Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Interpreter of Maladies
Book Review: Interpreting maladies.
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Revealing and Heart-warming Cultural Short Stories
Summary: 5 Stars
There are eight heart-warming, revealing, personal human interest stories in this small volume which make it quite clear why Ms Jhumpa Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in literature. Her stories are vivid and colorful descriptions of human experiences and life situations. Some are light-hearted and humorous, others serious, some are everyday occurrences; all leave a deep impression on the reader who is a little wiser, kinder and more compassionate after having read them.The reader will long remember the nights that the electricity went out in a neighborhood where Shoba (female) and Shukumar (male) lived. They became emotionally distant after the still born birth of their baby. On the first night, Shukumar prepared a traditional Indian dinner which the couple had not eaten for a long time, not since they grew apart due to the impact of this personal tragedy. Shoba started a little game, of revealing something to her husband that she said he never knew about her. He was expected to reciprocate. Shukumar began to have more intense feelings of love toward his wife after these revelations began. In fact, even after the electricity was fixed ... they continued their "candle light suppers" and "secret revelations". Shukumar was in for a big surprise one night when Shoba laid before him, one of her 'secret revelations'. Read the story to find out what he discovered ...
In another story, we are introduced to Mr. Pirzada, originally from a region of India, which later was partitioned to become Pakistan. He routinely visited an Indian family for dinner and to watch TV, particularly the news, to learn of developments in his homeland. He was a research botanist at a local university and lived in sparse surroundings. He left his wife and seven daughters in the region of India which broke out in war and afterwards became Pakistan. He won a research grant at a prestigious University in his specialty. During his visits to this family, he brought treats and candies for the little girl. The little girl was raised in the USA and primarily learned only US history. Much later, she discovered the reasons Mr. Pirzada visited and his strong affection for the little girl. She hoarded her treats in a secret box, and carefully doled them out to herself to make them last. The war had ended and Mr. Pirzada's research was competed. He returned to Pakistan and sent the Indian family a letter, explaining that all was well, his wife and daughters survived the war. Life was being built anew. It was only then the little girl realized the importance of these visits to Mr. Pirzada and to herself as well. Watching the news, learning about developments on the otherside of the globe reminded him of his wife and family. Providing the little girl treats had somehow connected him closer to his own little girls. There are other equally enchanting stories in this book which leave the reader filled with a warm glow. All the stories in the book reveal significant details about people's lives with sensitivity and compassion. Each is a slices of human life, which unravels deep emotions that are delicate threads which connect the person or people to their culture and to humanity as a whole. This is an excellent book and receives my highest recommendations. Erika Borsos (bakonyvilla)
Book Review: Very interesting
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful collection of short stories about people and relationships. It is a hilarious mix of India and America, of traditional and modern, love, jealousy, grief, loneliness and dreams. Ms Lahiri successfully cut across cultural boundaries through characters that imprint themselves in the minds of readers of al backgrounds. It is understandable why Ms. Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the O. Henry Award and the Pen/Hemingway Award in her first published work. She possesses a huge vocabulary and unique writing style. I also recommend For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, The Usurper and Other stories, The Catcher in the Rye. Short stories like these are a rare gift to the reading world.Book Review: Kind and sensitive
Summary: 5 Stars
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel like friends or neighbours rather than fictional types. The best book that I have read in many, many years.Book Review: Over-rated, unbelievable and trite
Summary: 2 Stars
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. The dialogue, the things people did, the things they thought - just none of it worked for me. I also found the writing passionless and forced, with oddly jarring words and images that made me think of the author at her computer rather than drawing me further into the story.
There's an odd sense of dislocated time that I don't think was deliberate, for example a girl in present day New York having an affair with an Indian had never heard of Bengal and thought India was somewhere myserious that didn't really exist, like Atlantis. Really?
I also have a major problem with a writer who describes someone as 'polishing off' their drink. How this won the Pulitzer is beyond me and a sad indictment on the state of literature today.