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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing envelops you just as in her previous collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. While I read the book months ago, I have a memory and affinity for the characters and stories that I think is permanent - something about her fiction nestles itself right into your heart and stays. Even when the narrative of the characters appears to be far from my own experience (I am, after all, not an immigrant), I found the themes universally relatable, and therefore a valuable demonstration of the universal nature of our desires, struggles and humanity.
The reason that I am giving the collection 4 stars rather than 5 is the distaste I felt at the end of "Hema and Kaushik." This story/novella? is unputdownable, for sure. You want to know whether or not these two souls will finally find solace in one-another. While I can imagine reasons why Lahiri chose the ending she did—it links it to a major world event, lending it a sort of dogmatic authenticity, or something—I find the arc of the story and final shock of oblivion to be over the top and melodramatic. I ultimately never finished The Namesake because I found it indulgently dramatic -- perhaps I am unfairly trying to make the case against Lahiri's longer works... I should go read The Lowland right away!
To summarize: lovely collection, go read it!
The reason that I am giving the collection 4 stars rather than 5 is the distaste I felt at the end of "Hema and Kaushik." This story/novella? is unputdownable, for sure. You want to know whether or not these two souls will finally find solace in one-another. While I can imagine reasons why Lahiri chose the ending she did—it links it to a major world event, lending it a sort of dogmatic authenticity, or something—I find the arc of the story and final shock of oblivion to be over the top and melodramatic. I ultimately never finished The Namesake because I found it indulgently dramatic -- perhaps I am unfairly trying to make the case against Lahiri's longer works... I should go read The Lowland right away!
To summarize: lovely collection, go read it!
Not usually one for written reviews but unfortunately I hated the ending of every single story in this book.
The first half of the book is stand-alone short stories, and while I enjoyed most, they didn't all resonate. But then get to the second half, and the three intertwined stories, and I was so brought into the world of these two people, and so eager to see where their lives went, that I found the characters haunting. The ending of the stories was so beautiful wrought and I'm still thinking about it. Amazing! b
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The best short story collection I’ve come across - and the only thing that rivaled it was her previous book. Poetic style of writing, and there’s an ambiguity she ends all stories with so how it sits with you is based on how you view life.
emotional
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:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character