Skip to main content

Book Review: Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri.

 


Book: Whereabouts 

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri 

Publisher: Penguin 

Pages: 176 

Read On: Kindle 

How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days 

Plot Summary: Exuberance and dread, attachment and estrangement: in this novel, Jhumpa Lahiri stretches her themes to the limit. The woman at the center wavers between stasis and movement, between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. The city she calls home, an engaging backdrop to her days, acts as a confidant: the sidewalks around her house, parks, bridges, piazzas, streets, stores, coffee bars. We follow her to the pool she frequents and to the train station that sometimes leads her to her mother, mired in a desperate solitude after her father's untimely death. In addition to colleagues at work, where she never quite feels at ease, she has girl friends, guy friends, and "him," a shadow who both consoles and unsettles her. But in the arc of a year, as one season gives way to the next, transformation awaits. One day at the sea, both overwhelmed and replenished by the sun's vital heat, her perspective will change. This is the first novel she has written in Italian and translated into English. It brims with the impulse to cross barriers. By grafting herself onto a new literary language, Lahiri has pushed herself to a new level of artistic achievement.

Things I Liked: 

1. A new novel from one's favourite author is  always, always  a good thing be. When I heard, at the beginning of the year that we were getting a new Lahiri book I was ecstatic. Obviously. I put the book on my Wishlist and meant to pre-order it come April. But then April came and brought insanity in its wake. I fell sick and in all of that pre-ordering went out of the window. I had to get this on my Kindle to read it ASAP. I didn't want to wait for a physical copy. But put that aside, I was excited to read a new Lahiri but...I was also slightly apprehensive. This was not her usual fare. Apart from the fact that this book was originally written in Italian by Lahiri and then translated into English by her, this book is different from your usual Lahiri. There is no Bengali family at the heart of this novel. No tales of the diaspora. No longing for a homeland left behind. No longing for home. These are things I love best about her books and this book wouldn't have any of it. So I wondered if i'd even like it. I was a little bit on the fence. The good news is inspite of not having any of her trademark elements I still loved this book. 


2. This novel, if you can even call it that, given it's a collection of various moments and musings. It's not quite a novel..if you ask me. Reading this feels a little like blinking, blink and you are here and blink again and you've moved to another place and time. The grocer, the stationer, work, home and homes of friends. You move along, glide along with our protagonist and it happens seamlessly. You find yourself go from situation to situation and see the ordinary life and times of a woman. There was a fleeting energy in this book, something transient and perfectly ordinary yet extraordinary. 


3. In some ways reading this book felt incredibly invasive, like you are sneakily reading someone's personal journal. Because some of this feels almost too personal to read, because these little thoughts, their musings about life and loneliness and solitude are somehow more personal than even explosive things like relationships and lust filled confessions. 


4. There is this quiet quality in this book from start to finish. A peace. I think I picked up this book at the right time. I was still reeling from the after effects of Covid and feeling most listless and depleted and this book was the perfect book to read. A perfect companion for a time I was still worried and stressed out. I also have a feeling that this book about a woman going from one place to another and one feeling to another is a good book to pick up when we are stuck at home and feeling stir crazy. 


5. The woman in this book, an unnamed narrator felt like someone I know well, she felt like a friend. She felt like she was me. A woman who enjoys her solitude for most part, who lives life on her own terms, is set in her way but there  is also a restless energy in her. Maybe she wants a little more from life. Maybe she craves a little something more. She is real and relatable and never for a moment feels like a character. 

6. I also liked that this book shows how our childhoods, even the most benign ones leave a mark. There is no escaping the wounds of childhood and the way we were raised. This book occasionally takes us back to our protagonist's childhood and we see her difficult relationship with her mother and how it still has a hold over her. 


7. Honestly, I was a little surprised by how much I loved this book. I loved this little ambling along and seeing a life of a single woman in her 40s. I liked the sad bits, the poignant bits and the humorous bits. I loved that it showed single life in all it's shades. As a single woman I liked that our lives weren't just reduced to sad longing and loneliness. 

8. The writing was lovely. As always a delight to read Lahiri's words. I will always, always want to read everything she writes. 

Rating: 4/5 

I loved this book. 

I think I read it at the right time. 

It felt like a hug from an old friend. 

However, I don't know if this is a book for everyone. I think it depends on how you see our protagonists life: do you think she's lonely? Alone? Or free? 

There may be a disjointed feel to this book and that may rub some readers the wrong way. 

So pick it up and read it if you like this sort of thing. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Magic of the Lost Temple by Sudha Murthy.

Book: The Magic of the Lost Temple Author: Sudha Murthy Pages: 163 Read On: Paperback How Long it took Me To Read: 1 day Plot Summary:   City girl Nooni is surprised at the pace of life in her grandparents' village in Karnataka. But she quickly gets used to the gentle routine there and involves herself in a flurry of activities, including papad making, organizing picnics and learning to ride a cycle, with her new-found friends. Things get exciting when Nooni stumbles upon an ancient fabled stepwell right in the middle of a forest.Join the intrepid Nooni on an adventure of a lifetime in this much-awaited book by Sudha Murty that is heart-warming, charming and absolutely unputdownable. General Thoughts: Ah! A happy little Children's Book! I wanted it the minute I spotted it in the bookshop. And I started reading it pretty much immediately. :)  I read it after reading a beyond dull and boring and soulless book. This book just cured my bookish blues. I l

Book Review: The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond.

Some snippets of the stunning art inside the book!  Book: The Room on the Roof Author: Ruskin Bond Illustrator: Ahlawat Gunjan Pages: 171 Read On: Hardback How Long It Took Me To Read: 3 days or so. Plot Summary:   Rusty, a sixteen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy, is orphaned and has to live with his English guardian in the claustrophobic European part in Dehra Dun. Unhappy with the strict ways of his guardian, Rusty runs away from home to live with his Indian friends. Plunging for the first time into the dream-bright world of the bazaar, Hindu festivals and other aspects of Indian life, Rusty is enchanted … and is lost forever to the prim proprieties of the European community.  General Thoughts: This book is super special. Not only this 60th anniversary edition an absolute beauty. This is also a signed copy I picked up from Mussoorie when I was in Landour earlier in the year. This is perhaps one of Ruskin Bond's most well kn

Review: Grandma's Bag of Stories by Sudha Murthy.

Book: Grandma's Bag of Stories Author: Sudha Murthy Pages: 176 Read On: Paperback How Long It Took Me Read: 2 hours Plot Summary:   When Grandma opens her bag of stories, everyone gathers Around. Who can resist a good story, especially when it’s being told by Grandma? From her bag emerges tales of kings and cheats, monkeys and mice, bears and gods. Here comes the bear who ate some really bad dessert and got very angry; a lazy man who would not put out a fire till it reached his beard; a princess who got turned into an onion; a queen who discovered silk, and many more weird and wonderful people and animals. Grandma tells the stories over long summer days and nights, as seven children enjoy life in her little town. The stories entertain, educate and provide hours of enjoyment to them. So come, why don’t you too join in the fun? General Thoughts: I've read quite a few Sudha Murthy books this year and really enjoyed them. I find them soothing, simple a