Ukrainer's review
Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri
You have described her writing perfectly. It is deceptively ordinary but so powerful for me. I agree that these stories cross racial, ethnic, and geographic lines; I especially related to the first story and I am not Bengali nor an immigrant.
Ukrainer's review
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Ukrainer's review
rating:
After weeks of waiting anxiously, of reading about how good the book is, I finally got my hands on Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth.
The beauty of Lahiri’s writing is in the ordinariness of it. She has an elegant style but does nothing to draw undue attention to the writing itself; she employs no tricks that distract from her narrative. The stories are also about ordinary topics, about regular people. It is in the simplicity of the scenarios that universal truths resound.
“Unaccustomed Earth,” the first story in the collection, is exactly why Lahiri is such an acclaimed writer. In the story, a widowed father visits his married daughter in Seattle. Ruma debates over inviting her father to move in with her and her family. It is a simple scenario, but I’ve found myself considering the situation for days. What would I do if my mother died? Would I ask my father to move in with me? Could he be happy living with me? Could I be happy living with him?
Although the m...more
The beauty of Lahiri’s writing is in the ordinariness of it. She has an elegant style but does nothing to draw undue attention to the writing itself; she employs no tricks that distract from her narrative. The stories are also about ordinary topics, about regular people. It is in the simplicity of the scenarios that universal truths resound.
“Unaccustomed Earth,” the first story in the collection, is exactly why Lahiri is such an acclaimed writer. In the story, a widowed father visits his married daughter in Seattle. Ruma debates over inviting her father to move in with her and her family. It is a simple scenario, but I’ve found myself considering the situation for days. What would I do if my mother died? Would I ask my father to move in with me? Could he be happy living with me? Could I be happy living with him?
Although the m...more
You have described her writing perfectly. It is deceptively ordinary but so powerful for me. I agree that these stories cross racial, ethnic, and geographic lines; I especially related to the first story and I am not Bengali nor an immigrant.