Two great books on writing and life written by writers. Over the past year and a bit I have created a sort of book MFA for myself. I have looked for books that can teach me about life and writing. Although there are many fantastic books about writing specifically I wasn’t looking for lessons but rather for authors who could teach by example. For the life part, I didn’t want any self-help style books. I was (and am) looking to observe and take the lessons I need.

TWO GREAT BOOKS ON WRITING AND LIFE WRITTEN BY WRITERS

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri. I was really looking forward to this book and it did not disappoint. First, I love that it is written in both English and Italian. One page in each language. Thinking about it, I see that the physical makeup of the book reflects how Lahiri thinks about language.

“It’s the dialogue between the bridges and the canals. A dialogue between water and land. A dialogue that expresses a state of both separation and connection.”
Jhumpa Lahiri, 2016 p. 97

Beautiful, right? When I first picked up the book I thought it was about how she spontaneously moved to Italy to pursue her Italian writing career. Already a successful author in the English language Lahiri, enthralled by Italian wanted to take her work in another direction.

That would have been a great and very interesting story but what I found was even better. This is a writer’s meditation on writing.

This is a writer’s meditation on writing. This is an education in the difference of cultures by way of the spoken and written word. Written in simple clean but beautiful sentences, Lahiri explores sentence structure and the meaning of words. At one point she likens words to art comparing negative and positive space and then moving forward to draw a parallel between white space and silence, commenting on its meaning and highlighting its importance.

My wish is that writers are able to take her theories, struggles and work examples (how she writes a diary), and transpose them into their own work. I hope that readers can see past some of her more technical ruminations and enjoy the gorgeous flow of language.

“language like a tide, now a flood, now low, now inaccessible”
“reading with a dictionary”
“failure”
“something that remains forever outside me”
Jhumpa Lahiri 2016 p.209

The Odd Woman In The City: A Memoir by Vivian Gornick. The book blurb located above the title says it all, “A guidebook for how to exist” -Katherine Taylor, Los Angeles Review of Books.

From everything I’ve seen and read, Vivian Gornick is a no bs woman who has lived and seen life. This book makes me think a little bit of Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett but it has the added element of taking place on the streets of New York City.

There is so much poetry in her writing. It’s as if she’s allowing us, the reader, to walk alongside her and to see what she’s thinking. This book is a lesson about life and a lesson on writing. Gornick stretches the rules, shaping them to the story she tells. We move seamlessly from present tense to the past, the characters who play parts in her life are introduced and then fade away. One thought leads to the next and before you know it you are turning the last page.

When Manny and I hooked up, I was in a slump. That’s how I put it. “I’m in a slump.” Manny looked at me. “You’re in a slump?” he said. “What does that mean? That’s bullshit for you don’t wanna work, right? That’s what it means, doesn’t it? It means you’re a writer who doesn’t want to write. Even I can see that….”
Vivian Gornick, 2015 p.60

I think that’s something most of us can relate to. Without having met her, Vivian Gornick has become an older sister or mentor that I wan’t to learn from.