Indians in America

[spectralbovine]

Last year, I saw The Namesake, the movie. This January, I bought The Namesake, the book. Last month, I finally read it

Comments

[sneaker328]

Wow. I read those ages ago! I'm glad you finally read them and that you enjoyed them. Normally I'm not as crazy about books that are so light on dialogue, but in this case it worked- because you're right, it did really feel like Lahiri was more biographer than novelist, which made the characters seems more real.

[spectralbovine]

More biographer than novelist! More succinct than I!

[spectralbovine]

I always wondered if, should I ever publish a book, I'd be compared to other contemporary "young, ethnic" writers like Lahiri. Then again, if I didn't put a picture on the book jacket, no one would ever know I'm Korean.
Sometimes I think about using a pen name.

[spectralbovine]

Seamus Ramon Wong-Haroutunian...Jones.

[punzerel]

I think I share your favourites from Interpreter of Maladies. I kind of felt that in Interpreter, Lahiri was still developing her writing style - in places I felt it was a bit clunkier than in Namesake and in Unaccustomed Earth. (The detail thing she does felt more annoying in the first than in those second two.)

If you haven't read the latest, you should pick it up - my favourite is the first story, although reviewers all seem to focus on the last, longest one.

I think you pinpointed her writing style really well, by the way.

[spectralbovine]

Thanks! My co-worker wanted to wrangle Unaccustomed Earth for me, but I needed a break from Lahiri. I could only take so much.

[electricmonk]

I loved Interpreter - pretty sure my favorites were mostly the same as yours, but it's been a while.
I saw Lahiri do an onstage Q & A with Seattle's head librarian probably a year and a half ago; she actually seemed kind of uncooperative, and resentful of being asked to interpret her own work. The librarian would ask how Lahiri thought her novel reflected the immigrant experience in general, things like that, and Lahiri would be like, "I don't know, I just wrote it." Probably it's exactly because she's more detail-oriented, more focused on chronicling her characters' lives than on hammering in deeper points, even though they're there.

[spectralbovine]

That's really interesting. Like the characters just lived in her head and she wrote their stories, and that was that. She wasn't trying to Say anything.

[missquita]

That is my favorite kind of writing -- when the Something Said emerges, after the Something is written.

[dharmavati]

I've read The Namesake but I haven't watched the movie yet so I can't comment on any comparisons but I always felt like Lahiri created a very organic model of Indian-American life, even if it is not the one I encounter in my own life. I can imagine a mother like Ashima and a person like Gogol having all those life experiences that help define their identities. Personally, my path and determination of my Indian identity has not been the same as Gogol but I can imagine someone like him. It's weird because, when my grandfather died and my dad had to attend the funeral, I gave my dad my copy of The Namesake along Transmission by Hari Kunzru and a couple other books for flight reading. I'm still kind of curious if he managed to finish the book and what he thought of it. I wonder, if he did, which character he empathized with more. :)

I should really read Interpreter of Maladies sometime. It's been on my To Read booklist for a long, long time now. :P

Also, I'm Indian and a writer and I should see who I'll be compared to if I ever

[spectralbovine]

I completely agree with you on the book, fellow Indian-American!

I totally suck at detail. I don't even know what things are called half the time. Like, basic things. Like lampposts.

Londonistan...does not sound like something I would read. Or want to read.

[dharmavati]

I totally suck at detail. I don't even know what things are called half the time. Like, basic things. Like lampposts.

Haha, I'm the same! :)

Oops, I realized that I meant Londonstani (Londonistan is a nonfic book, IIRC). I mention it because it's a bit of a foil to The Namesake. Lahiri's writing is very emotional and poetic and this book reads like a kick to your stomach. As for finding Londonstani as provocative, YMMV. It's... different. :D

[spectralbovine]

Ah! Maybe I will check that out. It does look...different. Plus, according to the Wikipedia entry, it has a plot twist that only a book could take! I love those! Thankfully, I didn't see what it was.