Whereabouts

 20 May 2021: Like everything she writes, Jhumpa Lahiri's Whereabouts knocked me out. There are images and lines, scenes and moments, that will stay with me. The book is a bit hard to describe: a novel, but without much of a plot; a series of scenes, really, all revolving around the main character--a middle-aged, single, female academic who is vaguely (and sometimes not so vaguely) unhappy with or uncertain about her life. It seems to me a major theme is her wondering about her aloneness and whether she regrets it (or thinks she should). Linked to that is a kind of amorphous and subtle exploration of why she might have made the choices she did, including some insights on her parents and how they shaped her. So...there's a lot there one might relate to. Ha.

I read the book as the first selection in my just re-started/now-just-two-person book club with Cory. Post-COVID vaccines, we can actually meet in person, which we did at his and Hannah's house tonight. The three of us had dinner first and then he and I sat outside and talked about the book for awhile before Hannah joined us for non-book conversation. It was a kind of perfect evening--and a useful reminder of some crucial ways I am not like that unnamed title character.