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rootytootyrissa 's review for:
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
I listened to the audiobook version of Interpreter of Maladies, which admittedly might have been a mistake--for a book that is primarily about Indian experiences in life, immigration, family and then some, having it voiced by Token Caucasian Woman made it lose some sparkle. I mean, if you can't have a bit of authenticity in a book like this, when can you?
Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories on Indian life, culture, and experience. I didn't mind listening to this book, though to say I enjoyed them would be a bit of a stretch--a good portion of them are pretty dang miserable. But even in their misery, there was a lot to feel, and I appreciate that in a good book. And, even better, there were particularly stories that left me with a lot of food for thought.
My favourite two stories were Mrs. Sen's and The Third and Final Continent. The former left me with such real heartbreak for Mrs. Sen, a married and isolated woman struggling to assimilate into the ways of her new country. Her yearning for the things she knew and complete overwhelm in the face of things that seem so taken for granted here--say, learning to drive a car--really struck chords with me. The latter of the stories seemed a loving end and fitting nod to the ideal experience of travel and immigration.
While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."
Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories on Indian life, culture, and experience. I didn't mind listening to this book, though to say I enjoyed them would be a bit of a stretch--a good portion of them are pretty dang miserable. But even in their misery, there was a lot to feel, and I appreciate that in a good book. And, even better, there were particularly stories that left me with a lot of food for thought.
My favourite two stories were Mrs. Sen's and The Third and Final Continent. The former left me with such real heartbreak for Mrs. Sen, a married and isolated woman struggling to assimilate into the ways of her new country. Her yearning for the things she knew and complete overwhelm in the face of things that seem so taken for granted here--say, learning to drive a car--really struck chords with me. The latter of the stories seemed a loving end and fitting nod to the ideal experience of travel and immigration.
While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."