In Other Words in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 31, 2018 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it liked it

Shelves: italy

Jhumpa Lahiri first spoke Bengali. Then she learned English.

She became a writer. A good writer. She won prizes. Big prizes. All in English.

One day she wanted to learn Italian. She started. She decided to move to Italy. She did. Then she wanted to write in Italian. She did.

She never felt so free as when she felt constrained to write in Italian.

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Jan 05, 2021 Vicky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: languages, favorites, own-pre-konmari, bilingual-editions, on-translation

An unexpected, but appropriate, first book of 2021 for me, which allowed me to reflect on how I spent so much of 2020 interested in language learning, spiraling into the drama of polyglots on YouTube, becoming obsessed with my flashcard deck, meeting new people online, and sometimes processing micro-judgments from 1-3 people + my mom for not [currently] learning a language that would receive their approval. I had to maintain a very long Google Doc like a note-to-self for a while to record my ~jo An unexpected, but appropriate, first book of 2021 for me, which allowed me to reflect on how I spent so much of 2020 interested in language learning, spiraling into the drama of polyglots on YouTube, becoming obsessed with my flashcard deck, meeting new people online, and sometimes processing micro-judgments from 1-3 people + my mom for not [currently] learning a language that would receive their approval. I had to maintain a very long Google Doc like a note-to-self for a while to record my ~journey~ and justifications.

So I was quite excited to remember that this book—"a sort of linguistic autobiography, a self-portrait"—by Jhumpa Lahiri existed at the very end of last month. She wrote these short reflections on her process of learning Italian—and in Italian as well—because she fell in love with it. As she explains, she spoke Bengali to please her parents, English to survive in the US, but with Italian, "I earned every word: nothing about it was handed down. Everything derives from my determination." I relate to the moment she decided to tell someone that she was participating in a literary festival in Rome as her main motivation for learning it so that they can go "ah, ok."

This book is for readers who enjoy details like: how she reads a book, how she uses the dictionary, hearing about how this relates back to her writing process like how "in learning Italian I learned, again, to write," and if you are learning a language yourself, feeling reassured by how she shares confusion, poor memory, frustration, and that she is still making mistakes even after 25 years.

This book would not be for readers who are expecting: Jhumpa Lahiri to write in a certain way based upon her works in English, for her to share logistics about how she moved her whole family to Italy or addressing various privileges, or describe too much about Rome itself, nor anything beyond the strictly personal scope. There are also a few word choices and analogies that she uses that I would not have used, like about prisons vs. palaces, poverty and living on the street, for a voluntary move to immerse herself in Italian and avoid English as 100% as possible.

The unknown words remind me that there's a lot I don't know in this world.

Sometimes a word can provoke an odd response. One day, for example, I discover the word claustrale (cloistered). I can guess at the meaning, but I would like to be certain. I'm on a train. I check the pocket dictionary. The word isn't there. Suddenly I'm enthralled, bewitched by this word. I want to know it immediately. Until I understand it I'll feel vaguely restless. However irrational the idea, I'm convinced that finding out what this word means could change my life.

* * *

To write in a new language, to penetrate its heart, no technology helps. You can't accelerate the process, you can't abbreviate it. The pace is slow, hesitant, there are no shortcuts. [THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.]

* * *

The more my comprehension of Italian increases, the more it reveals a weakness in English. The process deepens my understanding of both languages, and thus the flight is also a return.

...more

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Jan 27, 2019 Andy Plonka rated it it was amazing

Shelves: src

I could really resonate with the author on this one. Having spent almost 5 years living in Japan and trying hard to learn at least enough Japanese to respond to shopkeepers and carry on simple conversations, too often I felt that many Japanese people seemed to resent my effort to communicate with them in their own language. I made some Japanese friends who seemed to appreciate my effort, but I was surprised at the many that did not. Because of this experience. I have always tried to be extra kin ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Preeti rated it really liked it

Profound and bold.

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Jan 26, 2016 Kristen Iworsky rated it it was ok

I was disappointed in this book and skimmed the last 50 pages just to get through it. It could have been condensed into a short story or essay. I wanted to learn more about her actual day to day life in Italy learning the language, but there was very little of that.

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