The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

After her Pulitzer Prize winner, The Interpreter of Maladies, which I loved, I expected to enjoy the book. I did not like it at all. I found it convoluted and very slow. I like her writing style but thought she went on and on at times. Like you, I didn't it would have been a decent short story. Maybe even a very good novella.

By the way, I am of Indian (South Asian) descent born and raised outside India. I understood the story, I could empathise with the characters, even seeing my mother in Gogol's mother especially the scene with the pregnancy and giving birth in hospital. Still, it was not enough to engage me, to make me feel the satisfaction that comes from having read a good book.

It was a Book Club choice by the way. I do not recommended it.

Wow. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

Yes, her first short story collection should be on everyone's shelf. One brilliant story after another.

Then this dud arrived.

She was on Fresh Air, and Terry asked her why the father never bothered to tell the son why he's named "Gogol." Lahiri's answer was lame. Just some fake tension to keep the book together. (Go to NPR.org, by the way, and search for the interview if you're interested.)

Although this is by no means the most boring book I ever read, I do read with a pencil in my right hand to mark down things of interest. I made, maybe, ten marks in the entire book. This is not very many.

But one dissapointing book doesn't make for a bad writer, and I will get to her other stuff in the near future. Heck, just writing this makes me want to read one of her stories today. She's a great writer, even if this isn't a great book.

I loved the movie Namesake. Haven't read the novel, so can't comment on it. But I love her writing style. Interpreter of Maladies just blew me away. And I read a short story of hers in the New Yorker (damn, I keep forgetting the name) which was very impressive as well.