“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” – Charles William Eliot
Roma, Ti Amo
It’s official, this month’s Lit With Charles Book Club selection is the book Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. She burst onto the literary scene with her debut collection of short stories The Interpreter of Maladies which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1999. The book focused on the tension within Indian-Americans between their traditions and their new world. She spoke at a commencement ceremony when I graduated a few years later and I remember being impressed with her on that day.
And then she moved to Rome in 2012. And apparently she learnt Italian, and I’m not talking about a tourist level of Italian (grazie, sole mio, arriverderci, che bella) but like proper Italian where she could write and express emotions. There aren’t many people who can deliver that and this book Roman Stories is that book, a collection of short stories on her adopted city in her adopted language, and now translated into English (by her and a professional translator).
So please join us as we cruise through Rome this month, and enjoy some great writing and powerful themes of identity. You can follow my progress with the book throughout September here and on my IG account and we can all chat on how we’re doing and what we think of the book.
Intro to Jack Kerouac – 5 Crazy Jack Kerouac facts
Jack Kerouac was an influential American novelist and poet, best known for his role as Unofficial Chairman of the Beat Generation. Born in 1922, he wrote with a distinctive style characterised by its spontaneity. His most famous work, On the Road, became a cultural touchstone, and pretty much a legal requirement for every college dorm to carry a copy of, reflecting the desires and disillusionments of a generation eager to break away from the stuffy norms of the past. Some might say that the counterculture of the 1960s was born on Jack Kerouac’s journey (Discuss.) Rather than writing up a little biography of the man, I’ve whittled 5 facts down about the man, for your reading pleasure.
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