Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Unaccustomed Earth
Book Review: Enticing but a little stilted in characterization
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with much of what is said in the glowing reviews of Lahiri's writing. However, I must add that there is something a little false and contrived (and immensely irritating to me as an Indian) about the constant emphasis on name-brand schools and 'professional' status. I wonder if Lahiri is (temporarily, I hope) succumbing to the grandiosity that afflicts the self-appointed 'elite' of all cultures and nations.
Book Review: Excellent Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't read much fiction. I made an exception to my usual reading fare after watching The Namesake movie a really long time ago. I actually intended to pick up The Namesake, but seeing it was sold out settled on Unaccustomed Earth.
Jhumpa Lahiri can do things with words that I can only dream about. Fiction and non-fiction, I thought this was the best book I read in 2008.
I thought I would dislike short stories. Many times they give too few details and the stories become easily forgotten. These short stories did not disappoint and will certainly not be easily forgotten.
Book Review: Excellent Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth is spellbounding. Eight short stories woven so tightly together, it would take a great deal of stretching, bending or breaking to get them to unravel. Lahiri's strength - among many of them as a story teller - lies is the character development of the protagonists, their realities, anxities, dream and behaviour. I first read one of the stories 'Year's End' in the new Yorker a couple of months ago. It was about a young man's fathers second marriage. I loved it. And, imagine the bonanza with seven more of these wondereful tales.
As an Indian, I lived in North America in the 70s and 80s, watching a first generation of immigrants. Now, I watch their children, the people Lahiri writes about. I see them in the US, in India and in other parts of the world. In them are all the things Lahiri writes about - strength, confusion, conflicts - and torn between the culture they came from and the one they are part of. She is right on target about them.
Reading Lahiri is pure pleasure. Don't miss the book!
Book Review: Excellent book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a lovely collection of short stories that stays with you long after you've read the last page. This is Lahiri's best by far...same simple yet searing language, but the observations are so true they take the wind out of you.Book Review: Expected more from Lahiri
Summary: 3 Stars
Having read all of Ms. Lahiri's books, I felt a little let down by this one. Most of the stories were run of the mill, even a little jaded. The one exception is the last story - this brings together all the main themes that run through Ms. Lahiri's very imaginatively, and caps the story with a great ending.
Overall, a good read, but not a patch on the "Interpreter of Maladies".