The " Namesake " | Jhumpa Lahiri | A great and superbly written story

The " Namesake " | Jhumpa Lahiri | Tale of a 1st generation Indian immigrant - different!

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The " Namesake "

	The " Namesake " Jhumpa Lahiri HarperPerennial, 2007 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 475 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A great and superbly written story

Jhumpa Lahiri writes about a very interesting and commonly neglected new American phenomenon: the rise of the Indian-American middle class.

This book is about cultures, values, life and death, love and misery. It is about America. It is about India. It is also universal.

Lahiri writes with style and elegance. Despite the verbose, I was engaged on the story and how it unfolded. "Namesake" is a great reading.

Tale of a 1st generation Indian immigrant - different!

I read this book because my daughter's freshman college class was asked to read it, so I knew it must be something pretty special. It's not a book I would have been likely to pick up otherwise.

Though my grandfather was a first generation Italian, I think the book was so unique to me because I knew very little about the Indian culture.

It was a beautifully told story and portrayed well the tension that a first generation American feels, wanting to fit in and sometimes ashamed of his parents' eccentricities, yet grateful for the sacrifices they've made to provide for their children.

Worth the read!

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not as good as the short story collections

The Namesake, the first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, is written
in a deceptively simple style. It is a very well crafter novel that
both explores the role of Indians in America, and tells the
story of a family over several decades.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed
by the novel. Lahiri's collection of stories, "The Interpreter
of Maladies" had a much larger impact on me. A version of "The Namesake"
also appeared as a short story in The New Yorker, and I liked that
version far better. I agree that Lahiri is among the best writers in
the US currently, but short stories are her definite strength.

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