“My Life in Sentences” by Jhumpa Lahiri is the first article in Draft, a new series on the art and
craft of writing in The New York Times. Lahiri is one of my favorite authors for both style and content. Her first story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, won the
Pulitzer in 2000. I also loved The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth. She writes exquisitely about
writing too:
“But only certain sentences breathe and shift about, like live matter in soil. The first sentence of a book is a handshake, perhaps an embrace.”
Don’t you love her metaphors? Lahiri’s experience with
writing, of waking in the night to scribble sentences on scraps of paper and
having the story come to her like “pieces of a jigsaw puzzle,” is how I go about
writing first drafts too. It was encouraging to
find parallels.
I just looked back at my review of Lahiri’s last book and
was amused to see that I read those stories in Cornwall. That trip to the West Country was meant
to be a vacation from writing, but it inspired me to shift the setting of a
novel I was researching in England. I’m revising that manuscript right now.
Lately it’s been a challenge to sit inside writing. As I noted in an earlier post this
month, March is usually still winter in Maine. April is mud season, a time of melting snow and thawing
mud. True spring, with everything
blooming all at once, doesn’t normally kick in until May. Last weekend
temperatures soared to the 60’s, and we’re due to hit 80 today! The last patch of icy snow in my woods vanished
yesterday. Nothing is blooming yet
and the grass is more dun than green, but I’m soaking in this warm sunshine with delight. More seasonal 40 degree temps are due at the end of the week.
Happy Spring!
11 comments:
I rarely read short stories anymore, but I agree Lahiri's sentence about writing is so eloquent. It's the kind of sentence you re-read and savor. Her metaphors seem effortless, but it takes so much talent to write such effective ones.
Glad to hear spring is reaching you, too; I suspect the grass will be green soon and you'll have some blooms popping up before you know it. Everything is at least a month ahead of schedule here in the Midwest.
Wow, thinking of the first sentence as a handshake or embrace is an eye-opener.
Enjoy your warm days, and happy spring to you, too!
I loved "The Interpreter of Maladies". That first story about the couple in New York who find themselves in a powercut (if my memory serves me correctly) is one o fmyf avourite short stories ever. I haven't read her other two books.
On a different note, your post made me think of the value we accord to short-story writers. Not much, in my opinion. And yet, it's such a fine art, short-story writing, it is.
Great post. I followed the link and was mesmerised for ten minutes of my life. Thank you very much.
Happy Spring to you, too!
Greetings from London.
PS: This is A Cuban In London, just in case the system plays up again and puts me as anonymous.:-)
Oh, it's done it again! I don't know, there's something about blogger lately that doesn't quite feel right. A certain naughtiness of the worst kind. Ever since they changed the word check, it's all gone a bit pear-shaped.
Rant over. Now back to being "Anonymous"! :-)
Greetings from London.
I love the thought of a first sentence as a handshake or embrace. Happy Spring to you too! Lovely picture :)
I love good writing. Clear, concise and memorable works for me. I wish... No, actually I loved teaching. Still, being arund books as a librarian or even writing them might have been good too.... :)
Jhumpa Lahiri writes short stories so well - I used to read only novels until I read Interpreter of Maladies and realized what an art form the short story can be.
Spring has sprung here too - it was 75 today in the city!
this first sentence of a book is a handshake....
as a writer that speaks volumes to me. it may go even deeper, as lahiri says, an embrace. it most certainly is a deeply emotional agreement that connects reader and writer.
lovely image of the tulips - red and green on soft yellow.
"The first sentence of a book is a handshake, perhaps an embrace.” Nice. I won't forget that, Sarah.
We had a really nice stretch of warm, unseasonable temps recently, but today it's in the high 40s again, which is typical for March, but it's harder to deal with once you've experienced the warmth for days and everything is starting to bloom!
I hope you're doing well and that your revisions are going well!
Sarah, Your tulip photo is fabulous!
I loved 'The Namesake' and wow to 'My life in Sentences' . . . yes, yes, love those metaphors! Visiting you is always an inspiration!
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