In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

I am very ambitious in my borrowings from the public library. I am fascinated by the extent of its collections, the ability to check out an e-book and read it on my Kindle, the neat stacks of books. But of course, I don't always manage to complete or even start the large number of books I check out. I realized a few days ago that I had Jhumpa Lahiri's latest book 'In Other Words' and it was due soon. Books as new as that are rarely available to re-issue. I opened it last evening only to realize that it was in Italian and English. It is the story of her love and learning of Italian, learning to speak, read and write in Italian. 

Spark Joy!

 “A good half of the art of living is resilience.”

― Alain de Botton

(his pithy lines are my version of the holy book or whatever)

I'm always trying to find the right balance of being out and doing things and living and simply being at home and just living. I've started to notice a pattern: I'll have a weekend or two with an intense burst of activity and then I will hibernate, to recover.

Snapshots

So far I have loved my time in Chicago. It has been exactly what I needed after graduate school. The adventures I am having are just the right size for my expectations right now. Some days they involve getting drenched on a boat tour; on others they are heels that I wear and practice as a child playing dress up would. Someday I will write about wearing heels and the pain and fun of it all. I have been a lifelong flat wearer. But every once in a while I will enjoy heels. Meanwhile, I soak the bustle of a big city.

Life in Books

I've been reading. Often. For fun. I am so glad to be back to reading and for adapting to the Kindle. I don't want to accumulate books that I can't carry with me. I've had enough of leaving bits and pieces behind. Plus Kindle versions of most books are also now more affordable, allowing me to read more. The Kindle app across platforms means I am not stuck to owning a Kindle. Here's my list of recommendations, which surprisingly has more non-fiction than fiction. Usually I go the other way.

Seeing Like A Feminist by Nivedita Menon

The title is a dead giveaway. What I enjoyed most about this book is that it is a concise, pithy read about feminism(s) in India, its various spokespeople as well as its schisms. I've often lamented about my lack of knowledge about feminism in India and its appropriation as an all-round bad word. So it was really refreshing to read this book. I am going to leave you with some of my favorite lines.

"By gendering, I mean the ways in which people are produced as proper men and women through rules and regulations of different sorts; some of which we internalize, some of which have to be violently enforced."

The No-Nonsense Guide to International Development

I am doing an independent study for a class and part of the 'research' (and I am using that term with a little bit of irony these days, and that's a post for another day) is understanding the history and evolution of development studies as a field. This of course necessitates an understanding, even if cursory, of the history of development. Ambiguous, contentious, contested, the list of adjectives is endless and is you can see fraught with doubt. Of course at this stage in my program I cannot claim complete ignorance of the history of development, but my understanding is fragmented, often starting arbitrarily post the second World War. I am not going to devote this post to rehash what has been said and written eloquently by many others, I will save that for my'research'. But I will strongly recommend 'The No-Nonsense Guide to International Development' by Maggie Black to you.

Searchers

“I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains,, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know – unless it be to share our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves.”

- James Kavanaugh, There are men too gentle to live among wolves

This is in the foreword of the book. There are many beautiful poems in it as well. While I read them in spurts between classes yesterday, I hope to return to it over the weekend.

Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach

Without Reservations is one of my favorite books. It blends language, cities, travel and reflection in a way that I tremendously enjoy. I don't remember how I came across the title, only that I was very grateful for having found it. During my stint in Vietnam, I found myself missing the book. It was an unusual feeling. I started re-reading it when I returned home and for the first time in my life made notes on a book, underlined text and committed the worst of all book-related sins, dogeared pages. I don't feel guilty though. This is one of the few books that I intend to take with me and there is so much in the book that I rather vainly believe reflects my life, that I am going to hang on to this copy for life. It also reminds me of my intent to search for (or start?) a book club that enjoys fiction. In brief it is the story of Alice Steinbach, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, who decides to take a year off from work and travel. She goes to Paris, London, Oxford and Italy and spends time there. She reminds me that to get second chances, one must first make mistakes. I can't offer much of a review, I am clearly biased. What I will leave you with are my favorite bits from the book. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did and they offer hope and comfort to you in the way they have to me:

The Goldfinch

I really, really enjoyed The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. In a nutshell it is the story of a boy who loses his mother to a bomb blast at a museum. For some strange, unfathomable reason he steals a painting 'The Goldfinch' and the rest of the story is about his uprooted life, his obsession with the painting, love for a girl who was also at the same museum, his abiding friendship with Boris, an almost orphan and his work in the field of art. I love the way Donna Tartt uses words to create imagery; this was also the reason why I loved The Secret by her. Her use of language and themes is what kept me engrossed. The story has a missing memory that changes everything. It is unexpected and yet once this secret comes to light, everything changes. The characters including the protagonist, his friend Andy, his love Pippa, his unexpected savior Hobie, his friend and yet not quite Boris are well-etched out. The story feel surreal and yet believable. It is set in our world, the world of flights and bomb blasts, of online lives and the constant scavenger hunt for culture. It is his madness, his obsessiveness that makes him both easy and difficult to love. Towards the end he even says it himself, that perhaps he is incapable of living a normal, good life. This book taught me the phrase 'three sheets to the wind'. This is hardly a review but more of a strong endorsement. I find stories about people's lives, with all their details and imperfections and irrational traits, enthralling and if you do as well, then this is a great book to read.

Books? Lists? Currently out of things to do?

Since I can't sleep, I have to do something. What could be more fun than making lists? Of late, I have been meaning to read but haven't managed to as much. I was just thinking about all the fantastic books I had read in the last year. In no particular order, here's a list in pictures:

So good, I remember not being able
to put it down and crying. I remember being on a flight to Minneapolis last year
and the lady next to me remarking on how good the book was.