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A review by jola_g
The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri
4.0
Believe me, it’s such a glorious feeling to find out that one of your favourite authors has written a book on the topic you feel passionate about. And as far as Jhumpa Lahiri is concerned, it has happened to me twice. In 2015 she published 'In Altre Parole' ('In Other words'), a book about her love for the Italian language, which I share in 100% or even more, and in 2016 an essay on book covers, 'The Clothing of Books'.
I must make a confession here: I’ve been obsessed with book covers since I can remember. I love staring at them, comparing them, deciding which one is the best, finding the relations between them and the contents of the book, which is a challenge at times. If you are at the bookshop next time and notice a woman gaping at covers, with dreamy eyes and an ecstatic smile, murmuring something in delight, it might be me. Needless to say, I felt euphoric when it turned out that Jhumpa Lahiri shares my hobby.
I adore Jhumpa Lahiri's books and I have a feeling that if we ever met in person, we would get on well. According to her, 'Like every true love, that of the reader is blind'. So is probably mine, but I suspect a less enthusiastic reader might not find 'The Clothing of Books' perfect. Let me draw your attention to the fact that it has got only 74 pages (!). This scarce number and the feeling that I'm not getting enough was one of the issues I had with this essay. The lack of illustrations bothered me even more. What a weird idea to publish a book about covers without even one picture! A book? Well, it’s actually an altered version of a lecture Lahiri gave at a literary festival. Please, bear all these things in mind, so you won’t feel disappointed eventually.
For me it was utterly fascinating to look at book jackets from a writer’s point of view. Such a pity the process of creating a cover is so impersonal nowadays, the example of cooperation between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell sounds like a fairy tale. Lahiri observes that in our time the function of a cover is 'much more commercial than aesthetic' alas.
It turned out that the covers of the books she's written awake strong emotions in Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m so curious which one she means here: 'There is a certain awful cover for one of my books that elicits in me an almost violent response. Every time I am asked to autograph that edition, I feel the impulse to rip the cover off the book.'
Jhumpa Lahiri's opinion on book covers is summarized nicely in this passage:
'The right cover is like a beautiful coat, elegant and warm, wrapping my words as they travel through the world, on their way to keep an appointment with my readers.
The wrong cover is cumbersome, suffocating. Or it is like a too-light sweater: inadequate.
A good cover is flattering. I feel myself listened to, understood.
A bad cover is like an enemy; I find it hateful.'
The covers Lahiri likes are simple, minimalistic, ascetic. She hates aggressive colours, blurbs, quotes, additional photos, biographic details. I think she would like the lovely one I saw yesterday, especially given the fact that she is a fan of Einaudi series and Italian designs in general.
Einaudi, 2008.
In 'The Clothing of Books' you will find not only Lahiri’s opinions on covers but also on series of books, the differences between books published in Italy and the United States, the gap between publishing house’s expectations and writer’s ambitions, paintings by Richard Baker, her Italian friends, image stereotypes, being bullied, clothes, and many more.
One of the things which astonish Jhumpa Lahiri, is the variety of covers and artists' interpretations. 'How is it possible that one book, the same book, can generate this panorama of images?', she wonders. This morning I had very similar thoughts when I saw a few editions of '[b: The Blithedale Romance|50776|The Blithedale Romance|Nathaniel Hawthorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347518757s/50776.jpg|1189706]' by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Just have a look. Spotting the difference won't be hard.
Modern Library, 2001.
Penguin Classics, 1983.
If all the words were deleted, would you believe they are both the covers of the same book?
'The Clothing of Books' is really tiny so I’d better stop here, as I would like your encounter with this essay to be as personal and satisfactory as possible.
My ‘telepathic’ connection with Jhumpa Lahiri amuses me, though I’m fully aware of the fact that it’s just a funny coincidence. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be much surprised if new books by this author were about dachshunds or wild strawberries or the dusk in the mountains or baking bread or the colour lilac. These are a few of my favourite things.
I must make a confession here: I’ve been obsessed with book covers since I can remember. I love staring at them, comparing them, deciding which one is the best, finding the relations between them and the contents of the book, which is a challenge at times. If you are at the bookshop next time and notice a woman gaping at covers, with dreamy eyes and an ecstatic smile, murmuring something in delight, it might be me. Needless to say, I felt euphoric when it turned out that Jhumpa Lahiri shares my hobby.
I adore Jhumpa Lahiri's books and I have a feeling that if we ever met in person, we would get on well. According to her, 'Like every true love, that of the reader is blind'. So is probably mine, but I suspect a less enthusiastic reader might not find 'The Clothing of Books' perfect. Let me draw your attention to the fact that it has got only 74 pages (!). This scarce number and the feeling that I'm not getting enough was one of the issues I had with this essay. The lack of illustrations bothered me even more. What a weird idea to publish a book about covers without even one picture! A book? Well, it’s actually an altered version of a lecture Lahiri gave at a literary festival. Please, bear all these things in mind, so you won’t feel disappointed eventually.
For me it was utterly fascinating to look at book jackets from a writer’s point of view. Such a pity the process of creating a cover is so impersonal nowadays, the example of cooperation between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell sounds like a fairy tale. Lahiri observes that in our time the function of a cover is 'much more commercial than aesthetic' alas.
It turned out that the covers of the books she's written awake strong emotions in Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m so curious which one she means here: 'There is a certain awful cover for one of my books that elicits in me an almost violent response. Every time I am asked to autograph that edition, I feel the impulse to rip the cover off the book.'
Jhumpa Lahiri's opinion on book covers is summarized nicely in this passage:
'The right cover is like a beautiful coat, elegant and warm, wrapping my words as they travel through the world, on their way to keep an appointment with my readers.
The wrong cover is cumbersome, suffocating. Or it is like a too-light sweater: inadequate.
A good cover is flattering. I feel myself listened to, understood.
A bad cover is like an enemy; I find it hateful.'
The covers Lahiri likes are simple, minimalistic, ascetic. She hates aggressive colours, blurbs, quotes, additional photos, biographic details. I think she would like the lovely one I saw yesterday, especially given the fact that she is a fan of Einaudi series and Italian designs in general.
Einaudi, 2008.
In 'The Clothing of Books' you will find not only Lahiri’s opinions on covers but also on series of books, the differences between books published in Italy and the United States, the gap between publishing house’s expectations and writer’s ambitions, paintings by Richard Baker, her Italian friends, image stereotypes, being bullied, clothes, and many more.
One of the things which astonish Jhumpa Lahiri, is the variety of covers and artists' interpretations. 'How is it possible that one book, the same book, can generate this panorama of images?', she wonders. This morning I had very similar thoughts when I saw a few editions of '[b: The Blithedale Romance|50776|The Blithedale Romance|Nathaniel Hawthorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347518757s/50776.jpg|1189706]' by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Just have a look. Spotting the difference won't be hard.
Modern Library, 2001.
Penguin Classics, 1983.
If all the words were deleted, would you believe they are both the covers of the same book?
'The Clothing of Books' is really tiny so I’d better stop here, as I would like your encounter with this essay to be as personal and satisfactory as possible.
My ‘telepathic’ connection with Jhumpa Lahiri amuses me, though I’m fully aware of the fact that it’s just a funny coincidence. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be much surprised if new books by this author were about dachshunds or wild strawberries or the dusk in the mountains or baking bread or the colour lilac. These are a few of my favourite things.