Other Peoples Words

Other Peoples Words by Lisa Soep is about friendship, grief, loss and the power of words. Lisa Loep and her boyfriend forged friendships with two different couples Mercy & Christine & Emily and Jonnie. Christine passed away from an illness and Jonnie died in an accident. As a graduate student Lisa finds comfort from the philosophy of Russian critic and writer Mikhail Bakhtin. Mikhail wrote about the many voices that can echo through a person’s single speech.

Writing & Overall Execution

Lisa is a descriptive writer, and her words flow like a river which I like. The book was a bit slow moving. I think the book was trying to establish that a word or phrase someone says can bring back memories of those we love and miss. Mikhail Bakhtin was at the forefront of this philosophy. I did agree with one GoodReads reviewer that there were too many comparisons between famous academics and another reviewer who was bored at times through the book. I was thinking to myself, “Finally I’m not the only one.” Overall, the book did its best. If you’re interested in nonfiction memoirs about grief, loss and friendship then I would preorder Other Peoples Words coming out on April 16^th if you don’t have a Netgalley or physical copy.