The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Namesake: A Novel
Book Review: Thank you Lahiri
Summary: 5 Stars
First read "Interepreter of Maladies" - a wonderful collection of short stories in which Lahiri focuses on the subject of the (Bengali/Indian) immigrant experience. And, then, read this: easily the finest novel of 2003. I was utterly compelled by the plot of "The Namesake"; equally impressed by the subtle narrative voice; the beautifully crafted characters; and the ideological questions (and answers) the book proposes.
As a "second generation" Anglo-Pakistani, my empathy for the themes of this book were heightened because the characters (Ashima, Ashoke, Gogol) came to almost shockingly exemplify my own parents and me. I had an experience with which to relate the subject matter of the novel, but even if that's not the case with you; read this book. It is a life affirming experience: one that I will never forget.
Thank you Lahiri.
Book Review: Would a Rose by Another Other Name Smell as Sweet?
Summary: 4 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.
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.
Book Review: A tale for everyone who has ever moved
Summary: 4 Stars
Jhumpa Lahiri has written a wonderful book which should appeal to readers from around the world who are interested in learning about the experiences of immigrants as they strive to build better lives for themselves and their children. We learn poignantly about the duality of individuals who must bridge the gap between their heritage and the reality of their new country. This novel strikes at the heart of second generation immigrants, who have grown up in the adopted country of their parents, while holding onto glimpses of the world their parents left behind. Although Jhumpa Lahiri gently introduces to us a Bengali family, the people are representative of any family who has made the transition from the 'Old Country' to the new, and the sometimes painful choices that must be made in order to fit into the new.Book Review: A book of many levels
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of a very few novels that has left a haunting impression on me long after I finished reading it. It is written in a style that is deceptively easier to read and its characters (particularly Ashima Ganguli) well drawn-out and likeable. In terms of actual events, nothing really out of the ordinary happens in this novel - it is really the story of an immigrant family and their life in a new country. But beneath the surface, there is much more going on - the struggles of being an immigrant in a new country and culture, far away from home and family, the resulting conflict between parents and their children, born in the adopted country, who have different values and even different first language, the confusion of "second generation" immigrants over their identity and struggle to find oneself.
An excellent novel and an excellent read!