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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
Not what I was expecting: it was a series of short stories set in India, or revolving around Indian immigrants. The stories were interesting, but not memorable. They had neither a plot nor an ending.
A beautiful beautiful book! The stories were often sad but so incredibly written! I especially loved the last story!
Read whilst commuting by train my first winter in New York. The brevity of each story makes it good for train reading, but if you have ever cried with a book in your hand, you may want to save this one for home. Your call, though.
3.5 stars. I had a bit of a spotty experience with these stories. The central story the book is titled for is quite good, but I had trouble relating to the narratives or perspectives of some of the others. There are perhaps reasons beyond the book itself for this as well. Maybe I came to it with a higher expectation from my other readings of Lahiri's more recent works and the accolades it has received. I'm also finding it harder to listen to audiobooks of short stories: something about the hard-to-stop flowing nature of an audiobook doesn't work too well for short stories, where is like to pause and take a break between stories to think.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Collection of short stories, interesting but stories are so short some of them keep u wanting to know what happens to the characters.
I'm not normally a short story fan, but Lahiri's short stories have the depth and weight of a novel. The title story was my first introduction to her writing, found in an anthology when I was teaching creative writing. I read it aloud to several of my high school classes. Rereading it now, it's just as brilliant and I noticed new details that I didn't remember from previous readings. The other stories are equally beautiful.
I don't usually like short stories because there isn't enough character development to satisfy me. But I really enjoyed a majority of these stories. The author demonstrates her experience of coming to a new country with clarity and honesty.
jhumpa lahiri does an amazing job at capturing devastation without ever describing it. the subtle details in her writing that work together to accumulate pain, guilt, shame, etc. are what make her writing so addicting/elegant
Finally finally read the one she won a Pulitzer for, and yes it was great. And I can see how it would have been dazzling when it came out. But at this point I already knows she’s a master at short stories (and full novels!), so it felt like a foregone conclusion. A couple of the stories made me deeply uncomfortable in how very recognizable they were. Stop it Jhumpa, stop putting into words things I would rather ignore.