and cultures, and this contemplative memoir emphasizes this while also showcases a woman's struggle with identity and search for homeland:

Without a homeland and without a true mother tongue, I wander the world, even at my desk. In the end I realize that it wasn't a true exile: far from it. I am exiled even from the definition of exile.

Why would someone live in a country for a year, sense a language, study the language for over a decade? And why would an American writer choose to write a book in Italian? More importantly, why would a fiction writer decide to embrace the world of nonfiction? These are the questions I had as I read this memoir, for Lahiri's reflections certainly resonate with this immigrant reader who has also considered finding placement through language. Although in some instances one senses the hesitations of the novice nonfiction writer afraid to unmask privacy, this memoir about possibility and triumph, about the writing craft and language discovery, is written in the same gorgeous, simple layered style that comprise Lahiri's oeuvre (Now onto my fourth read of hers: The Namesake ). ...more

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Mar 05, 2018 Mariah Roze rated it liked it

I read this book for the Goodreads' book club Diversity in All Forms! If you would like to participate in the discussion here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This book is all about the author's love for learning the language of Italian and everything she did to make that happen. She moved to Italy and wrote this book in Italian. (I read the English version).

This book had some interesting points, but probably should have ended a lot sooner. It seemed the author didn't have m ...more

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Dec 01, 2016 Marcela rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir, biography, non-fiction

This is my third book by Jhumpa Lahiri. Having loved The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth, I was really looking forward to reading this book. In Other Words, is Lahiri's first book in Italian and it was actually translated to English by a different person. The book is about Lahiri's journey to writing in Italian, which is her third language after Punjabi and English.
There is no doubt that Lahiri is a very talented author and she has a great way with words and how she makes them flow. However, I ...more

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