{"id":1172,"date":"2016-02-19T11:02:33","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T05:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2020-02-23T10:50:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T05:20:16","slug":"book-review-in-other-words-by-jhumpa-lahiri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/book-review-in-other-words-by-jhumpa-lahiri\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Other Words<\/em>is the first non fiction book written by Jhumpa Lahiri. She pens down the story of her decision to master the Italian language after spending a life as the daughter of immigrant Indian parents in America which left her with no sense of belonging to either side. The book is written in Italian and translated into English by Ann Goldstein, editor at The NewYorker.<\/p>\n

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In Other Words <\/em>is a journey<\/h3>\n

The book takes you on a journey with Jhumpa Lahiri as she talks about how she developed a fascination for Italian and the reasons for her decision to write in Italian rather than English when she is at the peak of her success. While many critics feel this to\u00a0be a rash and unwise decision, Jhumpa puts forth her reasons for doing so in a convincing manner.<\/p>\n

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In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The chapters are short and promise a fast read. The comparisons to her choice of Italian as a medium of expression compared with Ovid\u2019s works is a delight to read. Her metamorphosis to write in Italian, though she will never be acknowledged as an Italian writer offers food for thought. The reader would love pacing through Jhumpa in the busy streets of Rome as she reminisces how much she yearned for such a life while in America and slowly trains herself in taming the language. The particular incident about how her husband who did not speak Italian well enough as her (who had spent twenty years learning the language) being often regarded as someone of Italian descent while her fluent Italian did not attract much attention as she did not \u2018look Italian\u2019 are beautifully expressed.<\/p>\n

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However, by the end of the book, I couldn\u2019t help wishing she had emphasized on the thoughts she made a fleeting mentions of and edited out the ones she kept lingering on. I found the book repetitive in many chapters, like how stand-alone\u00a0diary entries are written- the same thoughts represented in different ways (eg: how Bengali, her mother tongue is like an alienating mother and English was a more welcoming stepmother; or how she felt stretched apart between the two languages she knew earlier; or how she carried a dictionary and learnt new words).<\/p>\n

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In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Though I do appreciate the fact that she has strode great lengths by mastering the lexical nuances of a new language to the point that her thoughts come to her effortlessly in Italian, I did find the repetitions tedious. In Other Words<\/em> often felt like an exercise book to practice Lahiri’s Italian. This book is a huge achievement for Jhumpa Lahiri as she has widened the \u00a0reach of her pen. However for the reader, the book does not seem to be at par with the finesse of Jhumpa’s writings in English.<\/p>\n

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In Other words <\/em> is a book of discovery, of getting acquainted with\u00a0another person within yourself by finding freedom \u00a0in the strangeness of a new language. This would be a great book if you have been following Jhumpa Lahiri\u2019s work for some time and would like to know about the changes she has incorporated in her life. The writer talks of how she paddled through the foreign waters of language and anonymity, and found\u00a0liberation\u00a0\u00a0through love for Italian. Though this book is unsteady like a baby that has taken its first few steps, I hope to see more works of Jhumpa in Italian that showcase her masterful\u00a0writing in the future.<\/p>\n

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Title : In Other Words
\nAuthor : Jhumpa Lahiri
\nTranslated by : Ann Goldstein from Italian
\nPublisher : Hamish Hamilton
\nPublished : 2016
\nLanguage : English
\nPages : 224
\nRating : 3\/5<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/h3>\n
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