Consequences

Media: Audio
Read by: Deepti Gupta, Carlotta Brentan, Cassandra Campbell, Ari Fliakos, Michael Obiora
Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins

Lahiri is such an adept story-teller, and it’s always a delight to read her collections. There are eight stories ranging in listening length from 20 minutes to almost one hour. If there’s any commonality between the stories it is that they were all written in Italian - not Lahiri’s main language - and translated by her, to her primary language of English. It was because of this that I put off reading the book, not seeing the point, and fearing something’s may have been lost in translation.

There are several themes that reappear in the stories, the main one being that they all involve people moving continents for major slabs of their lives. Some for professional reasons, others for reasons of life or death.

She describes an aspect of expat life in her last story of the book, mysteriously entitled, “Dante Alighieri”. In it one of the characters travels twice yearly between the East coast of America to Italy and back, twice yearly. She’s so blasé about this long air flight that she doesn’t even look at the scenery from the cab window as she leaves the airport to travel to her homes. I know the feeling, having split my life between Australia and America for over ten years.

Most of the short stories are set in Rome, but I didn’t get much feel of Italian life coming through. The stories could have been set in any Western European country experiencing mass migration from Africa and Asia.

Many of the stories, “The Steps” in particular, hinge upon individuals doing innocuous acts that end up having severe and unexpected consequences. Set on the Steps in Rome, where young people lark around as in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we get the feel of the ancient city and the unchanging nature of the human condition. “The Steps” and “The Well-lit House” which quietly describes the bigotry and poverty that refugees can be subject to in western countries, were my favorite stories.

Roman Stories is a quiet and gentle read that packs its punches when least expected. Recommended. ( )

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite authors and she is a master of the short story. I enjoyed reading Roman Stories. There seemed to be some common elements among the stories. Most of the protagonists were people that weren’t living in their native country. A lot of them were discriminated against in a hateful way which saddens me that this type of hate is still going on today. All of them were exquisitely executed. ( )

These stories are about people who are in one way or another displaced, but who find themselves in Rome, a glowing backdrop that becomes a character in itself. The stories, written first in Italian and then translated (largely by the author), concern people who are separated from their backgrounds -- because they are immigrants of color, because they are Western expats, and in a few cases just because they are who they are. Some of the stories I found moving and illuminating -- in particular "A Well-Lit Room", which is tragic in a gentle way. Others impressed me less. But I found all of them rewarding, and they certainly recalled a wonderful city. ( )

Jhumpa Larhiri has written her first books in English and then for the last 10 years she has been writing in Italian and the last 2 books of hers that I have read have been English translations of her books written in Italian. It is a very impressive achievement but for me I enjoy her earlier books better. Perhaps, it is the subtle difference in the English translation versus a story originally written in English. These stories are written in a very straight forward style through the eyes different types of immigrants or foreign workers etc living in and around Rome. You get a good insight into how the various people deal with living in Italy and the lower their economic and immigration status the more discrimination they encounter. It is a solid group of short stories but if you have never read Lahiri then I recommend your start with "Interpreter of Maladies"(short stories) which won a Pulitzer Prize. ( )

Jhumpa Lahiri is a master of the short story, known for her award-winning collections Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth. For the past ten years, Lahiri has been living in Rome and writing in Italian. Roman Stories showcases that body of work, translated into English, and shows an author very much on top of her game.

These stories are mostly about the experience of immigrants in Rome. Some are expats with high-paying jobs; others are shopkeepers or service workers who may not have left their home country by choice. Themes of bigotry, economic disadvantage, and the disorientation inherent in adapting to another culture run through each narrative. Interestingly, Lahiri does not give her characters names, instead referring to them as “the wife” or other similar titles. The stories are tightly written, often with a gradual and surprising reveal about the characters. Just when you are wondering why “the wife” is behaving so strangely, Lahiri alludes indirectly to an incident in the past that sheds entirely new light on the characters and their situation.

Like any short story collection, some stories have greater impact than others, and this could differ from one reader to the next depending on which characters and situations you most identify with. This book is well worth your time, and I only hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years for more of this from Jhumpa Lahiri. ( )