false 0 2009-07-02T08:47:52-07:00 965921 234 2009-07-02T08:47:52-07:00 0 2009-07-02T06:11:04-07:00 965190 159 2009-07-02T06:11:04-07:00 0 2009-06-29T16:25:38-07:00 953057 72 2009-06-29T16:25:38-07:00 0 2009-06-29T05:38:16-07:00 950211 22 2009-06-29T05:38:16-07:00 3 1 false false Thu Jul 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 05:37:39 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 12:22:05 -0700 2009 The Namesake is never anything less than a pleasure to read. As with the previous work of hers that I've read, the short story collection Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri focuses on the immigrant experience—Ashoke and Amina, Bengali immigrants to the US from Calcutta, and their two American-born children, Gogol and Sonali—and she is very talented at teasing out the disconnection which arises from living between two cultures.

That said, I found the ending was too rushed, and that it lacked substance and weight. I could see the outline of what Lahiri wanted to do with the ending, but I don't think she quite managed it—the last few pages didn't have the emotional freight for me that they should have. Oddly, I finished the book thinking that if the book had focused on the life of Gogol's mother, Amina, rather than on Gogol himself, it would have been much more engaging for me.]]>