Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Interpreter of Maladies
Book Review: exquisite writing -- and the only short stories I've ever adored
Summary: 5 Stars
I am really not a short story person. I always feel cheated somehow by the lack of chapters and can never immerse myself in the characters because I know the storys ending is imminent. After reading Interperter Of Maladies all I can say is that I would read a thousand short stories by this immensely gifted author. I don't know extactly how she does it (it almost feels like magic the way she lures you in on the first page)and can keep you rivited, sated, and completely spellbound until each luminous tale ends. She is a master of detail, restraint, and while reading her stories I would often have to pause, the way you pause in front of an astonishingly beautiful painting. I couldn't just tear through them. Each sentence is a masterpiece -- not too much, not too little -- and when a story ends it feels like you've just consumed a 5000 page novel. Ms. Lahiri tugs you into her characters lives so competely and skillfully that it seems impossible to believe that you've only been with them for 20 pages. This book deserved to win. It is a treasure and I cannot wait to read more from this fantastically talented writer. Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading the laudatory reviews and seeing that the book won the Pulitzer, I was expecting a book of truly engaging short stories. I'm a short story reader. I was expecting John Gardner or Maugham or Carver, or maybe an Indian version of Angela's Ashes, in short, I expected to be deeply touched, but the problem was that too many of her characters were uninteresting people. I don't know if it was a matter of them being intellectually passive, but the stories seemed to surround people who were morally boring or uncompelling thinkers. I like reading stories about doers of deeds and thinkers of big thoughts, and all of her stories were reminiscent of "American Beauty," if it had been played about by the Indian diaspora, small self-absorbed people with petty concerns, or about people who have attached themselves to small, self-absorbed people with petty concerns. I think I understood the overall themes underlying her muted tones, but there is something prozaic about the sensibilities of her characters that disappoints.
I put down the book thinking, "These are not the kind of people with whom I'd like to spend any serious time, except maybe Bibi."
Book Review: Touching tale
Summary: 4 Stars
Loved this story. So well written and hard to put down. The reader will become steeped in the culture of India, and feel a connection with self. Book Review: Remarkable, Insightful and ... Outstanding
Summary: 4 Stars
In the normal course of our lives, we do and experience many things, some are remarkable whereas some others mundane and trivial. For Jhumpa Lahiri trivialities are not mundane nor is remarkable necessarily so. In her Pulitzer Prize winning compilation of short stories Interpreter of Maladies, she with exquisite clarity captures the essence of many aspects of life that we all see and yet do not.
Nine stories have numerous characters but one consistent and persistent theme. They all capture the essence of life's diverse shades and hues as witnessed by Indians in US and India. Lahiri writes with subdued passion but an eager eye for detail, a combination likely to enthrall the readers who find life engaging. Minor aspects of the lives of her characters find their way into the hearts of readers via a narrative that does not essentially seek a crescendo or climax but instead relies on the very vitality of the experience.
Indeed a lack of a climax that usually provides a cathartic release is mostly missing in these stories. Remarkably, these stories are outstanding because of this, and not in spite of it. There are moments in which there is an urge to skim towards the end but that will defeat the very purpose of reading Interpreter of Maladies because the essence here is the narrative and not some unusual twist of imagination that would intrigue the reader.
An extremely readable collection of insightful commentaries on everyday life.
Book Review: Short and Sweet
Summary: 5 Stars
When I finished this book, I was so anxious to sign onto Amazon to give it 5 stars and read what other readers felt about it. While I agree with every person who gave it 5 stars, I can somewhat agree with the people who gave it 1 star. Mind you, I'm an average reader, so Interpreter of Maladies was a great book, it DID provide an exotic appeal, and it gave me a better understanding of Indian culture. Some stories leave you wanting more, but the idea is that "short is sweet". Until I get on the level of some of the readers who were able to point out its flaws, I'm going to leave my rating at 5 stars. The stories have a very profound and emotional effect on the soul.