Whereabouts: A novel

This book reminded me a lot of Journal du Dehors by Annie Ernaux. Maybe that's why they both got big prizes. They're the same kinda book where it's really about vibes, observations and snippets of life, the character's life and the observations of those around her. There was one chapter where she describes a sudden feeling of interconnectedness and contentment with those around her, and this reminded me of that great section of Paris Je T'aime where character actress Margo Martindale describes her trip as a tourist. It's that same kind of lovely contentment which I think drives most of our days, hoping to just get a glimpse of it. And the days where we get a lot of it are really good days. Lahiri also describes the experience of finding a dead mouse soooo realistically. When she talked about feeling so sad about the little mouse even though she had just made chicken thighs in the kitchen without a second thought was so real.

I was also very impressed that the author wrote this in Italian and translated it herself to English. Very cool.

I want to give it four stars, but I just didn't resonate enough with the rest of it to justify that even though those two chapters/scenes were definitely five star for me.

rating: 3.5 stars rounded down