The Namesake: A Novel Summary and Reviews

The Namesake: A Novel
by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake: A Novel
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $3.00
You Save: $11.00 (79%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.75 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-01
ISBN: 0618485228
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Mariner Books

Book Reviews of The Namesake: A Novel

Book Review: Would a Rose by Another Other Name Smell as Sweet?
Summary: 5 Stars

While many are today fascinated by the extent that our heredity and environment shape our lives, Ms. Lahiri takes on the narrower question how our names influence who we are and who we become. The premise is an intriguing one and is fully developed in the novel. Unfortunately, that premise is too weak a reed to carry an entire novel.

Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli have a traditional family background in Calcutta. After they marry (an arranged marriage), they move to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Ashoke pursues his education. Their lives are made more difficult by the separation from their families and homeland, and they cope by drawing their Bengali friends in the U.S. close to them. Through an implausible series of events, they have no name prepared when their son is born. Forced to put down something, they choose "Gogol" to be his name. To their son, that name is a curse that he bears which puts distance between him and his family. The story carries on until he is in his late 30s.

Ms. Lahiri is a very stylish writer and she tells her story well. Ashima Ganguli is her finest creation in the book, and you will relate deeply to this woman. A major disappointment about the book is that it moves off of Ashima too much after the beginning. Gogol isn't nearly as interesting or attractive a character. In fact, I didn't relate well to him at all. The sections about his life by the end seem like just so much filler for the book's interesting conclusion. As a result, the book comes off like a fine short story or novella that has a lot of excess material stuffed into the middle and end.

Many of my favorite parts of the book were the many references to Bengali customs. Seldom does a book about immigrants describe their cultural practices in such loving and thoughtful ways.

Without Ashima, the ending, the fine writing style and the cultural descriptions, this would be just another debut novel. If those elements had been put into a stronger story with more characters of Ashima's development and appeal, this could have been an excellent novel. As it is, the book starts off at a high level and drifts off from there.

I suggest you give the book a try.

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Favorite books
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) ImageHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J. K. Rowling
Arthur A. Levine Books; Published: 2007-07-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $34.99
The Secret Life of Bees ImageThe Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Namesake: A Novel ImageThe Namesake: A Novel
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Mariner Books; Published: 2004-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops: $14.00
A Thousand Splendid Suns ImageA Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead; Published: 2007-05-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.24
Price in other shops: $25.95
A Prayer for Owen Meany ImageA Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irving
Ballantine Books; Published: 1990-04-14; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $7.99
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) ImageA Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club)
by Rohinton Mistry
Vintage; Published: 2001-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Namesake ImageOriginal Soundtrack - The Namesake
Release date: 2007-03-06; Music CD
Best price: $12.13
Price in other shops: $17.98
No-No Boy ImageNo-No Boy
by John Okada
University of Washington Press; Published: 1978-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Brick Lane: A Novel ImageBrick Lane: A Novel
by Monica Ali
Scribner; Published: 2004-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.15
Price in other shops: $15.00
Malgudi Days (Penguin Classics) ImageMalgudi Days (Penguin Classics)
by R. K. Narayan
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.05
Price in other shops: $14.00
Native Speaker ImageNative Speaker
by Chang-Rae Lee
Riverhead Trade; Published: 1996-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Overcoat and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) ImageThe Overcoat and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Nikolai Gogol
Dover Publications; Published: 1992-02-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.34
Price in other shops: $3.50
Unaccustomed Earth ImageUnaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Knopf; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.55
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Namesake ImageThe Namesake
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-11-27; DVD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $27.98
Interpreter of Maladies ImageInterpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Mariner Books; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops: $13.95