Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
|
List Price: Our Price: $14.55 You Save: $10.45 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Unaccustomed Earth
Book Review: An Unaccustomed Joy
Summary: 5 Stars
When Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning volume of short stories, "The Interpreter of Maladies" was published, I didn't read it. For one thing, I'd just read Vikram Seth's "A Suitable Boy" and Rohinton Mistry's "Family Matters," and while I absolutely loved both books, I was suffering from a surfeit of Indian fiction, at least at that time. But more than that, I gave "The Interpreter of Maladies" a pass because of all the hype. I've been let down by hype in the past. More than once. Surely the book couldn't be that good, I told myself. Surely Lahiri's prose wasn't that sparkling and fresh.
When "Unaccustomed Earth," Lahiri's third book of longer short stories was released, I'd "sort of" decided to give it a pass as well. I have plenty to read and didn't really need anything new. However, I was shopping the other day and there was the book, lying on a table right in front of me. I couldn't resist. But please keep in mind, I approached the book with a mind to dislike it.
Suffice to say, I was astounded at the beauty and grace in Lahiri's stories. No, the plots aren't much to speak of. Nothing earth shattering really happens. These are just normal people leading normal lives. Yes, they're Bengali-Americans, but so what? What's really important is that they could be Irish or Russian or German or English. Lahiri writes about the universality of the human experience, not about experiences that are unique to Bengalis or Bengali-Americans. I've never been to India, and I know few people of Indian descent, but I related totally to the characters in "Unaccustomed Earth." I felt their pain, their loneliness, their striving for happiness. Lahiri, I learned, writes about the human heart, and the human heart, I think, is the same the world over. It doesn't matter if one's Bengali, South African, Dutch, or Chinese.
Lahiri's prose is spare and unadorned, but I was so impressed by its tremendous emotional depth and understanding, as well as Lahiri's unwavering eye for detail. All her characters came to life for me, even the minor ones.
Personally, I can't understand criticism of Lahiri because she writes about Bengali-Americans. Doesn't Alice Munro write about Canadians? Doesn't William Trevor write about the Irish? Did Chekhov write about Russians and Eudora Welty about people of the American South? No, I wouldn't be able to read Lahiri every day. But neither would I be able to read Alice Munro or Chekhov every day. That takes nothing away from their writing or their mastery.
Though I liked some of the stories better than others, I think this was just a matter of personal preference. I didn't find the stories uneven. I didn't think one was weaker than the others or one significantly stronger, another testament to Lahiri's power as a writer.
If I have any criticism of Lahiri at all, it's that she doesn't include more humor in her stories. Oh, I don't mean she should write comic stories. Far from it. But life, someone reminded me the other day, is both comic and tragic, and to exclude one in favor of the other is to diminish truth. I'd like to see a little, not a lot, just a little, understated humor in Lahiri's stories.
If you're new to Lahiri's writing, "Unaccustomed Earth" isn't a bad place to start. These are rich, deeply emotional stories, the stories of an emotionally mature writer, but they're also very, very restrained and understated. As for me, I'll be moving on to Lahiri's first novel, "The Namesake," and this time, I won't approach it with anything but admiration and respect.
Book Review: Well Worth Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Another great work by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's nice to find a consistent writer that is never a disappointment. Book Review: Unaccustomed praise?
Summary: 3 Stars
...not by today's standards! I have read this author's earlier work and actually enjoyed some of the stories in her collection from a few years back. But deserving of a Pulitzer? In all fairness, I must say that it seems as though one must now be ethnic and from a Third World country to get any literary recognition in this fair United States these days. I'd say this might be a good thing if these writers were really coming from difficulty and struggle. But that is not the case with these ethnic immigrant writers of today. If one is as privileged as Ms. Lahiri has been, (and there are many), you will go to the correct top tier Ivy League schools, which will give you correct entry to the publishing circle elite. Let me just say that I welcome varied experience; I am all for different perspectives-but what's missing here is the grit of life. We can't help but see that Lahiri's dramas are rather predictable, shallow and simply not constituting the very stuff of which great fiction is made.
To wit: the greatest writers, to me, never entered an MFA program or Ivy League type of school. I think this is true today as any. Could you imagine Henry Miller, Mark Twain, Dickenson, Gogol, Austen, Whitman, George Eliot et al, coming out of the precious Iowa School or any other assortment of MFA programs? I think not. What constitutes such a lustrous and exquisite rendering of life is life itself. And those great writers lived it. Sad to say this no longer seems to be the case. And our expectations are so lowered as a result of it.
Some of my favorite books this year are from writers who are not granted such recognition as this one is. For starters, check out the lesser known, SIM0N LAZARUS, a breath-taking story I can't stop thinking about.
Book Review: Something for everyone!
Summary: 5 Stars
Jhumpa Lahiri's new collection of stories detail the lives of several Bengalis learning to combine their heritage with American culture. Compromise and balance are imperative when approaching the variety of issues these characters encounter, including friendship, romantic relationships, morality, education and family values. Even seemingly minor parts of life, including dress and food, are examined, as they are very significant to the Indian identity. Generational differences are on the forefront of each story; many characters were either born in the United States or came to the country when they were young, making them identify more with the American culture they have been surrounded by. These struggles are visible in every story, but are tailored to fit the individual characters and their lives.
Part one of the collection is made up of five stories. My favorite was "Unaccustomed Earth" in which the perspective is alternated between a newly widowed man who visits his middle-aged, pregnant daughter. She feels obligated to allow him to move in with her family (her Caucasian husband has even agreed) but is reluctant to ask. The father knows the request is coming but doesn't want to accept, content with his life of travel and new (secret) girlfriend. Over the course of his visit the two grow closer, learning more about each other in just a few days than they had over an entire lifetime. The other stories are also fantastic, Lahiri expertly crafting characters with depth.
Part two consists of three stories that are connected to each other, told by a man and a woman whose relationship goes back to childhood, when their families temporarily lived together. The three stories tell about their separate lives and how they are once again brought together as adults.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. There's so many layers that everyone can identify with something in it, even if they're not Indian (I'm not!) Themes such as cultural identity, love and family apply to everyone. Lahiri has obviously decided to write about Bengalis; some people have a problem with this. What does it matter? The characters and their stories are fresh and insightful , and the writing is beautiful. Would we ask a surgeon to do someone's taxes? A dance instructor to run a construction crew? Probably not; let a writer write what they know, especially if they do it well!
Book Review: More of the same
Summary: 2 Stars
Lahiri needs to branch out of her comfort zone and write a story that goes beyond the account of Bengali-Americans trying to adjust to new frontiers. Enough already. The writing is narrative at best. For truly evocative writing on a similar theme, read Monica Ali's Brick Lane.