The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Book Reviews of The Namesake: A Novel
Book Review: Absorbing
Summary: 5 Stars
I avoided this book for quite some time, as the story line honestly did not appeal to me. However upon the release of the movie by my favorite director Mira Nair, I promised myself I would read it before seeing the movie; and I am so glad I did. Jhumpa Lahiri simply has a way with words like no one else. She paints the most vivid images so that the reader almost feels as if they are watching a movie or even better yet at times a "fly on the wall" of the lives of these characters. I agree with another reviewer that the screenwriter has their work cut out for them, but only because it seems impossible to edit Ms. Lahiri's writing for the screen. The text reads like a screenplay. At every turn the reader knows the gestures the characters are making, their internal thoughts, the clothes they are wearing, the scents in the air, etc. I can think of no director better qualified to bring this sincere tale to the screen, since Ms. Nair left many of us wanting to eat a marigold after Monsoon Wedding. One of the most touching things about this story is how Lahiri handles the delicate complexity of parent child relationships; the strained but deeply loving ways maturing children deal with parents. I will say no more so as to leave something for the next reader to experience.Book Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
I highly recommend. Lahiri has this amazing ability to comment and report on human nature and interactions with an almost scientific precision and accuracy. Almost like Morrison, you feel as though she truly understands people on a far deeper level than most. While not a particularly fast read you will actually enjoy taking your time with this one, as you gradually learn more about the Ganguli family and eventually become very invested in their hopes and dreams. Few books have evoked such empathy for the immigrant experience as this one. I truly began to understand how "foreign" this country can seem to someone from a totally different culture, and I am a person who has a great number of friends and close family acquaintances from different countries. You also get a keen sense of the internal struggle that a child who is American-born but has immigrant parents must face. While truly familiar and comfortable with American culture, Gogol struggles with trying to understand and respect a culture which while is foreign to him, is so dear to the parents that he loves. It seems as though there are a never ending amount of subplots and commentaries weaving throughout this narrative. Highly textured. I truly look forward to the forthcoming movie.Book Review: The Namesake, rich and rewarding
Summary: 5 Stars
Jhumpra Lahiri takes us into the home of a Bengali couple as it emigrates from Calcutta to Cambridge Mass., leaving behind--and taking with them-- parts of their culture and religion. Lahiri creates a family portrait that is strikingly familiar to anyone, of any culture, who has left one land for another. She has a gift of detail, evoking the colors and smells of Benghali ex-patriate life. She describes the ABCD, the "American Born Conflicted Deshi (Indian), the marginalized American children of a Benghali couples who must live in the fading world of their parents, while making their way in a new one. The reader is invited to their parties, along with gaggles of honorary Benghali aunts and uncles, to sit cross-legged, eating pungent foods with our fingers. Lahiri brings us to their weddings. We learn of their funereal practices, and come to understand what makes these people distinctive. But there's so much more than that to this book. There is a story, lovingly told, about a young man who, after having been educated at top Ivy League schools and having become a working architect, is about to learn who he really is. Lahiri's, The Namesake, is an exquisite and stunning read, rich in detail and wisdom.Book Review: loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
I never read any of the authors books before. I am the rare ones who had a hard time getting into Kiter Runner. When I read middle east or Chinese or Indian authors they always seem to have too many characters to get them straight. Not this author maybe because she writes like a American Indian. The book really deals with 1st generation being born in America and assimulating into american society. When the young man struggles being Indian and American. It all centers around him with how it is important in his culture to have 2 names. But the name is never recieved in the mail because his granmother passes. It isn't just about indian culture. But, anyone who has come here as a 1st generation american. Or wonders what is like for their parents to be born into the us from foreign parents. I really could identify with the characters. I am 2nd generation born into the US and wondered what it must have been like. Our book club mostly loved this book. One of our members did not get what the big deal was to change the name. If you want to have a lively book discussion read the book.Book Review: An excellent first novel!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not going to outline the plot, as I think that has been done enough times on this review list. I actually read this before I read Interpreter of Maladies, which I think plays no small part in how much credit I give this novel. I read this after a long streak of mediocre novels, and I was beginning to think all new authors were incapable of producing quality material. So I can't tell you how refreshing it was to finally read something that wasn't desperately trying to hold my attention with over-dramatic characters and never ending chains of irrelevant events. Instead, this was something immensely personal and real. The characters lives are sprawled out over this story and the most personal and life changing events-the ones that are often the most difficult to describe-are shared with us in a way that makes us understand the significance of them. If you have read (or are planning on reading) Interpreter of Maladies, I urge you not to compare the two. They are both absolutely brilliant, but are entirely separate projects that serve different purposes.