Roman Stories - Jhumpa Lahiri - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Jhumpa Lahiri

GENRE: Short Story Collection.

RATING: 3.4 stars.

In a Nutshell: I admire what the author attempted with this collection, but I don’t admire the collection itself.

I am a huge fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. About two decades ago, I had taken a chance on a new Indian author who had won the Pulitzer for her debut story collection, ‘Interpreter of Maladies.’ The stories blew me away, and to date, it remains one of my favourite single-author compilations. ‘Unaccustomed Earth’, her second collection, was almost as good. I have also read her full-length novels, of which I found ‘The Namesake’ the best, but I believe that Ms. Lahiri is good at novels and outstanding at short stories.

Then came updates that she had married an Italian, settled in Rome, was learning Italian, and now onwards, would write only in Italian. I had mixed feelings about this last piece of information. On the one hand, writing a whole book/story in a new language is a huge task. It takes immense talent to pull it off, and I wasn’t in doubt of Lahiri’s prowess. At the same time, I wondered if her style would come across as well in the new vernacular. Reading ‘Roman Stories’ has provided me an answer to my curiosity.

‘Roman Stories’, a collection of nine stories, was originally written by the author in Italian in 2022, and has been translated to English by the author and Todd Portnowitz. (I am not sure why a fluent English writer needed assistance from a translator to convert her works TO English. Anyway…)

Lahiri’s writing has always had a beautiful, picturesque feel. She can capture a scene like no one else, and her words make the entire story come alive in my imagination. This book is no exception. I never once felt as if I was reading a translation, or that there was some gap between thought and word. Her lines flow like a movie through your mind.

She is also a master at capturing emotions, especially poignant ones. Her characters always have this aura of vulnerability around them. As they are trying to get a hang of their day-to-day life and its perils, their feelings of inadequacy and loneliness come across clearly through their thoughts. Lahiri’s stories are written mostly in first person, thereby giving us an “insider view” of the character’s sentiments.

If you are familiar with her short stories, you will know that she doesn’t write entertainment, but slice-of-life character-oriented narratives. So if you are looking for a neat start-middle-end plot progression with a happy ending, this isn’t the book for you. The stories here are strongly character-driven, with the plot primarily being a vignette that reveals the character in and out. This collection is thereby better suited to literary fiction lovers.

On the other hand, the collection disappointed me much on a couple of counts. While the title should have prepared me for the fact that these were *Roman* stories, I took a long while to accept that none of the stories would have an Indian connection. To me, Jhumpa Lahiri has been one of the very few acclaimed expat authors to capture the essence of the Indian immigrant experience without resorting to stereotypes. So I felt a little betrayed (and a lot heartbroken) that she has clearly moved away from India in her writing and made Italy entirely her own.

Of course, the stories don’t feel like they have been written by someone who is relatively new to Italy. There’s an undertone of authenticity to every single tale, and had I not been aware of the author’s background, I would have assumed the writer to be Italian. That said, I can't vouch for the accuracy of the Roman portrayal with as much confidence as I would have for an India-based collection.

Most of her protagonists are outsiders in some way or the other. Though not necessarily immigrants, they either aren’t a part of or don’t feel like they belong in Rome, and hence their perception is always from the outside-in. Because of the intimate writing style, we also feel one with their feelings of not fitting in. But this also means that the picture we get of Rome is somewhat limited, with many denizens of the city depicted as being aloof, if not worse, to outsiders.

Moreover, the use of the first-person in the mostly melancholic stories means that after a while, the tales start feeling repetitive despite their distinct plotline. The motions and emotions explored should have been wider in range. I also didn’t like the decision of not naming any character, and where needed, using vague cues such as an initial or their gender or their profession to refer to them. It sounded awkward and kept me from connecting with the characters.

The nine stories are divided across three sections, but I couldn’t figure out any logical explanation for the compartmentalisation. The middle section comprises just one lengthy story divided into multiple episodes with distinct characters.

As always, I rated the stories individually, and except for a couple of tales, most were around the 3-3.5 star mark. Even for the stories that didn't satisfy me as much, I was invested in the writing from start to end.

My favourite of this collection was ‘The Steps’, the extensive story in the middle section. I loved how it spanned various character experiences around some steps in the heart of the city. I also enjoyed ‘The Boundary’, a somewhat contemplative story about a caretaker’s daughter and her experiences with the family who has rented the house the girl works in; and ‘Notes’, an unusual but deep story best experienced by going into it blind.

All in all, I am not sure if my experience was so mixed because my expectations were too high, or because the works weren’t originally in English and hence lost something in translation, or because I wanted more of India. Whatever the reason may be, the fact is that I liked much of the writing but not so much of the content, if that makes sense.

Recommended to literary fiction readers who would enjoy a slice-of-life style story collection, with Rome being the city in focus.

3.4 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the DRC of “Roman Stories”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.