Unaccustomed Earth in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 06, 2015 Joanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: ethnicfiction

I've had Interpreter of Maladies on my bookshelf forever. Tried to read it once and put it down. But, this one got me. Even though I normally am not a fan of short stories (still am not, just as I get into the story and the characters, the story's over), I thoroughly enjoyed Unaccustomed Earth.

I love stories that at their heart deal with cultural identity crises and issues pertaining to immigrants, or old custom/culture versus modern times, etc. I read a negative review on Goodreads of this boo ...more

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Dec 20, 2008 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: female-author, ___asia, short-stories

I really enjoyed this book, as I have all of Jhumpa Lahiri's books. I was wavering between 4 and 5 starts. As it is in any short story collection, some stories were better than others. The endings of some of the stories are what I struggled with a bit. When I got to the end of some of the stories, I would think, "that's it? it can't end there!" but then as i thought about it, i realized that is what i liked about the story, is that it did end there. it was more like life. conflicts aren't perfec ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Tiffany rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. I wish it would have been longer, as I would have liked to see more character development. I can't relate to moving from another country and having to go through culture shock, but I can relate to losing a parent and going through a divorce. Her character's description of loss and how losing a parent has affected them, was spot on and I was surprised to read how I felt in her words. The feeling of loss is a universal language. I have enjoyed all of her books so far. ...more

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Jan 30, 2010 SarahC rated it liked it

Shelves: modernamerica

I did not read all of the stories in this collection, but I truly was affected by those that seemed straight from the author's heart. I thought the story "Heaven-Hell" was superb, and I plan to revisit this book in near future to read the other stories. ...more

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Aug 13, 2009 Erin (NY) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, books-i-own, read-in-2013, short-stories

I am generally not a huge fan of short stories, but I devoured this collection. The stores were longer, which allowed for more character development. I do have a soft spot for immigrant stories.

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