A review by 1shoe34
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

4.0

sometimes you just have to spend a tuesday night reading a 300 page novel instead of doing a single task. i have this theory that personal rankings of lahiri books are highly dependent on the order in which you read them. they're just so repetitive--people immigrate and are sad and move homes and get graduate degrees at ivy leagues and reconnect with childhood friends and have affairs and are sad once more. that being said, she does this incredibly effectively, and even though i feel like i've read this story several times already, i still found myself constantly rooting for the characters and feeling their pain and joy. and even though the characters here are separated from my family by decades and the varying regional cultures of india, so many elements of the immigrant experience carry over. the scene where gogol meets his baby sister is so reminiscent of an august evening 15 years ago that i found myself tearing up. anyway i guess i just have to leave this weird dream of 80's boston and 90's new york and go do my math homework?