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The Namesake

Jhumpa Lahiri

Start date: December 1, 2011

Finish date: February 29, 2012

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Jan 22, 2023 Connie G rated it really liked it

Shelves: coming-of-age, fiction, 1001-books, india, family, massachusetts, immigrant-experience

"The Namesake" is a wonderful novel about the immigrant experience, and the coming of age of a young man caught between two cultures. Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli leave Calcutta soon after their arranged marriage, and settle in the greater Boston area while Ashoke teaches at a university.

In 1968, they are the proud parents of a baby boy and need a "petname" to put on his birth certificate. They are waiting for Ashima's grandmother in India to choose his "good" name. Unaware that it will become the ...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Annemarie Donahue rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, school-books

I taught this book to seniors during my student teaching, it was one of the better books we taught and the students really loved it. The focus was on names and trains for the class but if I were to sit down and read the book for myself I would look at Nikil's voice and how he represents and represses himself through that voice. His father's story is stunning and very beautifully done.. I love that line "I remind you of the accident?" and his dad answers back "no, of everything after." So good! ...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Rosemary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books

I loved the parents in this. The story of Ashima suddenly transported from Bengal to Massachussetts in a (happy) arranged marriage is fascinating. I think it would have been a 5-star read for me if it had focused more on Ashima and Ashoke and less on their son, Gogol.

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