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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85301.Unaccustomed_Earth?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Unaccustomed Earth" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oA8oVgWZL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85301.Unaccustomed_Earth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Unaccustomed Earth</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3670.Jhumpa_Lahiri">Jhumpa Lahiri</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20078377?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars Having read Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. Compared to the stories in Interpreter of Maladies, these stories feel larger in their ability to capture complex networks of relationships. This collection focuses primarily on issues raised in the creation of family and the threats that endanger the nuclear family (inviting an elderly parent to move in, extramarital affairs, the terminal illness of a parent, remarriage). Many of the stories also feature second-generation Indian American children who defy their parents' expectations by dropping out of college or ignoring attempts to enter into an arranged marriage. Lahiri writes beautifully about the crests and troughs in family life and how minor disappointments can accumulate over the years. 
 
 At the sentence level, Lahiri's prose is masterful, but in reading the collection, some recurring patterns emerge. The stories describe characters with similar histories and take place primarily in the Boston area, or Europe if the characters are supposed to be trailblazers. Nearly all of the protagonists in this collection were raised in New England and graduates of top colleges. In more than one story, Indian parents drink expensive whiskey. I also thought that at times Lahiri relied a bit too much on narrative summary to carry the reader through the middle sections of stories. In general, these are longer stories which allow both reader and writer a greater amount of space to explore the fictional world, but they don't feel as tightly plotted as those in IoM. Many of the endings surprised me because they hinged on coincidences rather than elements that naturally arose from the story itself. Though the stories have structural flaws, their moments of keen insight save the overall collection. 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/85830?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Joy's review
rating:
bookshelves: 2008

Having read Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. Compared to the stories in Interpreter of Maladies, these stories feel larger in their ability to capture complex networks of relationships. This collection focuses primarily on issues raised in the creation of family and the threats that endanger the nuclear family (inviting an elderly parent to move in, extramarital affairs, the terminal illness of a parent, remarriage). Many of the stories also feature second-generation Indian American children who defy their parents' expectations by dropping out of college or ignoring attempts to enter into an arranged marriage. Lahiri writes beautifully about the crests and troughs in family life and how minor disappointments can accumulate over the years.

At the sentence level, Lahiri's prose is masterful, but in reading the collection, some recurring patterns emerge. The stories describe characters with similar histories and take place pr...more

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