I write in order to break down the wall, to express myself in a pure way. ― Jhumpa Lahiri

In Other Words is a gorgeous self-portrait of a woman finding herself in an adopted language, an adopted culture, an adopted identity.

Hello, friends!

Welcome back to Words on Words, where readers discuss what we love about literature.

Before I delve into the luscious, beautiful words of Jhumpa Lahiri in her book, In Other Words, I want to share some personal news with you: I am officially an agented author! I have been working toward this for a very long time and I am so pleased to say I am now represented by

Kate McKean

of

Agents and Books

(seriously, how lucky am I?!)

Enough about me: let’s get to Jhumpa Lahiri!

My well-loved copy of In Other Words

If you aren’t familiar with her, it’s time to relinquish some brain space to this brilliant woman. She was born in London to Indian immigrant parents, then raised in the States. Her breakout into the literary world was her collection of short stories, The Interpreter of Maladies, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction — a huge deal for anybody, particularly a debut author.

Lahiri’s other notable books include The Namesake and The Lowland (a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and National Book Awards) — the first book of which was my entry point into Lahiri’s lyrical, seductive prose.

So much about Lahiri interests me, but there is one thing about her that makes me want to know everything about her: her absolute devotion to and obsession with Italy. Lahiri’s parents speak Bengali. Lahiri was raised speaking English. But after her first trip to Italy in 1994, she found herself enthralled with Italian. She began to study the language, but that soon became not enough for her. In 2012, Lahiri uprooted her family and moved to Rome to further her study of the language, and to further distance herself from English. In fact, she declared she would no longer read or write in English — that’s how devoted she was to Italian. This went on for three years! Consider this: a prolific, Pulitzer-prize winning author of English texts went on to renounce her language so as to focus deeply on a new language. That is so brave, so commendable. So understandable, even. The allure of Italian is something I feel in my bones.

While in Rome trying to absorb everything she could about the country and the language, Lahiri kept a notebook in which she wrote without forethought; she recorded whatever struck her. Of this notebook, Lahiri says:

“Descrivevo soltanto le emozioni che lo slancio linguistico suscitava in me.”

“I described only the emotions inspired by the linguistic drive.”

It was in revisiting this notebook of scribbles later that Lahiri realized she had the makings of what would become her fifth book: In Altre Parole (In Other Words), which she wrote in Italian and which was translated into English by Ann Goldstein, the translator of my favorite author, Elena Ferrante.

In Altre Parole is a collection of essays about Lahiri’s connection to this lingua straniera, this foreign language. Within the language, Lahiri entered a space to find herself — not a self suspended between Bengali and English, but a self with an identity of her choosing.

In one essay, Il Muro (The Wall), Lahiri talks about how, despite her eventual fluency in the language, Italians often responded to her in English. The wall she writes of is her physical appearance.

“Scrivo per rompere il muro, per esprimermi in modo puro.”

“I write in order to break down the wall, to express myself in a pure way.”

By writing in Italian, Lahiri not only confronts this wall — the wall of her appearance — but a second wall, which is language itself.

Lahiri’s obsession with Italy is something I understand. I, too, have studied the language. I, too, moved to Italy (but only for a year, for grad school). When I decided at the end of last year that I’d begin reading in Italian again, hers was the book I started with. It is a parallel text, with the Italian on the left-side pages and the English on the right, which is the way to do it when you’re not totally fluent.

“La lingua è lo specchio, la metafora principale. Perché in fondo il significato di una parola, così come quello di una persona, è qualcosa di smisurato, di ineffabile.”

“Language is the mirror, the principal metaphor. Because ultimately the meaning of a word, like that of a person, is boundless, ineffable.”

It was such a pleasure to read Lahiri’s words as she’d written them: in Italian. Her writing is brusque and simple, and it is stunning. Like Lahiri says in the book, reading in a foreign language is the most intimate way of reading. It makes you focus so deeply. You have to pay attention to every word, and your mind doesn’t fill in the blanks as naturally. It requires effort. While reading In Altre Parole, I felt as close to this author as I’ll likely ever get.

Speaking of intimate, here’s a look at all the words I didn’t know (the underlined words on the left are Italian, their English counterparts are underlined on the right). The sentence with the * is quoted above.

You need not read In Other Words in Italian; the content itself is a luscious look at identity, culture, and the writing process. In Lahiri’s own words, it is a self-portrait, more autobiographical than anything she has written before.

I am declaring 2024 the year of Jhumpa Lahiri. Who’s with me? Her book of essays on translation, Translating Myself and Others, is en route to my house, and I’ll also read The Interpreter of Maladies in short order (being the fan that I am, it’s asinine that I haven’t read this yet). I’ve read Whereabouts in English, but am hoping to find a copy in Italian from somewhere other than Amazon (if you have recommendations, please let me know in the comments!) Lahiri has swiftly become my new auto-read. If she writes it, I will read it.

Does anyone else plan on reading Jhumpa Lahiri this year?

What I’m reading: The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush and The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue (it is hilarious).

What I’m listening to: Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok.

Love,

Words on Words is a free newsletter about books that hits inboxes on Thursdays.

Note: When you purchase books from my Bookshop.org affiliate page, you support the author of the book, an indie bookstore of your choice, and Words on Words (I get credits for more books!) at no additional cost to you.