Stealing the Ambassador: A Novel

by Sameer Parekh

Stealing the Ambassador showcases an astonishing new talent that captures the clashing dynamics of family and cultures with a power that will remind readers of Zadie Smith's White Teeth and Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning Interpreter of Maladies.
Twenty-three-year-old Rajiv Kothari is caught between two formidable a father who believed success and freedom could be found only in America and a grandfather who fought to guarantee such ideals in India, their homeland. As the stories of each generation unfold, Stealing the Ambassador illuminates the interplay between the forces of history and family ties. A beautifully rendered depiction of the immigrant experience, Stealing the Ambassador is also an unforgettable portrait of the tortured yet loving relationships between fathers and sons.

Genres: Fiction, India

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Picked it up in my local library and I didn't expect to like it this much. But it quickly became my favourite book. I really adore the writing style, though not for everyone. It felt deeply meditative to me. Also love when a character haunts the narrative!

[Andlandm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read, very good novel of son, father, and grandfather from India. Well written, and the scenes in India seem very true to me from what I have heard. Shows the cultural issues with adapting or not to a new country.

[Kathy Mitson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. Was never able to get into the book, or the story.
Hope others can enjoy it more than I did.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book that cycles between three story-lines:

1. A young Indian-American's visit to his grandparents in India
2. The same man's American upbringing
3. Letters that his father sent to family in India after he moved to the U.S.

In a way, this is a book about three men: a grandfather who is thoroughly Indian and has an extremely unbending personality; a grandson who is American, but grows up with enough of a grounding in Indian culture to feel a pull; and a father who is enthusiastic about the country he adopted.

Some of the review blurbs in the book compare it to Jhumpa Lahiri's work, which is fair (although Parekh's representation of American Guys resonated a bit more with me).

Recommended for people who are interested in bridge generations, who are curious about Indians in America (or possibly who *are* Indians in America, although I'm not one, so I can't judge), and who enjoy good writing.

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be an interesting account of the emigration of Indians to America. How one family felt about the cultural and societal difference experienced between Americans and Indians. And how the author felt it pertained to him/ though it is a fictional account. Stealing the Ambassador was how the narrator could make a connection to his grandfather , it was a way to bridge the gap he felt.

[Janelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping this would be great, it is compared to other books I've truly loved. But the writing was so-so, as was the storyline. I never really felt the hero's struggle was convincing, the plot jumps from place to time to person, the book was mediocre.

[The Tick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing style was actually very nice, but the story was hard to follow because it jumped around so much. It took forever to get to the point, and when it actually got there it turned out that there wasn't really much of a point at all.

[Amy Cotterman]

A young man's journey back to India from America it is a book of a first generation discovering the culture of his parents. Hanging out with his Grandfather, the boy's beliefs of Indian culture and his own family are forever changed.

[Rimma · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought that Jhumpa Lahiri did this type of immigrant story better, but the story and the style grew on me.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the Indian-American experience, very well-written.