Welcome to Litsy!

Another book club read. Fascinating to have the Italian and English text side-by-side. Interesting exploration of her journey to write in Italian. Loved it, memories if my time in Rome in early 2020.

I love everything she writes. This is a remarkable meditation on language, reading, writing, art, identity, and so much more.

#QuotsyApr21 Day 2: #Creative

I hope it‘s not condescending to say that I felt proud of the author. My favorite chapter was The Wall, where she discusses how her husband‘s Italian is often perceived as better than hers, largely based on their outward appearances.

This was really short, as both the English and Italian versions are included. It was enjoyable, especially if you are a fan of Lahiri and the fact that she wrote this in Italian and had it translated.

Next read. One of my favorite writers writing about the language I would most like to be fluent in.

In Other Words is a self-portrait of sorts, a creative memoir of Jhumpa Lahiri's exploration of self through her study and love of the Italian language. It is beautifully written, and I drank it in. So many things resonated with me that I don't know where to start. But one in particular is the desire to see a precise, sharp image when looking in the mirror rather than the fragmented one that often reflects back.

"I think that the power of art is the power to wake us up, strike us to our depths, change us. What are we searching for when we read a novel, see a film, listen to a piece of music? We are searching, through a work of art, for something that alters us, that we weren‘t aware of before. We want to transform ourselves, just as Ovid‘s masterwork transformed me."

I understand falling in love with language. I went to college determined to make Arabic love me. Alas, it was just a 3 semester hookup, but I still remember it fondly.

Lahiri fell in love in college, too, with Italian. But she did not give up on her lover. Traveling to Italy a number of times, not only to marvel at the history, but also at the language. Throughout the book, I imagined the essays as a dialogue with and through her lover. 4⭐️ ⬇️

I had no interest in reading this book when it came out, and only picked it up this time to fulfill a prompt for the Women in Translation Readathon. I'm so glad I did! What a beautifully written exploration of language, creativity and selfhood. Lahiri's brilliance and insight is stunning.
It was great on audio but now I want a hard copy to review some passages!
#witreadathon

I like to have a lot of options, so here are my choices for the Women in Translation Readathon, Aug. 25-31. The tagged book is one I plan to listen to on walks and during chores. I‘m really looking forward to this! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, @merelybookish ! #witreadathon

The NYRBs that are hard to see are: White Walls by Tatyana Tolstaya and Little Reunions by Eileen Chang.

Here's another readathon! This one to celebrate Women in Translation month. It's hosted by @kdwinchester of @thereadingwomen and booktuber Matthew Sciarappa. The goal is to read works by women in translation but they gave a few prompts. I have the Lahiri ready to go!
Tag #WITreadathon if you decide to participate!
For more info https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m11uD1rZruc&feature=youtu.be
@Andrew65 @TheReadingMermaid @Clwojick

#Suspicion #QuotsyJune19
@TK-421

Late response to #TuesdayTidbits tags

📚 The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive. Jhumpa Lahiri

🎦 To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.
(Finally watched Walter Mitty last night. This replaced Carpe Diem I had in mind)

📚 Children agree 'film' is one of the numerous ;o and movie characters! ;p

*If anyone still wants to play😄😊🤗

This book is a first for Lahiri—her first autobiographical work and also her first book written in Italian. She chronicles her love affair with the Italian language. She is still learning Italian, so for this project, she wrote the Italian and then let someone else translate it into English. I listened to the audiobook version and loved the dual-language format.

This is also the story of her quest for identity and belonging.

I found this book to be captivating on several different levels. She is certainly brilliant, a Pulitzer-prize winning American novelist of Bengali descent, who chooses to immerse herself in a new language, writing her first memoir in that language. If that is not enough, she eloquently delves into the emotional meaning of all this...about her search for identity, needing to belong and not be different, speaking MY language. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What a lovely book! So amazing and interesting! I want to stay home and read the whole thing.

#2018Book44
If this doesn't inspire you to get off your butt and learn a new language (or any new skill, really), then I don't know what will.

Starting this #audiobook for #ReadingWomenChallenge (written by a woman and translated by a woman). My first Lahiri and I am smitten with her writing already.

Gathering #words - I'm constantly hunting for words.
#JhumpaLahiri
#quotsyJan18

Our local used bookstore that benefits the senior center now has Wacky Wednesdays— all Books (except specially priced) are $1 each! I was only going to look for Brookner (see last post) but ....!! I was only able to stay for just a few minutes and that‘s a good thing for my wallet!!

Especially excited for the Ferrantes. I‘ve read the first, already have the second, and now these!!

And the Lahiri is signed!

Three-word titles for today's #riotgrams with @bookriot

This stack is some of my favorite nonfiction.

I posted the second half of my August Wrap Up today. So. Many. Books.

https://www.youtube.com/c/KendraWinchester

Stopped at the book store on the way home📚I have been wanting to read In Other Words since it came out! Ready for #litsypartyofone #septembermostanticipated #fallintobooks

What a delight! For people who love words, thoughts, meaning & identity, this is a lovely read. I have always been a fan of her work, but I am a devotee now after this story. She is a deep thinker. And lucky for us, she has shared her thoughts with us on her obsession with learning, speaking & writing in Italian. Highly recommended for those who like to understand intellectual pursuits, love language or those struggling to learn another language.

I find this whole process she has undertaken to be extremely interesting- a writer learning and then writing in a foreign language, in this case Italian. I admire her work. She can evoke a sense of place and a deep understanding in her prose. I am excited to start this one for #boutofbooks!

Lahiri started writing essays in Italian about her experience writing in a new language. This bilingual edition of those collected essays features Italian on one side and English on the other. Instead of translating the essays herself, Lahiri resists the temptation edit her essays in English, and Ann Goldstein, the translator of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, translates the book instead.
(Con. on IG https://instagram.com/p/BX_d3GCBY3m/ )

I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. I'm tempted to reread it now, but I need to let Lahiri's thoughts soak through my own, really. This book is about about identity, about creativity, about the place of self in the creative process. It's not going to be for everyone. It's beautiful and incredibly personal, and I treasure having read it.

This.

My current non-fiction read

A lovely thought: writing as homage to imperfection 🤓🙌🏼

I've rarely heard from someone who feels about a foreign language the way I do and Jhumpa Lahiri takes that even to the next level. I am sad for her because the writing was stilted and awkward and I know how much that must frustrate her. I'm giving it a pick for the metaphors and the passion. #blameitonlitsy #blameitonbookishmarginalia

How learning a foreign language is a way into other cultures, although the perception of "otherness" may always remain. #JhumpaLahiri

Very quick read. Lots of quotable sentences about reading and writing, language and identity. Overall, though, I was craving more. More depth, more nuance. This book started out life as short essays for a newspaper, and it shows. It's also a translation of the author's self-admitted simple Italian. As such, it is not up to the standard of past Lahiri books. Still, with the right mindset and expectations, an interesting, enjoyable read. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

#blameitonlitsy @BookishMarginalia after your post I immediately checked my library and it was available. Already started it and the author is an absolute kindred spirit!!

Demolishing a moist, delicious carrot cupcake with luscious cream cheese frosting, with a pumpkin spice coffee chaser 🙌🏼🤓

#Truth #JhumpaLahari

Six months before moving to Rome, Lahini decides to read only in Italian. This is her description of the effects of that decision on her reading self. #Knopf #JhumpaLahiri

Morning coffee at happy place @TheBookmarkPR - the perks of being a teacher enjoying the summer break! 😁🤓

Probably for completists only. I have read all of Ms Lahiri's books and loved them for their dispassionate detached prose and universalization of the feeling of being an alien.

Here she takes it to the next level by writing in a new language. Originally published in Italian, this is an autobiographical tale of self-alienation layered on top of a lifetime's experience of being "other".

No one writes about being an outsider like Jhumpa Lahiri.

I think uprooting your whole family and moving to Italy so you can continue studying Italian qualifies as #obsession. In a good way (IMO). #maybookflowers

Watching season 2 of Master of None reminds me I need to read In Other Words!

Audiobook
I found this book absolutely fascinating, and inspiring, to listen to. Lahiri's love affair with the Italian Language is beautiful, and makes me want to take up journaling in French.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5

#35BookParty 2
My first #JhumpaLahiri book that welcomed my 40th with me... That quiet night with some of most poignant lines
this book is a gift when I first traveled without family.
And I promptly packed it for the following trip. That cemented need to pack a book or two, for vacations.

Playing catch up with my photo challenges. #womenintranslation
#samebookdifferentcover - I don't own any 😩
#artificialintelligence
#aprilbookshowers

I'm slowly getting into audiobooks and have focused on shorter non fiction. I love Lahiri's work and though I am not usually interested in the writers themselves, this work brought sharper focus to her fiction. Her love for the Italian language, her sense of displacement no matter which language she speaks; Lahiri is articulate, honest and engaging.