Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Book Reviews of Unaccustomed Earth
Book Review: Dazzling Stories
Summary: 5 Stars
These are careful, closely observed stories that the author illuminates with telling details: the way a daughter reminds a widower of his dead wife, or the silences that tense the tenuous link between parent and child. These stories focus on relationships, how they start, and how they end, but mostly about the moments and gestures that mark their stages. These stories read easily. Still, I went back and read them again, for the details that Lahiri sprinkles, like jewels hidden in a corner bookcase.
The short story is a more perfect form than the novel. Every word, every sentence is important. Novels sell better, but the short story satisfies in a way that the novel cannot. I marveled at Lahiri's artistry, how she employs language in a unique way. She does not dazzle with incandescent prose, but her honest humanity shines forth in her writing. I had never heard of her before I started this book, but her stories moved me in a deeply personal way. I encountered emotions that I have felt myself, but never articulated. This is the mark of good literature.
Book Review: Deep not wide
Summary: 5 Stars
The view of some that Lahiri's latest book is a retread inspires me to respond and defend this extraordinary writer. While it is true that she revisits characters with many similarities in profile (American-born of Bengali heritage, well-educated, often in the Boston area), it is my view that this strengthens her tales. By focusing on a specific and in some ways narrowly defined population, she is able to dig far deeper into the shared human experience underlying their outer trappings. So what if a character went to an Ivy League school? If her sibling is alcoholic, if she bought and hid for him beer when he was a teen, her guilt can be universally understood. The depth of her empathy and knowingness about human nature and the dynamics of relationships always leaves me breathless. At the end of this book I had tears in my eyes, feeling that I'd grown up with Hema and Kaushik, knew them that well, and had now seen a real event intervene in their lives. Her writing may not be for everyone, but make no mistake, her focus is not narrow but very deep.Book Review: Excellent Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth is spellbounding. Eight short stories woven so tightly together, it would take a great deal of stretching, bending or breaking to get them to unravel. Lahiri's strength - among many of them as a story teller - lies is the character development of the protagonists, their realities, anxities, dream and behaviour. I first read one of the stories 'Year's End' in the new Yorker a couple of months ago. It was about a young man's fathers second marriage. I loved it. And, imagine the bonanza with seven more of these wondereful tales.
As an Indian, I lived in North America in the 70s and 80s, watching a first generation of immigrants. Now, I watch their children, the people Lahiri writes about. I see them in the US, in India and in other parts of the world. In them are all the things Lahiri writes about - strength, confusion, conflicts - and torn between the culture they came from and the one they are part of. She is right on target about them.
Reading Lahiri is pure pleasure. Don't miss the book!
Book Review: Flawlessly written stories about regret
Summary: 5 Stars
There is nothing flashy about author Jhumpa Lahiri's writing. It's simply true. She writes flawlessly about secrets held close, about heartbreak and regret. At the end of each of these quiet stories, you feel an emotional wallop.
The characters invariably include a person or persons of Indian descent -- usually a Bengali. I was unfamiliar with Indian culture when I began reading Unaccustomed Earth, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment or understanding. The stories are universal. You only need to be human to relate to the characters and their situations.
My heart ached for these people, because I recognized them. The retired widower yearning for a new life. The silent mother hiding a broken heart. The charming brother giving in to weakness, ruining all that is good. These people could easily be my relatives, my closest of friends, or yours. Everyone has a secret to hide. Everyone regrets.
Although the stories are often sad, they always ring true. This book is an empathetic look at what it is to be human.
Book Review: Lahiri Bounces Back
Summary: 5 Stars
(Note: I'm not Indian but have had plenty of Indian students, colleagues,
and friends.)
Interpreter of Maladies was probably the best short story collection I
have ever read. With The Namesake, Lahiri tried the novel form and
it just didn't fit her. Now she has found the perfect form for her.
I'd call these "short stories" because of the format but they have
the length of a (short) novella. This allows them to be meatier,
and yet she retains that wonderful sense of detail which makes her
such a joy to read. Again it is the quintessential American story,
the first and (more often) second generation Americans balancing (in her
case) Indian roots and American styles. Again it is the successful
parents worrying (with or without cause) about their Americanized
children. For the first time there is a story (about a young
woman named Sang, but I won't give it away) that was in parts
very amusing. Lahiri is a treasure -- and she's back!