false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255698245m/33917.jpg 33917 34 Any talk of <I>The Namesake</I>--Jhumpa Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning debut, <I>Interpreter of Maladies</I>--must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all. He is given the name by his father who, before he came to America to study at MIT, was almost killed in a train wreck in India. Rescuers caught sight of the volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories that he held, and hauled him from the train. Ashoke gives his American-born son the name as a kind of placeholder, and the awkward thing sticks. <p> Awkwardness is Gogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like many second-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in the world. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured young Manhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol into their easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaks off the relationship. His mother finally sets him up on a blind date with the daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match. Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world she inhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, her rebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French. Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documents these quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There's no cleverness or showing-off in <I>The Namesake</I>, just beautifully confident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it's simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life. <I>--Claire Dederer</I> 16171 book 1 9 2002 The Namesake total:37638|5:10189|4:16096|3:9143|2:1887|1:371| 37638 146728 47145 4010 2 16 false false Tue Mar 11 13:23:13 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 13:23:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 10 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 17 22:06:43 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 23:02:14 -0700 2007 It would only be fair to mention here that I saw Mira Nair's adaptation of the book before I actually got down to reading this novel recently. Having loved the film, I was keen to see how Lahiri had approached her characters and where its cinematic version stood in comparison.


...more...]]> 2 6 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 09:08:23 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 13 13:39:20 -0700 2007
1. I saw the movie adaptation of this novel before I read the book.
2. I have read, and loved, Interpreter of Maladies.

As much as I tried to put these two substantial forces out of my mind, th...more...]]> 5 7 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 17:24:57 -0700 2007 Sun Dec 30 21:02:47 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2 6 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Oct 24 16:47:15 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 16:48:21 -0700 2007 This book is a family saga from the initial immigration of a wife and husband from India to The States which goes on to talk about the life of their son. Their son, Gogol, appears to be confused as to what his identity is and is conflicted over honoring tradition and the culture of a new...more...]]> 2 7 true false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 09:48:07 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 09:57:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Sep 30 20:21:10 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 13 22:01:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 3 false true Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 21:00:48 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 21:38:19 -0700 2008 Judul Indonesia: Makna Sebuah Nama
Penulis: Jhumpa Lahiri
Alih Bahasa: Gita Yuliani K.
Penerbit: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan: I, Agustus 2006
Tebal: 336 hlm


What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smel...more...]]> 3 2 false false Thu Feb 14 10:29:27 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 15 11:56:25 -0800 2008
lahiris brilliant ability to keep all of the various narratives flowing smoothly, to capture the nuances of immigrant life, to portray the absolute difficulty of living one life in front of friends, and one of life in front of parents, shielded a ver...more...]]> 5 5 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Jul 08 10:11:52 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 08 10:12:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 05:31:32 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 05:35:38 -0700 2008 The Namesake, but I put off reading it for a while.
It's definitely a worthwhile read. I gave it five stars, not because it's the greatest book I've ever read, but because it was the right book for me to read right now--ther...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 07:11:23 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 07:12:05 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri Aug 10 15:51:45 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 20 09:17:12 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 2 3 false false Sat Mar 07 16:36:54 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 13 16:15:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 11:12:20 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 14:09:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Mar 01 08:17:49 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 08:20:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Jan 07 07:15:39 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 05:28:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Oct 27 16:17:48 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 27 16:18:01 -0700 2008 Mrs. Ebarvia
World Lit.
10/20/08
The Namesake
Draft
Jhumpa Lahiri’s emotional, compassionate story called The Namesake explains journey through life and the obstacles that thwart it. Lahiri is an excellent author and has also created Interpreter of Madal...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 07:43:01 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 10:29:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Apr 29 12:56:47 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 13:06:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=33917