Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Unaccustomed Earth
Book Review: Beautiful and Profound
Summary: 5 Stars
What a wonderful collection of stories, equal to her debut triumph and Pulitzer Prize winner, The Interpreter of Maladies. I was immersed in each story and felt connections to the various characters, despite the cultural differences. There is so much in life that can be universally understood beyond ethnic, national and racial boundaries, and Lahiri communicates this beautifully.
The first part of the book contains five separate short stories which all deal with similar themes. All of the Bengali characters are involved in unconventional relationships, often marrying Americans despite their traditional parent's wishes. The emphasis is the rift these relationships cause between the parents and their grown children who shirk the conservative lifestyle and culture of their parents. But underneath it all, there still remains a sense of obligation to aging parents and a familial bond that transcends the younger generation's Americanism.
The second part of the book is three related stories that could have easily been a novella. It is the story of a Hema and Kaushik whose lives intersect at different periods over the years. They first know each other as young children whose parents are close friends. Then they are thrust back into each other's lives as teenagers, under uncomfortable and tragic circumstances. Finally, decades later, they meet randomly in Rome and have a fleeting affair despite Hema's engagement. Theirs is a story full of remorse and what-could-have-been. It is a sad but profound conclusion. I loved the different voices Lahiri gave to these three stories, the first being told in first person by Hema, the second by Kaushik, and the final story of their last reunion in third person. Brilliantly written and engaging.
Book Review: Beautiful and moving, but time to move on
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read all 3 of her books, and think this is by far the best. Her characters are intimately drawn, and echo real people. I loved the book, and would recommend it to anyone.
That being said, I am beginning to tire of her rather stable and predictable cast of characters - the highly educated professional parents who immigrate to the US in the 70s, but somehow never manage to truly assimilate and find happiness in their new milieu and instead, spend their lives perpetually looking back to India; the children, apparently eternally torn between their parents' culture and the country that is their birthplace and their home.
It seems to be a modern conceit that immigrants cannot adjust well and enjoy their new lives, but in reality most of us have. Perhaps books about 'normal' immigrants just can't get published, but I'm definitely ready to see Lahiri's prose put to work on new subjects.
Book Review: Beautifully crafted
Summary: 5 Stars
Lahiri's latest is another completely satisfying, beautifully crafted collection of short stories. Resonating with emotional depth, Lahiri's chief strength is her subtlety. She can talk about things that all of us often feel but struggle to find words for. And her words are lyrical! Insightful but gentle, not intrusive. and somehow deeply satisfying.Book Review: Beautifully written
Summary: 5 Stars
Following the enormously successful 'The Interpreter of Maladies' and 'The Namesake', Ms. Lahiri weaves a beautiful set of stories in this evocative collection.
In her inimitable style, we view the world in the persona of the protagonists - taciturn, often Bengali. They do much of the "talking" sans dialogue, expressing their complex and deep emotions about the world around them. It is here that Ms.Lahiri's literary magic really becomes apparent. She paints broad brush strokes of time and emotion yet is remarkably descriptive of the smallest facets, taking us into the mind of her characters. In amazing detail, she outlines the smallest bits of scenery, without ever sounding verbose or dull. While one may not have ventured to all of her locales - Calcutta, Seattle or her favorite Ivy League settings in the northeast or an autumnal Italy, her vivid descriptions enable us to be right there. For the first half of the book, we are taken for 50-60 pages at a time into the lives of Ruma, a daughter who feels a strong sense of duty towards her widowed father who visits her and bonds with his grandson, all while concealing his secret love affair, to the "crush" of a married woman for another man as seen through the eyes of her daughter. The couple Megan and Amit who attend a weekend wedding with their own marriage having a crisis moment to Sudha grappling with her guilt at her brother's alcoholism to the story of Paul who harbors unreciprocated feelings for his housemate Sang and is drawn into her life in a manner he never anticipates. The second half of the book deals with the stories of Hema and Kaushik as their lives intersect as kids, the secret and kinship they share, Kaushik's life and a chance encounter decades later that leaves so much behind and yet doesn't.
One does not have to be Bengali or even Indian to appreciate the universal appeal of the human stories she deftly weaves - infidelity, familial interactions with parents and siblings, love, loss and longing and of course her themes of straddling two cultures. It is true that she is not venturing into unexplored territory in this novel. She writes as before, of (Indian) immigrants who struggle to adjust and who build their own little bubbles. But the feelings are global as is Kaushik the photojournalist who thinks "he had so little to do with India.....and yet.....he was always regarded as an Indian first".
The subset of people who may have roots in both Calcutta and the US is probably limited. A few uniquely Bengali mentions - a grimy "flat" in Maniktala, chanachur (an Indian snack for "tea" time), Haldiram's (purveyor of the same) and words like dada and boudi (for elder brother and sister-in law often not used in a strict relational sense) merely ignite a sense of kinship with the author. Her richly textured writing make these literary easter eggs all the more savory while one knows that almost everyone is likely to find situations, feelings and characters that they can relate to.
Some of the stories do not really come to "fruition" in a conventional sense. The complexities of what may transpire next are left to our imaginations. The characters and their stories leave a sense of poignancy that lasts long after.
Book Review: Beautifully written
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED this book of short stories. I read several reviews that Interpreter of Maladies was better, but I didn't feel this was the case. I thought this was even better; very beautifully written!