Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
Beautifully written and each story resolved but leaving you wanting more....
This Pulitzer winning collection of short stories is nothing short of beautiful tiny worlds woven within the seams of a barely 200-paged book.
Lahiri has a knack of forming sentences in a way that leaves you feeling exactly what the character feels. You aren't just reading, you become the protagonist, the antagonist, and at times even the innocent bystander perched atop a railing, watching a commotion unfold in one of her stories.
Each story develops a ravenous hunger, and at the very end, Jhumpa leaves so much unanswered, that the continuity of life in the face of whatever-comes, hits you like a brick in the face. Its almost like imagining a smirk on her face, egging you on to think "what would you have done had it been you".
Nothing short of a treat, this book.
Lahiri has a knack of forming sentences in a way that leaves you feeling exactly what the character feels. You aren't just reading, you become the protagonist, the antagonist, and at times even the innocent bystander perched atop a railing, watching a commotion unfold in one of her stories.
Each story develops a ravenous hunger, and at the very end, Jhumpa leaves so much unanswered, that the continuity of life in the face of whatever-comes, hits you like a brick in the face. Its almost like imagining a smirk on her face, egging you on to think "what would you have done had it been you".
Nothing short of a treat, this book.
the first story was the best for me, the rest not so much.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5 stars
Unique collection of short stories highlighting the Indian/American immigrant experience.
Writing was eloquent and vivid.
But as with most short story collections, I liked some more than others. The last, featuring Mrs. Croft, was the best.
I would certainly read more by this author.
Unique collection of short stories highlighting the Indian/American immigrant experience.
Writing was eloquent and vivid.
But as with most short story collections, I liked some more than others. The last, featuring Mrs. Croft, was the best.
I would certainly read more by this author.
3.4/5
I enjoyed the story format and the idea behind them, connecting the past and the new, the different and the familiar. Some stories felt warm and comforting. Others, however, were personally hard to connect to emotionally, which is the main reason why I gave it such a lackluster rating.
I enjoyed the story format and the idea behind them, connecting the past and the new, the different and the familiar. Some stories felt warm and comforting. Others, however, were personally hard to connect to emotionally, which is the main reason why I gave it such a lackluster rating.
B- The last set of short stories I read was around 8 years ago - the works of Jack London. I picked up Interpreter of Maladies since it was a Pulitzer Prize winner. As is probably obvious by my lack of interest in them, I'm not a huge fan of short stories. As individual stories, I find just that - stories - not many of the overarching themes and motifs that make great literay fiction. As I made my way through Lahiri's collection, I started to uncover some of the themes - a bit subtler and with less apparent depth, but still there. She deals with the problems of marriage, relationships, the immigrant experience, and the ability of people to quickly lose the love they had for one another, or to gain love through an arranged marriage. She looks at the India immigrant experience in America in subtle ways. The collection is a teacher of sorts - telling the rest of the world about Indian culture through the short story form.
I really don't consider this collection Pulitzer Prize worthy - there is nothing groundbreaking or seminal here. That being said, it's worth a read. I know I only gave it a B- but Lahiri's collection has revived my interest in short stories and I'm going to checkout some other collections. I like the short, contained stories that I could pickup and put down when I wanted to.
Definitely worth a read and I'd recommend it to others.
I really don't consider this collection Pulitzer Prize worthy - there is nothing groundbreaking or seminal here. That being said, it's worth a read. I know I only gave it a B- but Lahiri's collection has revived my interest in short stories and I'm going to checkout some other collections. I like the short, contained stories that I could pickup and put down when I wanted to.
Definitely worth a read and I'd recommend it to others.
Lahiri's short story collection evaded me from library to library. Eventually, I gave up on getting off the library waitlist for Interpreter of Maladies and borrowed a copy from a professor. From cover to cover, the stories offered intrigue. Never did the characters feel recycled, and Lahiri wove each ending with a small gap, wide enough for the reader to imagine the hypothetical future awaiting its protagonists. I noticed that the point of view was never from the main character. Take "Mrs. Sen's". Instead of being told from Mrs. Sen's perspective, we get little Elliot, a Western boy briefly babysat by her. Moreover, the backgrounds of each character change. Sometimes we had newly immigrated wives, other times we had students and professors. Some saw the Western world as foreign, while others were raised in America and treated their parents' homelands like tourist destinations. These unique choices added a fresh twist to each story.
I adored the tight, intimate setting of "A Temporary Matter", and how food symbolism played into the complicated dynamics of the couple's marriage, including their selfishness. It contrasted wonderfully with the collection's final story. "A Third And Final Continent" felt quaint, and endearing, and invigorated the reader with hope for what migration entails and how South Asian immigrants can find footing in Western environments. Topics like multiculturalism and immigration can often feel jaded, but Lahiri's profound symbolism and diverse character escape repetition and boredom.
I adored the tight, intimate setting of "A Temporary Matter", and how food symbolism played into the complicated dynamics of the couple's marriage, including their selfishness. It contrasted wonderfully with the collection's final story. "A Third And Final Continent" felt quaint, and endearing, and invigorated the reader with hope for what migration entails and how South Asian immigrants can find footing in Western environments. Topics like multiculturalism and immigration can often feel jaded, but Lahiri's profound symbolism and diverse character escape repetition and boredom.
3.5/5
I somehow didn’t realize this was a book of short stories, which I typically don’t enjoy as much as novels. However I think it’s even more impressive that the author engages the reader in each story, in the main characters, and accomplish so much in this short format. A different read for me but I enjoyed it!
I somehow didn’t realize this was a book of short stories, which I typically don’t enjoy as much as novels. However I think it’s even more impressive that the author engages the reader in each story, in the main characters, and accomplish so much in this short format. A different read for me but I enjoyed it!
This book is great. Jhumpa Lahiri is a wonderful writer. My only qualm is that sometimes, she's too detailed about each character, each scene that it can get over-bearing. She should sometimes focus on plot and story. Overall, it's definitely worth a read!
Edit: 1/22/23 - I'm not one to re-read books typically but because Lahiri is such a great writer of family dynamics and relationships, I wanted to re-visit this anthology of short stories now that I am at a different station of life (married, has kids). I wanted to see if the stories hit me differently and for the most part, it did. I initially wrote in my review in 2007 how I wish there was less character development and more story, but maybe it's just a product of having read more books as I get older, I feel now that the character development is what drives each story. She paints such a vivid picture of the relationships between people, the character flaws and triumphs with all of their pain and indignation and the cities they live in. It's such simple, everyday narratives but some of the stories hit you in your gut. I would say, I like Banerjee's collection of South Asian short stories a bit better than this because those stories really stayed with me but these were still sweet and simple. The last story though was my FAVORITE. The author captures the middle class immigrant experience so well and in that last story, I could completely picture my mom and dad as I read it.
Edit: 1/22/23 - I'm not one to re-read books typically but because Lahiri is such a great writer of family dynamics and relationships, I wanted to re-visit this anthology of short stories now that I am at a different station of life (married, has kids). I wanted to see if the stories hit me differently and for the most part, it did. I initially wrote in my review in 2007 how I wish there was less character development and more story, but maybe it's just a product of having read more books as I get older, I feel now that the character development is what drives each story. She paints such a vivid picture of the relationships between people, the character flaws and triumphs with all of their pain and indignation and the cities they live in. It's such simple, everyday narratives but some of the stories hit you in your gut. I would say, I like Banerjee's collection of South Asian short stories a bit better than this because those stories really stayed with me but these were still sweet and simple. The last story though was my FAVORITE. The author captures the middle class immigrant experience so well and in that last story, I could completely picture my mom and dad as I read it.