Whereabouts

Jhumpa Lahiri's Whereabouts is the reflection of a certain kind of life, which, you could say, is engagingly involved but detached, immersed, yet removed. A bold but guarded existence that is keen, observant, perceptive, and practical, living in bare reality, far from pretensions or wishful thinking. 

Set in an unnamed place, evidently in Italy, this is the story of the narrator who goes about her everyday living in the backdrop of her solitary life. Lahiri's expression of even some of the most elementary things, in a manner that is exquisite, yet simple, makes for wonderful reading - often allowing the reader to plunge into some sort of recollection and escape, contemplating how life was or would have been under similar conditions. But, above all, it is hugely refreshing to the mind, to be able to induce a calm sense of detachment and freedom from the mundaneness of human existence, although that is not overtly conveyed in any sense.

The dominant theme of the narrative, recounted in first person, is a focus on the passage of life itself, that is fleeting, complete with everyday occurrences, beautifully described, often with limited words, yet, in a tastefully appealing manner, surely to have a lasting impact on any perceptive mind. It is an incredibly powerful portrayal of how life is transcendental and that the nature of events is momentary and fading, without lasting consequence.

Even so, it has everything in it - love, the lack of it, romance, desire, deceit, age and its effect, vulnerability, emotions, people and their interactions, and so on. What it does not restrict itself or follow is a certain structure or form. Instead, one finds immense freedom and relief in the manner in which the story is recounted, knowing that there are no fixed destinations to arrive at or people to go to. There is a deep sense of liberation in that thought.