With the movie version of Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning book coming out in just a few weeks, I decided to pick up the copy of The Namesake. The book has been sitting on my bookshelf since my friend Shaona gave it to me in London almost three years ago. She had written in the liner, "Here's a girl that thinks like we do" and presented it to me for my 29th birthday. I wasn't a big fan of Interpreter of Maladies, or really, of any other Indian authors I'd read previously, so I thanked her and added it to my collection of books that I planned to read someday. But later.
(Shaona, I am so sorry I doubted your feeling that I would love this book. And thank you (three years late) for giving it to me.)
This book was moving for many reasons, the first of which is that it immediately felt very familiar. It is a story about a boy, born to Indian parents in America, who is constantly challenged by the demands of one culture at home versus a different culture outside. It is a topic to which many of my friends, family, and I can definitely relate. Lahiri perfectly manages to convey the alienation we sometimes feel/felt having to be "Indian" at home and "American" everywhere else. The story chroncicles the title character's life from its beginning till he is cemented in adulthood.
The story was interesting and engaging, and it made for a very quick and easy read. Something I really appreciated was that Lahiri sprinkled Bengali words and Indian phrases throughout the story without pausing to explain each term. There was no jarring stop and start each time she used a term like pujo or mishti. She just kept right on with the prose, assuming that her audience is smart enough to pick up on it. (FYI, Pujo is a religious ceremony and mishti is a sweet or dessert.)
This novel actually moved me to tears during several of its moments, especially when I read about the parents and how alienated they felt trying to carve out a new and unfamiliar life in a country that was completely foreign to them. For the past day or so, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the characters and what they might be doing now. I can't remember the last book whose characters engaged me so completely and distracted me from my own life.
The film, directed by Mira Nair and starring Kal Penn (a.k.a. my favorite terrorist - see "Jack's Back" post earlier this year), opens in limited release on March 9.
4 comments:
great review, manashi! i hadn't heard about this book or its film adaptation. now, i'll have to check out both.
I wasn't a big fan of Interpreter of Maladies, or really, of any other Indian authors I'd read previously
Really? I'd have thought you'd be a Rushdie fan...I'd think his sense of humor would appeal to yours.
Actually, I haven't read any Rushdie. I was referring to Bharati Mukherjee and Meera Syal type of chick lit, which I find kind of vapid. (Esp. Mukherjee's Wife, which I picked up because she's MY namesake. Last namesake, rather.) I also read most of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, but it didn't really keep my interest enough to wade through to the end. Any suggestions on which of Rushdie's novels I should read first?
Asking too much of a stranger but could you please ask your friend Shaona what her name means? My wife and I are expecting a baby girl and we are fixated on Shaona but the hordes of Bengali Mashis and Pishis have not been able to come up with any specific Sanskrit / Bengali meanings. Would appreciate if you can e-mail me at rajibdasATyahoo.com
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