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georgiaanneking's review
informative
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
Lahiri’s The Clothing of Books explores the visual identity of books. Lahiri explores her own relationship with the covers chosen for her novels and how she feels they reflect, of don’t reflect, the texts she has written.
More broadly, she’s speaking of identity. She’s speaking of the way her own identity feels split at times and how this is presented. She speaks of Italian versus American ways of choosing covers for books and how this reflects these two disparate cultural identities she holds. She speaks of the publishing industry and how they choose how her text is presented without any input, analogous to how she has very little input into how she’s presented to the world at large.
Lahiri covers a lot here. The insights into the publishing world are interesting and also into her own identity as a writer. For context, the text was originally written as the keynote speech for the ninth edition of the Festival degli Scrittori in Florence. The speech aspects do come through at points, in ways that don’t benefit the written text. There are moments where the link Lahiri is making to her identity is laboured over, slightly clumsy. Otherwise, the book is beautifully written, meditative and a quick, enjoyable read.
More broadly, she’s speaking of identity. She’s speaking of the way her own identity feels split at times and how this is presented. She speaks of Italian versus American ways of choosing covers for books and how this reflects these two disparate cultural identities she holds. She speaks of the publishing industry and how they choose how her text is presented without any input, analogous to how she has very little input into how she’s presented to the world at large.
Lahiri covers a lot here. The insights into the publishing world are interesting and also into her own identity as a writer. For context, the text was originally written as the keynote speech for the ninth edition of the Festival degli Scrittori in Florence. The speech aspects do come through at points, in ways that don’t benefit the written text. There are moments where the link Lahiri is making to her identity is laboured over, slightly clumsy. Otherwise, the book is beautifully written, meditative and a quick, enjoyable read.
mindfullibrarian's review
5.0
"If the process of writing is a dream, the book cover represents the awakening" ~ Jhumpa Lahiri
This tiny, gorgeous bound essay is a speech Lahiri wrote in 2014, and is both a love letter to and condemnation of the modern book cover. Lahiri speaks of her feelings about the jackets of her own books as related to her own angst over clothing, but also recognizes and shares the intimate relationship she has with the covers of favorite books of her past. This gem deserves a place on every author and bibliophile's bookshelf.
This tiny, gorgeous bound essay is a speech Lahiri wrote in 2014, and is both a love letter to and condemnation of the modern book cover. Lahiri speaks of her feelings about the jackets of her own books as related to her own angst over clothing, but also recognizes and shares the intimate relationship she has with the covers of favorite books of her past. This gem deserves a place on every author and bibliophile's bookshelf.
novelesque_life's review
3.0
RATING: 3.5 STARS
2016; Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Vintage
(Review Not on Blog)
This is a very short book of essays, and Lahiri looks how how books are dressed, and what does clothing mean. I enjoyed having a look and hearing Lahiri's thoughts, but I am not sure I would have read this if it wasn't by an author I am trying to like more.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
2016; Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Vintage
(Review Not on Blog)
This is a very short book of essays, and Lahiri looks how how books are dressed, and what does clothing mean. I enjoyed having a look and hearing Lahiri's thoughts, but I am not sure I would have read this if it wasn't by an author I am trying to like more.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
beautyisterror's review against another edition
3.75
Questo breve saggio nasce come lectio magistralis tenuta da Jhumpa Lahiri alla nona edizione del Festival dei Lettori a Firenze, dove le era stato richiesto di parlare dello scrivere. Tema più aperto non c'è.
Lei ha scelto di focalizzare il suo sguardo sul primo approccio che il Lettore ha con il libro come oggetto, ovvero la copertina, e sulla sua relazione amore e odio con essa, vista sia dalla lei lettrice che dalla lei scrittrice.
Il suo approccio è interessante e mi sono trovata d'accordo con molte cose che ha detto, però ovviamente in quell'oretta che immagino avesse a disposizione non ha potuto toccare tutti i tasti di una conversazione sulla copertina (poi probabilmente se fosse andata più a fondo nell'argomento sarebbe sembrata una qualsiasi delle lezioni di Editoria Applicata che ho seguito anni fa, ma che ci posso fare, la copertina è un aspetto del libro che continua a dare E che non viene utilizzato abbastanza - o almeno non nel modo più intelligente).
Lei ha scelto di focalizzare il suo sguardo sul primo approccio che il Lettore ha con il libro come oggetto, ovvero la copertina, e sulla sua relazione amore e odio con essa, vista sia dalla lei lettrice che dalla lei scrittrice.
Il suo approccio è interessante e mi sono trovata d'accordo con molte cose che ha detto, però ovviamente in quell'oretta che immagino avesse a disposizione non ha potuto toccare tutti i tasti di una conversazione sulla copertina (poi probabilmente se fosse andata più a fondo nell'argomento sarebbe sembrata una qualsiasi delle lezioni di Editoria Applicata che ho seguito anni fa, ma che ci posso fare, la copertina è un aspetto del libro che continua a dare E che non viene utilizzato abbastanza - o almeno non nel modo più intelligente).
livrad's review
2.0
I have really enjoyed Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction work in the past, and this was my first time reading one of her non-fiction works. This short book on the importance of book covers left me wanting.
First, I found the linguistic style grating, which is a shame, because usually Lahiri writes such beautiful prose. This book was originally written in Italian and then translated into English—not by Lahiri, despite her being an American fluent in English. Whether due to her original writing in what is not her first language, or to a clunky translation, the language is a bit sophomoric without a sense of rhythm to it.
As for the content, I wanted it to delve deeper. There were only brief tidbits about the history of book covers, and many of the claims about U.S. cover trends seemed factually incorrect. I was hoping for a look into consumer psychology and how that drives cover choices. This may have been a more interesting read had it come from someone in production or marketing and not a novelist. Despite being a short book, it should have been much shorter if it wasn’t going to explore more of the topic. It could have just been a magazine article, as if was a long-winded way of her saying that she doesn’t always care for her own books’ covers.
First, I found the linguistic style grating, which is a shame, because usually Lahiri writes such beautiful prose. This book was originally written in Italian and then translated into English—not by Lahiri, despite her being an American fluent in English. Whether due to her original writing in what is not her first language, or to a clunky translation, the language is a bit sophomoric without a sense of rhythm to it.
As for the content, I wanted it to delve deeper. There were only brief tidbits about the history of book covers, and many of the claims about U.S. cover trends seemed factually incorrect. I was hoping for a look into consumer psychology and how that drives cover choices. This may have been a more interesting read had it come from someone in production or marketing and not a novelist. Despite being a short book, it should have been much shorter if it wasn’t going to explore more of the topic. It could have just been a magazine article, as if was a long-winded way of her saying that she doesn’t always care for her own books’ covers.