Welcome to Litsy!

“Solitude: it's become my trade. As it requires a certain discipline, it's a condition I try to perfect. And yet it plagues me, it weighs on me in spite of my knowing it so well.”

https://english.shabd.in/whereabouts-jhumpa-lahiri/book/10086942

Lyrical and flowing, not so much about the plot as the prose.

Fabulous collection of short stories. 👌

Bought this book because I'd read her first story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, several years ago.

This collection did not disappoint. Excellent.

#readathon #OutstandingOctober @Andrew65 #shortstories

A tiny book that wouldn‘t be my usual type of reading, but which made an impression on me. We see life through the eyes of a woman woman as she moves about the city she lives. Although she has many friends, she seems on the periphery, looking in, observing all the time. We learn the minimum about her own life, but what we do adds to the feel of the character‘ outsideness. There‘s a languid feel to the book, but it gives you much to think about

very short read…more like a collection of feelings or meditations…themes of loneliness, family trauma and the rhythms of life. enjoyable. my only critique is that maybe is was too one note. i wanted to uncover more of the narrators inner world.

Lahiri‘s writing is just phenomenal. I‘d read anything she writes. Her prose simply ebbs and flows like a winding river. This was a very unique, atmospheric read. Since I matched the cover that day, I thought it apt to make a similarly atmospheric photograph with the book.

I feel a little torn about this one. I didn‘t love the beginning and found the style very bland and too spare at various points. I guess I‘d say this one was intriguing enough for me to finish it but ultimately unsatisfying.

Love this epigraph but don‘t know how I feel about the book so far…

A spare, simple novella. An unnamed woman in an unnamed Italian city talks of fragments of her daily life chapter by chapter; her local cafe, her office, an encounter with a potential lover, her loneliness yet desire for solitude. We never learn much about her but she does tentatively dip into her childhood. Nothing like the other books I‘ve read by this author (I loved The Namesake in particular), this was both sad and strangely soothing.

‘In the mornings after breakfast I walk past a small marble plaque propped against the high wall flanking the road.‘
#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

I could see my future in this book xD

Lahiri's writing is beautiful as she explores the everyday, the ordinary in these interconnected vignettes. Excellent!

I am very much here for Lahiri‘s Italian era. This novel, a series of interconnected anecdotes, she wrote in Italian and then translated to English herself. A simple and quiet story that made me want to go drink espresso at a cafe in Rome.

Fantastic book! Unnamed character was relatable and the authors way of catching the introspective monologue was perfect.

A gorgeous novel. Snippets of a woman‘s solitary life spent in an Italian city. I know this type of writing style won‘t work for everyone but I enjoyed the short chapters and sparse prose. The moments that make up a life. Don‘t read this if you need plot!

I love weekend mornings ♥️
FINALLY getting around to Whereabouts and it‘s going very well so far. I wish I would have read it in time for #camptob

What I liked:

1) A writer of South Asian heritage who previously wrote diasporic fiction about the immigrant experience now writing a plotless novel about an unnamed woman in an unnamed city.

2) The way the narrator filters her perceptions & love of solitude through the lens of her relationship to her parents.

What I didn't like:

1) The lack of personality, wit, or humour. The narrator's tone felt flat; the style generic. I'll forget this soon

I enjoy narratives told in evocative vignettes, and introspective character studies, and quiet stories about solidarity women—so this novella is definitely my kind of thing. In spite of the MC‘s careful observations of other people, however, she doesn‘t share much about herself. Translation by the author; #audiobook read by Susan Vinciotti Bonito.

The sexism in this novel troubles me. Example: “I‘ve always felt in someone‘s shadow, even though I don‘t have to compare myself to brothers who are smarter, or to sisters who are prettier.” In another place, the narrator says something along the lines of all women having a common experience of having had affairs with married men. 🤨

The #CampToB discussion about the second half of Whereabouts is rather negative imo. One of them even says she wouldn‘t have finished it if it weren‘t for the tournament. What do you think?

And while you‘re here, please vote for our July winner! The official July winner will be announced next week. Please vote in the comments!

A single woman in living in an Italian city, walks through the city. As she do she visits the office, the bookstore, the museum, the pool and other places. She takes the time to think about these places and other times she was there.

A book focusing on the small things in life because the small things is actually what makes a life.

#CampToB

#CampToB

We‘re discussing the first half of Wherabouts, in which a woman questioning her place in the world, wavers between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. Sigrid Nuñez supposedly has said this narrator is clinically depressed, Jhumpa Lahiri herself said about her narrator, “I think the book is about her relationship with her solitude.”

So what do you think?

A very quiet novel; I‘m not sure how I really feel about it. I‘ve been mixed on Lahiri in the past but this feels like a big departure for her, which makes sense given the translation element. While I really liked a lot of the observations and the writing, the tone kept me at a distance. This felt more experimental vs fully realized. #camptob #catsoflitsy

We‘re introduced to the life of a woman who lives a quiet, solitary life. She has her routines, her work, her friends and lovers and her past. And then, after 157 pages, we leave her to it.

With that popular style of writing so sparsely it reminds me of authors like Offill but Lahiri knows how to add exactly that what makes this book unique, maybe even lyrical, in as few words as possible. #CampToB

My feelings exactly. We‘re finally having summer again here and the city feels crispy and fresh and full of chances and promises. There‘s laughing and music and the faint smell of weed. I love reading this book in the sun on a bench in front of my house. Maybe covid will one day be over.

Once I realized this was a novel and not a memoir, I began to appreciate the skill and depth much more. What essentially reads as ramblings or diary entries is in fact a melancholy existence of a middle age woman. Really beautiful writing and often sharp observations of a life at it‘s midway mark. An interesting choice/pairing for #CampToB21 going against a very different story (Klara and the Sun). I much prefer this novel. #OneSittingRead

A beautifully constructed, slight novella about the tension between solitude and loneliness that exists in all of our lives to varying degrees. This was my first foray into Lahiri and I was struck by the thoughtfulness and care with which each sentence was constructed. This collection of vignettes are expertly observed insights into human nature and connection. It reminded me a lot of reading Rachel Cusk.

Squeezing a couple minutes of reading the tagged while chaplain on-call at the hospital. Someone brought these flowers from their garden today, so I'm enjoying sitting by them and taking a breath after a busy 10.5 hours on-call. 🥰

Saw that this was immediately available on Libby so thought I‘d get a head start on #campTOB. It‘s a really short book so I read most of it in one go at the hairdressers this morning.

I won‘t spoil anything so I‘ll wait until the discussions later in the month to review in more detail, but I loved it! Gorgeous cover too….

Road trip! On our way to Nebraska. Mail was just delivered so am reading a lovely letter from @Ruthiella ! #rollingbackmymorerebelliousinstincts LOL
Bringing along my next #TOBSummerCamp2021 read; I admire how people can read to the time frame but that stresses me out for some reason. #20BooksofSummer.

Take breaks when you can. Rest matters. ❤️ After work yesterday I tucked myself into a corner by the window in Panera and read while slowly eating dinner. 🥰

Sunday afternoon reading 🥰 Excited to have my hands on the new Jhumpa Lahiri! My mom got it from the library and handed it to me after she finished it. I'm 18 pages in and it's glorious so far!

Writers who self-translate fascinate me. Federman, Beckett, Nabokov, Borges—fascinating for other reasons plenty—but something about recrafting your own work, the losses, the potential gains. Spanning linguistic distance. Something odd in English “Whereabouts” that might stem from self-translation? Extra distance, pronoun overuse, a jump in style. Strong vignettes from urban life, but feels like there‘s no “there” there. Needs weight. Trans 2021.

This was the first Jhumpa Lahiri book I didn‘t absolutely adore and I was surprised. The narrator and the whole story felt distant, clouded, so I didn‘t feel immersed the way I am used to. Still, there were passages that were so beautifully written it was worth to reading just to savor them.

#campTOB @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen

Melancholy and just lovely. LITERALLY nothing happens in this slim little novel, but I kind of loved it anyway. Beautifully simple prose, an unnamed middle-aged woman goes about her daily routines and chores, in an unnamed Italian city. Chapters are brief, each location changing, people are watched. It‘s about nothing, but everything. (continued in comments ⬇️)

At first it seemed like a book that someone like me could write. Short chapters, seemingly rather simple. Of course that‘s not how I felt by the end. A wonderful, reflective series of thoughts about her life and how she navigates through her experiences. I appreciated her thoughts on loneliness versus being alone. It takes skill to write such a sparse book that is so captivating.

#CampTOB

That first sentence is all you need to know about me. I have never been able to spend $$ on myself. This woman had so perfectly described my relationship to money in this chapter. #CampToB

From the Pulitzer Prize winner of 2000, comes her fourth novel, first published in Italian and now in English.
A poetic read with rich prose and vivid imagery. Written like a daily diary of a 40 something woman living alone in an unnamed town in Italy. The insecurities, the fears and the regrets....
Though mundane, the manner of writing pulls you in strongly. Please read my review here https://rb.gy/rbrzme

🙏🏼🙏🏼

#bookreviews #booklovers

I‘m not even sure what it‘s about, but I loved it.

In the beforetimes, I‘d have enjoyed Lahore‘s writing, but found these loosely connected often plotless sketches somewhat dull. Now I found their everyday-ness enchanting. Tales of train trips and lunches out sound impossibly exotic. #audiostitching

I‘ve read Lockwood‘s book already. Found these 3 at 2 different libraries. On a waitlist for Detransition,Baby and Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch. This summer I‘m ready for #CampToB. So excited.

I‘m ready for this.

Elegant, stunning writing about an unnamed female narrator about her everyday life. I was hoping that eventually a great joy would happen for her though.

Originally written in Italian, these conversations continue her dialogue with her new language by exploring the everyday conversations of an unnamed narrator. These may be the words Lahiri herself uses around the market, on the train, and in stores. This time she chose to translate the book herself, but she stayed true to the conversational nature of the work rather than trying to elevate it to a Pulitzer Prize level. An interesting book.

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2021/04/27/whereabouts-jhumpa-lahiri/

A lovely little wandering novel. Each chapter is a vignette of someplace the narrator goes in the world. The pandemic gives this a bit of a melancholy feel (when will be be able to ramble again?) As always, her writing is 💯 I love the way this author sets a scene. #ARC #Edelweiss

This is one of those books that grows on you. The first few chapters (which are all about 2 pages which I normally find annoying) I was not enjoying the expanse between reader and character. But the more I read the more I understand and began to enjoy the entirety of the book. The writing is gorgeous, the main character is distant but interesting. The story flows in an original way.