Product Description
Navigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations. In "A Temporary Matter," published in The New Yorker, a young Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft cultural insight reminiscent of Anita Desai and a nuanced depth that recalls Mavis Gallant. She is an important and powerful new voice.Amazon.com Review
Mr. Kapasi, the protagonist of Jhumpa Lahiri's title story, would certainlyhave his work cut out for him if he were forced to interpret the maladiesof all the characters in this eloquent debut collection. Take, for example,Shoba and Shukumar, the young couple in "A Temporary Matter" whose marriageis crumbling in the wake of a stillborn child. Or Miranda in "Sexy," who isinvolved in a hopeless affair with a married man. But Mr. Kapasi hasproblems enough of his own; in addition to his regular job working as aninterpreter for a doctor who does not speak his patients' language, he alsodrives tourists to local sites of interest. His fare on this particular dayis Mr. and Mrs. Das--first-generation Americans of Indian descent--andtheir children. During the course of the afternoon, Mr. Kapasi becomesenamored of Mrs. Das and then becomes her unwilling confidant when shereads too much into his profession. "I told you because of your talents,"she informs him after divulging a startling secret.

I'm tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi,I've been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better;say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.

Customer Reviews (494)

Interpreter of Maladies
Interpreter of Maladies is an incredible book!! Lahiri's writing has a beautiful simplicity with an attention to detail that catches your heart and keeps you mesmerized. India provides a strong background for Lahiri's stories; however, the characters and themes are universal. These stories have an intensity that comes from the reader's immediate connection with the characters and their surroundings.

A nice insight
I enjoyed this collection of stories a lot. It did seem to have a constant theme of life in an arranged marriage running through it. It gives the reader a look into a culture that many people don't really know about. Though at times you'll wish that Lahiri addressed other issues, the book makes for an interesting and entertaining read.

The brilliance of simplicity
One of the things I loved about this book was that Ms. Lahiri just told these stories in plain, beautifully evocative language, and then stepped away, leaving the reader to be the "interpreter."She deftly makes you think, without telling you what she wants you to think.None of the characters in her stories are black or white, but all are superbly gray, making them more real than most of the books I've read recently.I was captivated by her descriptions of relationships - she gives you just enough details to see the cracks in the facade, without shattering it, as a less gifted writer might do.

Interpreter of Maladies
Author is an excellent writer.Her descriptions of characters and places are succinct and easily accessible to the reader.I recommend this book to all.

Worth Reading
Thoughtful, poignant, good writing. The last story is the most satisfying, though I got something out of all of them. I am not a big fan of writing for writing's sake, though. I prefer good story telling to creative writing, hate bad writing and cannot believe my great fortune when a great story is told in beautiful prose. What is missing in some of the stories in this book is a reason for the writing, the lack of plot feeling a bit too 'modern' and academic. I'm anxious to read Namesake - curious to see if Lahiri can sustain a storyline with the sensitivity she clearly posesses. I do walk away from this book feeling a deeper understanding of another culture through her characters. ... Read more

Product Description

These eight stories by beloved and bestselling author Jhumpa Lahiri take us fromCambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand, as they explore the secrets at the heartof family life. Here they enter the worlds of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers,daughters and sons, friends and lovers. Rich with the signature gifts that have establishedJhumpa Lahiri as one of our most essential writers, Unaccustomed Earth exquisitelyrenders the most intricate workings of the heart and mind.

Customer Reviews (222)

Stunning talent.
I love Alice Munro's short stories, and I don't want to snub her, but Lahiri's writing is that rare sort that comes along every fifty years or so. She is a master. I felt palpable anxiety in the story that dealt with alcoholism - that was one of my favorites, but that in no way touches the last three short stories of the book, which are connected. Not only did I cry upon finishing them (I read a lot, but I RARELY cry over fiction), but I reopened the book and re-read them immediately (that, truthfully, has NEVER happened).

I can't wait to read everything she's ever written. Could not recommend this book more highly.

strong start, fizzled out
I very much enjoyed The Namesake and this short story collection starts out strong. The first story, about the father and daughter is an understated jewel of emotion and things left unsaid. The story of the sister and her alcoholic brother seems real and jolting. Then the story of the intercultural couple starts getting a bit mushy. Around the middle, the story of Paul and "Sang" is just horrible! It's like one of those Saturday Night Live skits where the writers have no idea how to end it so they just go on and on ad nauseum until it fizzles out. It's hard to believe actually that it's the same writer who wrote the tightly crafted first story.

I'm about ready to give up on this collection but I've heard good things about the last trio of loosely connected stories so perhaps I'll tough it out. But I expected better from a talented author like Lahiri. A lot of readers have mentioned that she should write about other than Bengalis. But think about it: white authors write mostly about white people, Chinese about Chinese experience, etc. But I do agree that her Bengalis should be other than academics living mainly around Boston, as that is getting rather old.

So good....
I just read the first story unaccustomed earth.. it was so good.Simple yet spectacular, felt so good, refreshing, relaxing.After namesake, this was the second book of hers I've read and she does not disappoint, like vintage wine,the first story is so good

A must read for anyone who loves books!
Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories that is written about Bengali Indian immigrants but speaks to everyone.If you want to read some short stories about the tragedies and joys, the shortcomings and strengths of the human spirit, check this book out.Even though it's about a certain slice of the population, I think everyone can find something in this book to which they can relate.

Lahiri has an interesting story-telling style that is comprised of a disproportionate amount of narrative to dialogue.She spends her time telling her readers what the characters are doing and thinking and feeling, relieving her characters of the majority of that responsibility.In Lahiri's case, however, she has her craft down to such an art that we look forward to the narrative, to the long paragraphs and her authoritative disclosure of her characters' state of mind.Every word is measured and weighed, included only because it's absolutely necessary.And yet, despite this sense of being careful, there is a richness to Lahiri's work that makes one think of enjoying a really good meal at an expensive restaurant that is worth every penny.

Of the first five stories in Unaccustomed Earth, the most striking is "Only Goodness" about a sister-brother pair who deal with the issue of alcoholism in a heartbreaking way.Lahiri writes intimately about the addiction, and the final pages of the story make the reader shake his or her head in disbelief all the while wanting to know what might happen next.As is the nature of the genre, however, we don't get to know any more about the characters than what Lahiri chooses to reveal.And like the hallmark of any good book, we are left wanting to know more.

The section entitled "Hema and Kaushik" includes the trio of stories at the end of the book, going into the details of the title characters and their experiences in growing up as second-generation Bengalis and first-generation Americans.Their lives converge at one point, deviate from each other, and then intersect once again.Their end is happy and then again isn't; they find pieces of themselves in one another in that all-encompassing experience of being the children of immigrants.Yet despite that common experience, they suffer from the same shortcomings that all humans do and those shortcomings prevent them from finding the happiness for which they'd both hoped.

Because of my own cultural heritage I don't have an outsider's view of Lahiri's works (and because of my kinship with them I'm partial to anything she writes,) but I have no doubt that to a certain extent anyone could find elements of their own lives in these stories.In tackling the immigrant experience, Lahiri has managed to spotlight the human experience.For that very reason--and also to marvel at the beauty of her prose--Unaccustomed Earth is a must read for anyone.

A perfect "10" -- have to settle for 5 stars
To be brutally honest, short stories are a genre I usually avoid.I find myself frustrated with having to start and stop the story and my (usual) inability to get into the flow and inhabit the fictional world.When it comes to Jhumpa Lahiri, none of the above holds true and I will read anything she writes, in any genre.This collection of eight short stories is just as fabulous as "Interpreter of Maladies" and her full-length novel "The Namesake".Three books, three knockout winners in my opinion.

The first five stories are independent of each other and the final three are interwoven with the characters.Each story typically runs 40 pages so there is enough time to fully develop these characters and she does it so well.Telling the stories of second generation Bengalis, Ms. Lahiri explores all aspects of being immigrants and the children of immigrants but particularly shines as it relates to the conflict between the parents looking back to India and the children looking forward to the United States.Each story is an absolute jewel that creates a world where the reader can enter, enjoy and then exit all within the span of relatively few pages.Very few authors can do this to my satisfaction and she is the best I have found.

Outstanding book and incredibly talented author overall.
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Product Description

Awkwardness isGogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, haspretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like manysecond-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in theworld. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured youngManhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol intotheir easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaksoff the relationship.His mother finally sets him up on a blind date withthe daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match.Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world sheinhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, herrebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French.Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been herrefuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, withoutguilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documentsthese quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There'snocleverness or showing-off in The Namesake, just beautifullyconfident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it'ssimply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: reallife. --Claire Dederer ... Read more

Customer Reviews (514)

The Namesake
The Namesake was a novel I purchased for my first book club meeting. I probably wouldn't have selected the novel on my own, but found the story meaningful, educational and moving.The characters are well crafted, and I could see and feel the pain for the family living in America, while attempting to preserve their culture from India. I was able to understand how naming an infant can shape an individual throughout their entire life.I loved this book!

A Gentle Journey
I was gently surprised by the gentle flow of this journey.It is a wonderful insight to anyone finding themselves in a foreign country trying to hold onto a sense of self.I loved all the characters and the interweaving of their stories.I hated to see this story end.

A must read!
It really doesn't matter if your parents are immigrants or not, I think almost everyone can identify with almost all the aspects of this book.Who among us hasn't struggled with their identity at some point of our lives?Aren't we all trying to find our place in this world?Aren't we all struggling to find a balance between being happy and content and being comfortable in our own skin?At the end, the character of Gogol accepts himself for who he is and accepts the uniqueness of his name and background which I think is admirable.

The Namesake
Got my the book in 2 days. Boon is good condition. Pages a little yellow- didn't like that ( not excellent in my option).Would use this source again.

excellent portrayal of the challenges facing an immigrant Indian family in the US
I greatly enjoyed the Namesake, especially the first half.The second half lacked some of the allegorical qualities found in the first half, but on the whole, the book was a quick, high quality read.The story covers the life of an immigrant Indian family and what challenges each of the members face over its first generation growing up in the US.Throughout the book I couldn't help thinking of similarities I found with an Indian family here that I know quite well.How true and how insightful. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Great collection
I purchased this book because my new favorite author "Chimamanda Adichie" has a story in here and helped edit the book. I read her other work and decided to purchase this as well. It's a wonderful compilation of global proportions and perspectives. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about other perspectives.

One World: A global anthology of short stories
This anthology of short stories written by accomplished writers from around the globe is a compilation of the diverse experiences that people face in their daily lives. While the stories tug at the heart, the writing is thoughtful and provocative, the cultural insight rich, and the authors do an incredible job of transporting the reader to the various countries around the globe where these stories are set. I do not typically review books on Amazon, but felt the one review of this book is unjust in that it does not speak to the power of the stories or the immense amount of intercultural learning one gets out of reading this text.

As a professor of intercultural and comparative education, I plan to use this anthology in future courses as it speaks to realities that many people within Western cultures are not aware of or have not had exposure to. The stories are targeted and each chapter could serve as a basis for a different topic such as immigration and migration, gender and women's issues, poverty and inequality, and development.

Anyone who enjoys the writing of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri will get a great deal out of this selection of short stories by them and other writers.

One World (of Universal Misery)
What a terrible disappointment this book proved to be! I will never understand why the editors of modern anthologies are so staunchly determined to focus upon the ugliest, most sordid aspects of life. Perhaps they feel that gritty realism will afford them a professional aura of intellectual gravity. Whatever the reason, this book exemplifies the trend.

The editors' introduction includes the following lines: "`One World' goes beyond the everyday notion of the globe as a physical geographic entity. Rather, we understand it as a universal idea, one that transcends national boundaries to comment on the most prevailing aspects of the human condition."

One must assume from this statement that the editors consider abject suffering to be the most prevailing aspect of the human condition. With the exception of Jhumpa Lahiri's, "The Third and Final Continent," the predominant theme in each story is misery.

This isn't a rich, cultural tapestry- it is a celebration of the global ubiquity of pain. It is unique only in the sense that it may well be the only book ever published in which two different authors provide detailed descriptions of how children's bodies may be tortured with hot chili peppers.

The editors finish the introduction with the words, "Welcome to our world."If you choose to accept their welcome and enter this dismal world, I suggest that you do so with a bottle of Prozac.

-Krista Levy
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Four gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennial

Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India "the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story." Powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years, Malgudi Days presents Narayan’s imaginary city in full color, revealing the essence of India and of human experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Classic
Having been a fan of malgudi days from childhood, this book was something I always wanted to read. And it din't disappoint. This is a collection of short stories, which depicts simple human emotions which are hard to put into words. Most of the characters are post - independence or early independence period, and bring along a view of inquisitiveness and also innocence(or lack of knowledge).

All I have to say is this, pick it up, and read it. You wont regret it. For people who have no clue about what I just wrote.. go and search for malgudi days videos online( some episodes are in english n some in hindi). Then you will understand

Come, Come, Enjoy a Day-Trip to India
Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan offers the reader a wonderful chance to experience the ordinariness and pleasant magic of life on the Sub-Continent.

This collection of short stories provides an array of vantage points from which the reader can consider Indian life.While meant to be tongue-in-cheek commentaries or light hearted reflections on the social and political realities of India, Narayan doesn't fall short of capturing and relaying a truly authentic feel.

Personally, this book made a wonderful traveling companion as I toured the South of India. The details of the stories were more manifest in the environment around me than in any other part of the country, yet the story themes were in no way constrained by locale.They very much hold auniversal appeal.

If you enjoy the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, then you will enjoy the work of R.K. Narayan.

Excellent Short Stories
R.K Narayan brings to life the people and places as he narrates the story. I would strongly recommend this book for the people interested in Indian culture.

One of the best Indian writers
This book is a collection of short stories written in very simple language. What really makes the difference is the connection it establishes with the readers. Stories are about simple people and simple issues in life. RNK is one of the best authors I have read. He has his own style of writing.

Revisiting the old classic.. Nostalgia makes it sweeter
I reread Malgudi days after 20 or so years! It was a delight just as it was when I read them the first time. Only this time; being in the US, made the Characters more endearing! Looking through the mist of time the village with all its sounds sights and smells looked prettier than a real one. This is a book for you all ex-pats to curl up on a snowy winter day with a hot cup of tea (even better if someone makes hot Pakoras to go with!) and enjoy.
To the non-Indian friends, may be a hot coffee and some chicken nuggets (or soy nuggets!) and winter days.
To the couple of readers who were disappointed! Well the whole point behind these stories is to capture the life as it flows. The climax is in the journey itself.
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Xavier Zimbardo's stunning India Holy Song captures the mystery, beauty, and spirituality of India as never seen before. A spectacular collection of four-color photography taken over a fifteen-year period by this award-winning photographer, this extraordinary volume provides an intimate, heart-stopping portrait of a people whose way of life and sacred rituals are some of the most fascinating and enigmatic in the world.

This deluxe, oversized volume contains a hundred riotously colored, light-filled, and beautifully composed photographs. Included within its pages are the textile-dyeing factories of Rajasthan bursting with seemingly endless, undulating streams of saturated jewel-like fabrics in astonishing hues, from aquamarine to amethyst to the deepest ruby red; the great camel fairs of Pushkar Mela, where endless caravans make their way slowly across the desert in paths of golden dust; and the sculptural beauty of square Chinese fishing nets in Cochin, Kerala, piercing a violet twilight sky. Image after image, Zimbardo reveals the many facets of India with a passionate and discerning eye. This is an astounding, evocative work that is sure to be relished by photography and travel buffs, as well as those interested in India and its spiritual and cultural nature.

With an introduction by acclaimed Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri, a prefatory text by the author that chronicles his experiences in India and his artistic process, and detailed captions that provide fascinating insight to Indian culture, India Holy Songis a deeply moving, compassionate, evocative book that reveals not only the subtleties of a place but the range of human emotion as well.Amazon.com Review
Captured over a 15-year period, Xavier Zimbardo's India Holy Song records the exquisitely color-filled experience that pervades everyday life in India. The workaday environment of a textile-dyeing factory becomes a frenzy of whooshing fabric like a moment out of a Martha Graham performance. An expansive hillside landscape shows a mythically large tree dwarfing a man in the grassy field. Cows and dogs traverse the city streets. Each photograph captures a very different aspect of India, and each is full of tremendous energy, whether an intimate close-up of an elephant or a field of camels. Most energetic of all are the spectacular portraits of holy festivals: children painted like lions or dressed as Krishna, a crowd in the midst of being drenched in sacred colored powders.

A lovely foreword by writer Jhumpa Lahiri presents a very personal childhood experience of India. At the back of the book is a helpful little guide, replete with mini-pictures of the full-page images and explanations of when and where each is taken and a bit about the background of the photograph. This book will make you want to pack your bags and head straight for the airport to try to experience even a fraction of the vitality that's in these 135 color illustrations. --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The true essence of India
I'm very glad I purchased this beautiful book. The pictures inside are breathtaking and show the true essence of India: its colour, its poverty and that joy of life so typical of this wonderful country.

My congrats to the author.

Bee-yoo-tiful. Thumbs Up!
All I can say is, WOW.

This book is a breathtaking spectacle of color, textures, emotions, and INTELLIGENCE. What I mean is, this just isn't a book of random photographs...these are exquisitely beautiful, intelligent photographs. The fact that the pictures have been taken in India makes it more exotic and adds a bit of spice to the already obvious mysticism.

I can't say I'm a professional at photograpgy, but even i can see the classiness of this piece of art. If you love photos, exotic cultures, or even a bit of sensitivity in photographs, this book is definitely a recommended buy.

Signing off,

Secret Agent Booker ... Read more

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Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

Introduction by Jhumpa Lahiri

Bernard Malamud's first book of short stories, The Magic Barrel, has been recognized as a classic from the time it was published in 1959. The stories are set in New York and in Italy (where Malamud's alter ego, the struggleing New York Jewish Painter Arthur Fidelman, roams amid the ruins of old Europe in search of his artistic patrimony); they tell of egg candlers and shoemakers, matchmakers, and rabbis, in a voice that blends vigorous urban realism, Yiddish idiom, and a dash of artistic magic.

The Magic Barrel is a book about New York and about the immigrant experience, and it is high point in the modern American short story. Few books of any kind have managed to depict struggle and frustration and heartbreak with such delight, or such artistry.
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Customer Reviews (13)

a nice little eclectic mix of short stories..
'The Magic Barrel' by Malamud contains several (mostly) entertaining short stories involving Jewish (/Yiddish) characters from the 1950s.He captures a culture and way of life today's generation has no memory of.Although well written I cannot quite understand why this book would receive any special accolades.


Bottom line: certainly a good read but not the sort of book worth searching for unless one has a special interest in Jewish/Yiddish American life.Recommended.

Wrong title, right author
I selected the complete short stories of Malamud and this book is only a selction of short stories. I was disappointed but we decided to keep it and be more careful in ordering.

Simple, powerful stories
It was such a pleasure to read these stories. Each story grabs you quickly, and makes its narative thrust accessible. His stories don't stray from his simple narratives; there is very little excess or digression.
The stories are very personal and moral without being preachy. He knows how to capture people's moral ambivalence without judging them or resorting to stereotypes.
I found this book to be both an easy read and very moving.

Book Exactly as Described-Fast Delivery
I was looking for a hard to find book in large print. I was shocked to see that they were selling a new edition for about $1.57. I was skeptical but for the price took a chance and was amazed to find that I received exactly what was described in perfect brand new condition. The delivery time was also very, very fast. I'll check out their WEB site in the future for more extraordinary values.

Craig Heard, New York, NY

Magic Malamud
Malamud does three or four tricks in his fiction well, and here he does each one to utter perfection.And when taken together, this collection of stories almost transcends Malamud's normal limits: the stories are compressed, short, and below the surface, charged with almost unbearable tension.Unlike other collections of stories (or when you read too many Malamud stories) Malamud does not parody himself in the Magic Barrell.Everything is where it is supposed to be, and works like a well oiled machine.It is a shame that (as of writing this) only eight people have reviewed this masterpiece of a short story collection.In Roth's The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman explains that the world's morality has already passed by the E.I. Lonoff's (a character based on Malamud).Seems Roth was correct... and this is true even more today, thirty years after the publication of The Ghost Writer.We no longer live in Malamud's world, and it is a shame. ... Read more

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A New York Review Books Original
Mavis Gallant is renowned as one of the great short-story writers of our day. This new gathering of long-unavailable or previously uncollected work presents stories from 1951 to 1971 and shows Gallant's progression from precocious virtuosity, to accomplished artistry, to the expansive innovatory spirit that marks her finest work.

"Madeleine's Birthday," the first of Gallant's many stories to be published in The New Yorker, pairs off a disaffected teenager, abandoned by her social-climbing mother, with a complacent middle-aged suburban housewife, in a subtly poignant comedy of miscommunication that reveals both characters to be equally adrift. "The Cost of Living," the extraordinary title story, is about a company of strangers, shipwrecked over a chilly winter in a Parisian hotel and bound to one another by animosity as much as by unexpected love.

Set in Paris, New York, the Riviera, and Montreal and full of scrupulously observed characters ranging from freebooters and malingerers to runaway children and fashion models, Gallant's stories are at once satirical and lyrical, passionate and skeptical, perfectly calibrated and in constant motion, brilliantly capturing the fatal untidiness of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Never have characters so adrift been so effectively anchored."
I remember my mother speaking of Mavis Gallant as she read the author's stories in The New Yorker. She was onto a good thing that took me much longer to realize. Gallant's writing reminds me of Yates and Cheever. This collection takes us all over including Montreal, New York, and Paris. My favorites were Madeline's Birthday, Thieves and Rascals, and Bernadette. The stories are melancholy, if not sad, but there is an intriguing humour in every one of them. A word of warning, the introduction is a wonderful tribute to Gallant by Jhumpa Lahiri but is so detailed that I wished I had read it after reading the stories themselves (the title of this review is taken from that Introduction). ... Read more

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Contributed articles. ... Read more

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Original essays and glorious photography, stunningly designed in this unique moviebook from the director of Monsoon Wedding and Vanity Fair—a Fox Searchlight release.

In her essay "Writing and Film," the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the experience of seeing her novel "transposed" from paper to film. "Its essence remains, but it inhabits a different realm and must, like a transposed piece of music, conform to a different set of rules….To have someone as devoted and as gifted as Mira reinvent my novel…has been a humbling and thrilling passage."

Mira Nair's essay, "Photographs as Inspiration," begins with the provocative comment: "If it weren't for photography, I wouldn't be a filmmaker." She explains how photographs help her crystallize the visual style of her films and which particular photos influenced her vision for The Namesake.

These two essays, written exclusively for this Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook, introduce an amazing panoply of images of people and places shot mainly in New York and Calcutta during the making of the movie, accented by excerpts from Lahiri's bestselling novel. Six Indian and American photographers' works are represented.

Brilliantly illuminating the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations, The Namesake tells the story of the Ganguli family, whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to adapt to a new world while remembering the old. The couple's firstborn, Gogol, and sister Sonia grow up amid these divided loyalties, struggling to find their own identity without losing their heritage. Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Superman Returns) stars as Gogol. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

You'll Need a Box of Tissues for This One
Here we have a novel that illustrates the power of fiction to deeply touch the heart. I, an East Tennessee gal, identified so strongly with Lahiri's protagonist, Gogol Ganguli, a second-generation Bengali guy, that by book's end, I was a soppy, teary mess.

An interesting thing about this book for me was that I'm right around Gogol's age. So much about his growing-up years was familiar from my childhood, from Rubik's Cube to the TV shows that were widely shown at the time. And oh yeah - like Gogol, I have an odd name (though I like mine).

The story starts when Gogol's parents, Ashoke and Ashima, emigrate from Calcutta to America and settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, so Ashoke can study engineering at MIT. Soon thereafter, Gogol is born.

When Ashoke and Ashima arrive in America, they must get to know each other while they're getting to know their new country, for theirs was an arranged marriage. And for years, Ashoke has been haunted by the memory of a terrible train accident that nearly took his life. With him on the train, he'd carried a book of short stories by the Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol, and it was a page of Ashoke's favorite story, "The Overcoat," that he was clutching when he was rescued.

Ashoke and Ashima had planned to give their son a name that Ashima's grandmother promised to recommend, but since they need a name to put on his birth certificate, Ashoke decides to call him Gogol, after his favorite writer. Gogol will be his pet name, and he'll get his "good" name when the grandmother's recommendation arrives. It's when Ashoke sees his son for the first time that his haunting memories of the train accident begin to ease their grip on his mind.

Ashima's grandmother has a stroke, and Gogol never gets his "good" name. And as he grows up, his pet name, Gogol - and its oddness - becomes a symbol for his being part of one culture (India - his parents') and part of another (America) but not wholly in either one. He resents his name more and more, as it seems to epitomize how he doesn't fit in anywhere. On his fourteenth birthday, Gogol receives a gift from his father: a beautifully bound volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories. Young Gogol, however, isn't impressed: he's more interested in the Beatles, so he shelves the book and forgets about it. And when he grows up, he legally changes his name to Nikhil.

Gogol's struggles between American culture and Indian culture is personified, in his adulthood, by two women. The first is a woman from Manhattan who attracts him because she and her wealthy, cosmopolitan family are so different from his parents. The second, like Gogol, is a second-generation Bengali - their parents are friends, and they'd grown up together. I won't give anything away here, but I'll say that each relationship, in its way, teaches Gogol something about himself and encourages him to look within to find and articulate his personal truths about being a young man torn between two worlds. It is these truths that form the raw material of his hopes for his future.

The Namesake is a beautifully written novel - the characters, particularly Gogol and his father - formed themselves in my mind like memories of people I've known. The book is bittersweet and poignant and speaks, simultaneously, of hope and regret, of life's beauty and its injustices.

It's worth noting, too, that Ashoke's favorite story, "The Overcoat", is about a humble clerk who dies of fright after being upbraided by an Important Person, only to get his revenge in the afterlife. Keep that in mind as you read this wonderful book - it's a subtle but evocative metaphor that's a central thread throughout. ... Read more

Product Description
Designado Mejor Libro del Ano 2008 por el periodico The New York Times Tierra desacostumbrada fue objeto de un torrente de admiracion por parte de la critica estadounidense. Ademas algo inaudito para una obra literaria logro colocarse en el primer lugar de las listas de ventas y suma hasta la fecha mas de 680 mil ejemplares vendidos en ese pais. Se trata sin duda de un caso unico en el panorama editorial reciente. Quizas el secreto este en que los relatos de Lahiri que suelen girar en torno a las vivencias de las familias de ascendencia bengali en Estados Unidos no se detienen meramente en plasmar la experiencia de la inmigracion sino que retratan con gran fidelidad y sin cortapisas las vivencias y emociones que ocupan y preocupan a un amplio sector de la sociedad moderna. Son historias acerca de una variada galeria de personajes caracterizados con singular delicadeza y simpatia: hermanos y hermanas padres e hijos maridos y mujeres amigos y amantes que se ven obligados a afrontar momentos fundamentales en sus relaciones y navegar como pueden en aguas desconocidas entre la inocencia y la experiencia entre los dictados de la remota tradicion familiar y la emancipacion personal entre el impulso de reinventarse a si mismos y definir su identidad en un mundo fragmentado. Asi pues no cabe duda de que estamos ante una verdadera muestra de gran literatura. Tierra desacostumbrada es un libro que deslumbra y conmueve y que reafirma si cabe la extraordinaria maestria de Jhumpa Lahiri una autora en la plenitud de sus facultades artisticas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interpreting maladies.
An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Also recommended:
Of Marriageable Age
The God of Small Things ... Read more