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The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

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dyno8426's review against another edition

3.0

The act of naming something is usually a conscious step, a personal choice. By choosing to name something, you claim some ownership of it - at the cost of an effort to label the existence of that thing from the obscurity and shapelessness of ideas. This is a two way process though - you also claim responsibility for its identity, a tangible reference that leads back to you and points to your part in shaping its conceptual form. Therefore, its perfections are your laurels and its inaptness your signature. Naming one's child, what this story majorly revolves around, could be a matter of far significance in terms of individuality. One's name is usually the very first thing that most parents actually give to their children, considering the important things that shape our identity apart from our genetics. While it could be a matter of least or no thought in certain cases, I want to consider where there is a consciousness involved. Even simple thing as liking something more than the other tells a lot about the person choosing a name. It might simply be inherited from our ancestors with that basic instinct of preserving artefacts of them, or simply honouring them through remembrance. Perhaps it comes with a linguistic meaning that appeals to the ideals we cherish; or it may draw dreams and inspiration from people who remind us about the good things in the world. More adventurously, it may come from a desire to stand-out and stand apart from the life/culture one has known and borrows those unfamiliar sounds which evoke the beauty of mystery and romance in one. Whatever may be the case, parents are grafting a part of their own lives and experiences to preserve themselves in their children - to cultivate the very same values and preserve sentiments which they cherish in their own lives. In somewhat similar manner, Ashoke Ganguli, a Bengali/Indian immigrant in America, makes his son a namesake of Gogol, the revered Russian author, who affected the father's life in significant enough ways. While this name was supposed to be the "nickname" equivalent in Bengali culture, it very soon roots itself to the child's identity as the "official" name. This duality of familial nomenclature is presented as a metaphor of the two lives where the nickname is used to connect and distinguish family members and close friends, whereas the rest of the world sees the facets of official-named person. The name thus extends its influence beyond the giver-taker relationship. Since it becomes the most common first point of contact to establish connections, it becomes an inextricable symbol of both the individual and cultural attributes that will later on affect our parts of life as well. This dictionary of names that we build will use this etymology of real world examples and mean something so unique to us so as to propagate themselves by their virtue or vice. But as names are given, they can be abandoned as well.

We see that as Gogol Ganguli lives under the voluntary mystery of this unconventional name chosen by his father, its arbitrariness seems to isolate him from both his own cultural expectations and his aspirational ones. His resentment over the unfairness of this choice aggravates to more serious levels when he comes to know about the tragic fate of Nikolai Gogol and does not see the beloved author that influenced his father's life. He finally reinvents himself by legally changing his name to forsake the ownership that was burdened upon him like an unwanted legacy. This comes with a disorientation that manifests itself as the natural consequence of reshaping his identity - something that coalesces with the well known confusion in immigrants to mould their identities in the culture that tethers them with their origin and the one where they envision their future. While the escape from past culture may by wilful, leading to guilt, or desperate, leading to despair, it causes people like then-Gogol-now-Nikhil to wander in search of what defines them. As as instance of the Indian-contextually popular term "ABCD" - American born confused deshi, Nikhil finds himself seeking and gravitating towards various life partners in his adulthood where he sees some clarity in the direction that he should be taking - some anchor in the sea of his identity crisis in which he seems to be drifting away from his family. Various other characters are then seen in the contrast of their solidity, the comfort and fortune of their sheltered identity. The incidents and factors of chance that may affect one's naming, and can so consequentially affect the named person's life, is rendered with convincing gravitas in this book.

ariana_0305's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book was therapeutic in the way it writes about Bengali culture. Although it’s written about Indian Bengalis I found it super relatable. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book and felt so seen by the story- the unique challenges of the Bengali name culture is perfectly encapsulated which is the main reason why I love it. But also, it has a lot of relatable stuff about the other aspects of brown immigrant culture that I also find very moving. For example, the sacrifices that our parents make particularly our mothers. The only reason I give it a 4.75 rather than a 5 is because I found the ending very underwhelming. You don’t necessarily need a happy ending for it to be good but it wasn’t either in my opinion. Moushmi was a bitch. Idk what it was but the ending was just very underwhelming for me. Otherwise I loved the story and found it really healing. I’ve noticed that I actually struggle to stay engaged in character driven books compared to plot but this isn’t one of them- I stayed engaged BECAUSE of the characters. Anyway I loved this and can’t wait to reread it.

emcbooks's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

courtneyivaska's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

jvk14's review against another edition

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5.0

Cannot think of a better book the conveys this type of immigrant experience. Such a great book! Full of the sorrows and joys of life.

whitneysederberg's review against another edition

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5.0

jhumpa lahiri’s writing is addictive and immersive. i am always a sucker for character driven stories, but the immaculate development here defies any need for a plot.