Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Whereabouts
Jhumpa Lahiri
Review by Priscilla Comen
Whereabouts
Jhumpa Lahiri
Review by Priscilla Comen
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri who won the Pulitzer Prize for a previous novel is the collection of thoughts of an un-named narrator in an un-named city. On her walk every day she passes a plaque on the wall dedicated to a young man killed in an accident here. There’s a note from friend his mother here too. Another day, she walks with a male friend who is married to her best friend and they talk until he has to go to work. The narrator often has lunch at a trattoria where the father cooks and the daughter waits tables. Often another father comes in with a younger daughter who will only agree to spend the night with her mother in spite of her father’s pleas. The narrator feels sorry for the chasm in that family now, after it was a close family.
She knows a young woman who doesn’t like her step-mother although her parents hope she’ll go to a university near their home. But the girl is independent and determined to make her own life. The narrator was different, she never made her parents happy. She goes to a clinic because the barista tells her to see a doctor about the odd pains starting to occur. He refers her to a cardiologist. Another woman is also in the waiting room, but she has no one to accompany her, no care giver and in twenty years the narrator won’t either.
She bumps into her ex of five years ago who still lives in her neighborhood. He’s never amounted to much, always complained and was terrible at planning. He bought the same groceries over and over. She had adored him and forgave him. When he was sick, she nursed him, ran to the pharmacy and made him broth. One day another woman rang her buzzer. She’d been seeing him on the days our narrator didn’t. For almost five years they’d shared this man. The two women felt like two survivors, made him coffee, and began to chat like partners in a crime.
The narrator’s mother fears solitude, says she’s always alone though she has loads of friends. When she sees a therapist she tells her about her mother who always finds fault with her, and the nightmares. The narrator also acts as a therapist for another friend who’s always harried. She has an important job and flies around the globe every week. She feels guilty about leaving family but doesn’t stop traveling. The narrator’s house is the only place she can relax, she’d love a tiny apartment. The narrator goes to the pool twice a week and sees the same people: the old woman who limps and the man who does lifts for more than an hour. In the dressing room the women tell each other grim stories about terrible accidents a son has or about husbands or aged grandparents. They confess things and feel no guilt.
One day she sees the couple from around the corner walking and arguing. Their words are loud and angry. It’s as if they’re alone in the world and the narrator follows behind them. The narrator goes to a convention and stays at an ugly hotel for three days. The only good part is the man in the room next door, she goes up and down in the elevator with him to the convention room. For those days she is at peace with him.
This book is about many different people, strangers, her mother, her therapist, people she’ll never see again. How do they relate to one another? She buys silly objects off a table that a neighbor is selling. After she takes them home, the seller puts the remainders into a garbage can and throws them out. A man and woman walk together, the woman has tubes coming out of her belly and the man holds the ends of them. They are connected in this way. The narrator goes to a stationary store and buys an agenda and a calendar. One time she forgets her sunglasses but an old friend invites her out for a drive. They stop in a deserted town, deserted because it’s winter. When she returns to the stationary store it’s different, selling suitcases now in various colors with zippers and inside compartments. She’s disappointed at not seeing the usual notebooks and writing implements. A young couple come in and each buys a suitcase and fill them with purchases from other shops.
At the coffee bar she tells the barista she’s going away for a year to be with other scholars. In the newspaper she reads about the man who stayed in the hotel room across from her. He’s passed away from a long illness. She’d had no idea. Her suitcase is packed and ready for her trip. Her old friends had had a party and wished her luck. Her old lover wasn’t there and she goes to see her mother. She goes to see her father in his crypt.
Who is this narrator? Does she ever settle down in one place, and is there a reason for this story? Find this intriguing character and her thoughts and feelings on the new fiction shelf of your local library.
She knows a young woman who doesn’t like her step-mother although her parents hope she’ll go to a university near their home. But the girl is independent and determined to make her own life. The narrator was different, she never made her parents happy. She goes to a clinic because the barista tells her to see a doctor about the odd pains starting to occur. He refers her to a cardiologist. Another woman is also in the waiting room, but she has no one to accompany her, no care giver and in twenty years the narrator won’t either.
She bumps into her ex of five years ago who still lives in her neighborhood. He’s never amounted to much, always complained and was terrible at planning. He bought the same groceries over and over. She had adored him and forgave him. When he was sick, she nursed him, ran to the pharmacy and made him broth. One day another woman rang her buzzer. She’d been seeing him on the days our narrator didn’t. For almost five years they’d shared this man. The two women felt like two survivors, made him coffee, and began to chat like partners in a crime.
The narrator’s mother fears solitude, says she’s always alone though she has loads of friends. When she sees a therapist she tells her about her mother who always finds fault with her, and the nightmares. The narrator also acts as a therapist for another friend who’s always harried. She has an important job and flies around the globe every week. She feels guilty about leaving family but doesn’t stop traveling. The narrator’s house is the only place she can relax, she’d love a tiny apartment. The narrator goes to the pool twice a week and sees the same people: the old woman who limps and the man who does lifts for more than an hour. In the dressing room the women tell each other grim stories about terrible accidents a son has or about husbands or aged grandparents. They confess things and feel no guilt.
One day she sees the couple from around the corner walking and arguing. Their words are loud and angry. It’s as if they’re alone in the world and the narrator follows behind them. The narrator goes to a convention and stays at an ugly hotel for three days. The only good part is the man in the room next door, she goes up and down in the elevator with him to the convention room. For those days she is at peace with him.
This book is about many different people, strangers, her mother, her therapist, people she’ll never see again. How do they relate to one another? She buys silly objects off a table that a neighbor is selling. After she takes them home, the seller puts the remainders into a garbage can and throws them out. A man and woman walk together, the woman has tubes coming out of her belly and the man holds the ends of them. They are connected in this way. The narrator goes to a stationary store and buys an agenda and a calendar. One time she forgets her sunglasses but an old friend invites her out for a drive. They stop in a deserted town, deserted because it’s winter. When she returns to the stationary store it’s different, selling suitcases now in various colors with zippers and inside compartments. She’s disappointed at not seeing the usual notebooks and writing implements. A young couple come in and each buys a suitcase and fill them with purchases from other shops.
At the coffee bar she tells the barista she’s going away for a year to be with other scholars. In the newspaper she reads about the man who stayed in the hotel room across from her. He’s passed away from a long illness. She’d had no idea. Her suitcase is packed and ready for her trip. Her old friends had had a party and wished her luck. Her old lover wasn’t there and she goes to see her mother. She goes to see her father in his crypt.
Who is this narrator? Does she ever settle down in one place, and is there a reason for this story? Find this intriguing character and her thoughts and feelings on the new fiction shelf of your local library.