Roman Stories

The media could not be loaded.  Amazing, This book knocked my socks off. A new image of Jhumpa Lahiri.After decades of writing about the educated, middle-class- families who migrated from Calcutta to the eastern coast of America, especially Boston, she highlighted the cultural conflicts, societal adjustments, revolts, and identity crises of the Bengalis that carried on till their second generation.In ‘The Lowland’, Ms Lahiri wrote about leftist ideas, student unrest, strikes, Marxism and the Naxalite movement of Bengal.Her first experiment with Italian was ‘In Other Words’. I think it was a debacle, and I read it because it was Jhumpa’s, and I gave it two stars.Before starting Roman Stories, I doubted whether I should read it. After finishing ‘The Boundary’ and ‘The Reentry’, I was bowled over, and I knew this was a prize-winning book.The prose of this book is flawless, lyrical and absorbing. One could feel the fragrance directly from the rustic countryside tandoor, raw and undressed, even the clinkers you have to jerk them off. I recommend one shouldn’t read this book in a single go. I enjoyed one or two stories per day in the early morning’s crisp air, with morning tea in my terrace garden full of seasonal flowers and birdsThis book shows that Ms Lahiri has left her Bengali baggage in the USA. She has taken the subject mainly of proletarians and middle-class Roman families settled in rural and remote areas. The theme of almost every story was female-oriented. It revolved around the Romans, men and women who temporarily or permanently made their base in Rome from another world or the other way around. Her stories superbly unfolded the romance, marriage, infidelity, separation, divorce and widowhood.One of the appealing characters was people who were taken as refugees or political asylum in Rome, probably from Muslim countries (She had not mentioned).When in Rome, do as Romans do? This is a centuries-old saying. One should embrace or at least try. Ms Lahiri herself is learning the Roman language, culture and etiquette. She is teaching and writing in Italian, and she unnecessarily wrote about the racism for asylum seekers who have lived in Rome for more than two or three decades and either taken PR or citizenship. She had shown all the local Romans, including the children, as villains or sociopaths. I believe this is Ms Lahiri’s leftist approach. She should have penned one story from the perspective of the working-class Romans.Lastly, I would suggest that Ms Lahiri does not need any translator for her Italian literature; she is fully efficient.I give five stars and recommend strongly to every book lover.Manjul,Delhi,India.

I was at one point really quirked when I got to know Lahiri will be writing in her adopted language Italian further. So, when the Roman Stories came out as a translated work with Todd Portnowitz, my interest was further quirked.Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri offers readers an evocative exploration of contemporary Rome, drawing on Lahiri's intimate connection with the city as her second home. As we know originally penned in Italian, Lahiri captures the city's essence with poignant tales that delve into themes of loss, alienation, and the immigrant experience in Italy.Divided into 3 sections, there are nine stories in the book, the second section has one longish story subdivided in itself. I felt that although centered around Rome through her characters, she explores the pervasive xenophobia and racism that pervade society, shedding light on the struggles and discrimination endured by those perceived as outsiders. From individuals grappling with violence and hate crimes to others confronting more subtle forms of prejudice, Lahiri's narratives offer a poignant commentary on the challenges of belonging and acceptance in a society marked by deep-seated biases.Despite the somber themes explored throughout the collection, Lahiri infuses her stories with a sense of quiet resilience and hope. Through her nuanced prose and keen observations, she creates characters who navigate change and loss with grace, finding moments of connection and understanding amidst adversity. Whether it's a bereaved couple coming to terms with their grief or a family confronting the consequences of their neighbors' prejudice, Lahiri captures the complexities of human emotion with empathy and depth.Lahiri still stays one of my favourites in terms of story telling, vivid depiction and understanding of human experiences but lets just say this is not one of her best works for me!

Good short stories for a quick read. Gave you a glimpse into the life in Rome.

Poignant and sad stories of immigrants living in ItalyShe is a magnificent raconteur and observer of the human condition

A pesar de venderse 'como nuevo' ha llegado sin la sobrecubierta :(

Jhumpa Lahiri's stories are like time-release capsules of emotion that slowly begin to energise the heart and mind. Her prose is written in love - the kind of love that sees and listens to what remains largely overlooked and unheard in the times we live in.

The first two stories were good, but this book is very depressing overall.

Let me begin by saying that Ms. Lahiri is trying to do something different in her writing now that she solely writes in Italian, which I respect immensely. This book, however, was not for me. The short review is that I'd give the book one star based on my lack of enjoyment and that I'm giving it two stars instead out of respect for what she's taken on. Had I not gone to a speaking event she had, I would have stopped a third of the way through.I loved LOVED earlier work of Ms. Lahiri's. I appreciated her ability to draw close to well developed characters and immerse me in pivotal moments with them. Her luxurious description and moments of piercing insight into humanity wooed me. In Roman Stories, there are occasional glimmers of aspects I loved from her previous writing in English, but only occasionally.Full candor, I don't know if my thoughts would be different if I knew more about Italian short story norms or if I read the stories in Italian (unfortunately I am not nearly as accomplished as Ms. Lahiri with languages, so I'm going to have to keep studying for that). Perhaps there's something culturally that I'm missing here that would add to my understanding of what she is trying to do in these stories.What didn't work for me with this book was what felt to me like a crippling narrative distance. Ms. Lahiri chose not to name characters, describing them by role or initial instead. Practically, this led to occasional moments of confusion for me. In terms of effect, it made it hard to connect to the characters and situations. That struggle continued because I frequently found the descriptions generic and lengthy. I often wondered if what wasn't landing with me occurred because of the language difference (since the work was written first in Italian and then translated to English) or because of what Ms. Lahiri chose to do stylistically—or a bit of both. The book has sections and some stories have numbered sections and those choices also routinely booted me from the moment as a reader, from my already tenuous hold on the illusion of the story.I so desperately wanted to connect with these characters, but it felt as though they didn't inhabit their own skins enough to make it possible for me to walk beside them. Stories are flooded with details, yet it's not like one needs to retain them because there are so many and they rarely impact the stories. I often found myself wondering if descriptions would at least sound more melodic in Italian when they didn't seem to add much in the English translation version (I bet they did). When I would get more drawn into a story, for example in some of the sections of "The Steps," we would pivot to something else, and I'd be left unsatisfied again. The mosaic structure of that story didn't pull it off for me in the end.I'm not a huge fan of vignettes, particularly those which feel devoid of conflict and/or tension, or maybe more accurately: stakes. There's definitely tension in the Rome she renders is in this book, particularly for immigrants and those othered by the society, yet I couldn't really feel the stakes. For me this book felt like being told everyday stories (mostly) about everyday people (mostly) by someone who heard them from someone else. So far removed from the vivid source, the stories have lost their potency by the time they made it to me, and all I can do is nod and try to smile politely while glancing at my watch.If you're tempted to buy this because you loved Ms. Lahiri's previous work, prepare yourself for something different. Authors as artists need to have room to grow and change, and that's what Ms. Lahiri is doing. I respect that. I'll give her work a try again in the future, perhaps, but I'll get the next book from the library first before committing to buying it. And if Interpreter of Maladies was one of your favorite books of short stories ever and you're hoping for a similar experience from Roman Stories, save yourself the money and the sadness by skipping Roman Stories.