In Other Words

by Jhumpa Lahiri

In Other Words is a revelation. It 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. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterwards, true mastery had always eluded her.

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. There, she 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, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

• ISBN10: 0670088897
• ISBN13: 9780670088898
• Publish Date: 1 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: IN
• Publisher: Penguin Random House India
• Imprint: Penguin Hamish Hamilton
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[lovelybookshelf]

Yes, Lahiri wrote a book in Italian. This is a wonderful, heartfelt memoir of language learning. But it covers so much more than that! The struggle to feel like you belong to your community. Finding where you feel at home. Pursuing your interests and passions even when they aren’t “practical.” The feelings of “linguistic exile” that come with speaking a language that isn’t common where you live. The assumptions we tend to make about people based on their name, their appearance, their accent (or lack of). How the nuances of a language can tell us a lot about the perspective of its people. Why we strive to learn things we know we’ll never master.

Read my full review at Lovely Bookshelf.