Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Name Sake by Jhumpa Lahiri

6 reviews

tashtasher's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0


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jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? No

5.0


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nenya's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I borrowed this book from my english teacher when we discussed colonialism in class and she recommended it - and regarding that topic, it definitely fulfilled my expectations. Since neither I, nor my ancestors have been colonized or have migrated somewhere, I am in no position to judge the authenticity of the plot and characters but I must say, it felt very true and accurate to me. It gives excellent and thoroughly elaborated insights into different perspectives of Indian immigrants as well as their children growing up in America and their struggles with balancing the two different cultures. 
However, the story telling sometimes left me a bit bored - generally speaking it was well written but what bugged me was how when the plot got a bit mysterious and anticipation was being built up, the chapters tended to end in a small cliffhanger being followed by a time jump in the new chapter which very passively explained the past events/the outcome of the cliffhanger. This kind of took some of the suspense out of the story telling in my opinion and was a bit unsatisfying at times.
Yet, it is most definitely a good book and I would totally recommend it.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny 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? No

4.75

Given that I'm extremely late to THE NAMESAKE party, you probably don't need a real review from me. I'll just say that this is such a beautiful, tender, sprawling book that carries you along its currents. Following the Ganguli family through their joys and heartbreaks was such a wonderful experience, and - as with every time I've joined @idleutopia_reads' #DiversifyYourBacklist buddy read group - I've been so grateful to Karen for getting me to pick up such a lovely book. I would have gladly read hundreds more pages of this story, and I'm looking forward to reading Lahiri's other works. 

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words_and_coffee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I have to start by saying that this is not the sort of book I normally enjoy, so just having finished it ranks it my most favorite literary fiction of all time. Instead of the 'lovely' *cough* overly descriptive *cough* writing that usually marks literary fiction, this writing is simple and compelling. 

It also helps that the characters give me a window into a different life and different set of circumstances than I've experienced, which I always enjoy. Even better, I found their 'different' circumstances strangely relatable in some ways. I don't come from an immigrant family, but I do know what it's like to have a family culture that's vastly different from everyone else around. 

So, five star writing, with some five star moments, and overall a four star experience because I still struggle a bit with the very slow, literary style. 

Except... Well, staying spoiler free, let's just say that on occasion some very poor decisions are made in the course of the story, and some of them disturbed me enough to really drag down the experience, hence the 3.5 star rating instead of four.  

I'm glad I read this story, and parts of it will probably stay with me for a very long time, but I don't see myself being likely to revisit it.

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