I managed to pick up a copy of the book from the library, and immediately from reading the first line of the blurb on the back of the book, I was intrigued.
'Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant stories tell the lives of Indians in exile, of people navigating between the strict traditions they've inherited and the baffling New World they must encounter every day.'
I have seen Indian friends of mine go through similar types of situations, and so I was looking forward to seeing how Lahiri would portray this in her stories. However, I shouldn't read a book with preconceived expectations, as it always seems to let me down. These short stories were easy to read and entertaining, but for me, they didn't always capture the emotion that I was expecting. I could not connect to many of the characters, and I think that this is partly due to the way Lahiri portrayed them. Her writing style is almost distant, as though she is observing these people from afar. As a result, I found that the characters seemed to lack personality and I found myself feeling emotionally detached from them. I am not sure if this was somewhat intentional, as a means of highlighting their isolation. I have my doubts.
As for being stories of Indians in exile, in some cases I thought that the stories could have applied to almost anyone (A Temporary Matter, Sexy and This Blessed House, for example). Just change the name, and you could equally imagine very similar situations taking place almost anywhere in the world. There are cultural differences in the way people cope with being away from their own country, and Lahiri didn't always captured this in her stories.
For me, the best story was 'Mrs Sen's'. I could really image how isolated Mrs Sen must have felt, by not having her support network, and the comforts of home around her. There is also a difference in how people cope with living away from home, depending on whether they chose to leave, or were more or less forced to move away. In my experience, my female Indian friends who moved to another country to be with their husbands seem to have the most difficulty adjusting. When you chose to move to a new place, you mentally and emotionally prepare yourself for the experience and you are usually willing to invest the energy to make it work. The same does not always apply to those who are displaced for other reasons (which includes for a partner and employment reasons).
After reading the book, it did surprise me that it was awarded the Pulitzer prize. Although nicely written, I think that there are other similar types of books that are better at depicting the lives of outsiders. I was perusing the reviews on Amazon, many of which seem to suggest that Lahiri had hit on a fashionable topic - Indians living in the USA. The skeptic in me would tend to agree.
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3 comments:
it's interesting that mrs. sen's was your favourite.
mine was the third and final continent. however unlike the other stories in the collection, i didn't think it was complete - i felt it was missing the feminine perspective.
in fact, the third and final continent is the only story i felt benefited from being part of a collection rather than being published as a stand alone story because mrs. sen's (which is a lovely story in its own right) was able to provide the feminine perspective it was missing.
I tend to think that a short story should stand alone in its own right, whether or not it's in a collection. Most short stories are originally published in isolation in any case. I didn't read the third and final continent, however, so can't comment on that particular story.
Mrs Sen's was one of the more memorable stories for me as well, although I'm still not sure what the point of it was. The protagonist was Mrs Sen, the unhappy wife of an academic, but the story was told through the eyes of a boy, who seems little more than a passive observer. At the end it kind of petered out and I was left with the feeling 'so what? -- why did I just invest time reading that story? What was I supposed to take away from it?'
In fact, I felt this at the end of many of the stories. Sure, they provided a certain insight, but there still seemed to be something lacking.
Hi All,
For the first time in a long time, I've been organised enough to buy the book online and read it.
I agree with Haley that the reviews seem to present a very specific picture of the book, which I don't actually think it delivers. Although it certainly shows the experience of Indian immigrants in the US (in
particular I think 'The Third and Final Continent' depicted very
interestingly what it is like to migrate to a totally foreign world), many of the stories described what could have been any person's fate and had just an Indian 'flavour' to them.
That said, I really enjoyed this book. This is probably my favourite
genre at the moment, along with Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner' and
Abu-Jaber's 'Crescent' (highly recommended! ), of Asian and
middle-Eastern authors writing about their cultural heritage, describing their traditions and food, and about returning to their home lands. As a (double) immigrant, I can really relate to that feeling of wanting to
belong to the new place while striving to retain a love for the old, and in my case ending up in some kind of limbo halfway in-between, not quite feeling at home anywhere (or feeling at home everywhere depending on if
you ask me on a good day or not). I thought Lahiri also described well how it is to be a second-generation immigrant, with only a little knowledge about the 'fatherland' . Despite the many stories and films
I've seen, and having been back many times, somehow I still don't relate to the Poland described by my parents, and I often wish I knew more about its history.
I thought Lahiri had a very smooth and elegant style, telling stories
that had plenty of layers, symbolism and poetry. For example I was very impressed by the first few paragraphs of 'Sexy', where we learn so much about the two main characters, without superfluous descriptions. Just as
with music and film, I like it when a story slowly evolves, layer after layer, and I though Lahiri achieved that very well. At the same time I noticed her style changing depending on the narrator; it was perhaps for
this reason that I liked 'Mrs Sen's' least, as I found it to be told in a somewhat stilted way, which was maybe the intention as the narrator was a young boy.
I think I understand what Haley means about the author having an
emotional distance, and I also think that was intentional. The author paints a picture and leaves judgement out of it, letting the reader draw their own conclusions about the likeability and emotionality of the
characters. I found myself moved and amused and empathising throughout. I also got the impression that Lahiri was sharing stories, perhaps exaggerated and fantasised, that were based on 'real' people that she
had either known or heard about. It reminded me a bit of Lucy M.
Montgomery's 'Chronicles of Avonlea' and 'Further Chronicles of
Avonlea', and I hope that Lahiri chooses some of her characters and
writes full-length novels about them.
Thank you very much for a lovely read which was right up my alley!
I'd be interested to hear what came up during the discussion on
Thursday.
All the best,
Kate
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