In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri Book Review!

Posted On July 17, 2021

Hi Readers! Happy Weekend! After not being in the mood of not reviewing a few books that I read, I am finally back with a book review! Jhumpa Lahiri has been one of my favourite authors. Even though I have read only 3 of her books, I thoroughly loved. The other 2 have been on my TBR for forever. The one which I read was ‘In Other Words’, which is sort of an autobiographical book. I did not enjoy reading this book, and it took me a lot of time to put all my thoughts together on this one. While I understand why some people might have loved it, I still cannot put myself in their shoes to try to love the book, not this one.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

From the Pulitzer Prize winner, a surprising, powerful, and eloquent nonfiction debut.

In Other Words is at heart a love story—of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. And although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterward, true mastery had always eluded her. So in 2012, seeking full immersion, she decided to move to Rome with her family, for “a trial by fire, a sort of baptism” into a new language and world.

In Rome, Lahiri began to read, and to write—initially in her journal—solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice. Presented in a dual-language format, it is a book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Nabokov. A startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

~~THOUGHTS~~

First of all, I would like to talk about the prose throughout the book. It is Jhumpa Lahiri’s first attempt at writing an entire book in another language – Italian. And, as the description suggests, it is a love story between the author with the Italian language. I applaud her courage for writing this book, especially in another language. After reading about her roller coaster of a story with Italian, I would have loved to love the book, but I only saw faults & nothing remotely enjoyable or lovable.

Throughout the book, all I read was the author’s negative views. She has written about all the feelings a human could possibly feel, but for a language. She felt disconnected to it. She felt foreign from all the languages she speaks. She felt torn between Italian & English how she never really fit in with either of them. And just so much more. These sort of feelings are what people with mental health issues face. And, I thought it was just out of place or simply wrong to associate those strong feelings to a language. There are people who literally face the horrors of depression & anxiety for reasons stemming from their childhood or trauma or more devastating reasons, and then we have to read about how she was depressed after being separated from the Italian language. I am not invalidating her feelings, but to me, it seemed like a lot to put out there.

Being born in India, I can speak three languages, like most Indians. I have not tried to learn a new language. Maybe because I don’t have this love for language, I couldn’t relate to the book. But, being an experienced reader, I can imagine myself as a lover of languages, just to understand where the author is coming from. But, even after doing that, I was not really convinced. If this were a 15-minute TED Talk or a 25-minute random YouTube video or even a 4-page article, it would have created more reverberations than it did with a 233-page book of repetitive lines & a doubtful melancholic love story.

And, while we are at it, I wanted to point out how it did not look like a love story to me at all. It sounded like a relationship rooting from lust, slowly turning to an obsession causing nothing but heart break time & again. It was a classic toxic relationship, if you ask me. Sure, there were good parts like in any relationship, but they were so minimal that they never left an impression. She was either depressed about not fitting in with Italian or never felt connected to it or had to leave the country time & again.

Trying to end the review on the things that I actually liked, There were only 2 parts in the story which I liked. I absolutely loved the first chapter, of her swimming in a lake & all the metaphors that come with it. Secondly, I also loved the first short story she wrote in Italian – The Exchange. She is a writer of stories, which she should stick with.

Don’t get me wrong. I love reading a good melancholic story that will hit me in the heart & get my tears rolling. I also love reading the kind of prose this book had. But, overall its content was a lot repetitive where she kept talking in circles about the same things. I physically couldn’t read more than 2 pages at once, else I would have thrown the book into a wall. After a point, it was also sort of sad. I had read her novels which I loved, and then in this book, I got to see the author herself. Her mind was unveiled about her own story & I did not like it in the least. I also started questioning my love for her novels in the first place. So, yes, it was quite a devastating read for me. I have rated it at 2/5 stars!

Until next time,