I started reading The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri last week, and although I’ve probably read only 2-3 pages I know I am going to have mixed feelings with this one.
Here’s a quote that I love:
East of the Tolly Club, after Deshapran Sashmal Road splits in two, there is a small mosque. A turn leads to a quiet enclave. A warren of narrow lanes and modest middle-class homes.
The above paragraph is actually the opening paragraph of the book and I love how she sets the scene so well, and immediately made me picture the place in my mind.
But here’s a quote that annoyed me enough to drop the book and focus on my other read.
The trees threw afternoon shadows on the lawn. Their smooth limbs divided when he looked up at them, like the forbidden zones of a woman’s body.
In the above sentence, a 13-year old boy is comparing this tree to a woman’s body. Does it sound like something a 13-year old would think? I don’t know, it rang a little false to me.
~ The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Have you read this book? Did you like it?
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Such exquisite writing! I do appreciate when authors pay attention to detail, one cannot help but to become fully enthralled! Great teaser 🙂
I don’t know about the second quote, sounds odd but the first sounds intriguing.
While I agree with you that the sentence is annoying – boys will be boys the saying goes for a reason, and around that age females started going from “ewww” to “Hmm” I don’t know that I would buy this one – but I would pick it up from the library. Great tease.
My Teaser this week
I agree with those who think that boys are always thinking about the female body. lol
sherry @ fundinmental My TT
I haven’t read anything by this author.
My TT this week: http://wp.me/pZnGI-iW
Maybe the sentence could have been written a bit differently but yes, boys would probably see a womans body in anything:)
My TT – http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/02/03/teaser-tuesdays-100-one-more-day-what-if-tommorrow-never-happens/
I think 13-year-old boys think about the female body pretty much all the time.
A great teaser and I think thirteen year old boys can use anything to compare to the female form. Thanks for visiting my TT https://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/teaser-tuesday-february-3/
Hi Nishita. Teaser Tuesday looks like a great idea. I really liked your post. I agree with you about the lines that annoyed you. A 13 year old does not think like that (at-least I hope not).
I haven’t read this book and the author is new to me as well. Although, I have heard a lot about her, just never got around to picking up any of her books.
@shanayatales:disqus Thanks for visiting and commenting 🙂 Teaser Tuesdays is a regular tag where a bunch of bloggers share excerpts from books they are reading. Feel free to join in.
Sure, will look into doing this. Thank you 🙂