Lahiri only gets better. Review on Namesake, The - Jhumpa Lahiri

I know that everyone is now getting tired of more tales about displaced Indians but frankly if they are going to be as well crafted as Jhumpa Lahiri's, then I am all for it. I have to admit when the book was recommended to me, I had already made up my mind that I wanted to dislike it, I wanted to feel irritated by another book from some foreign land nostalgically laying claim to India, each indian term in italics, and some irritating translation of what it is into something exotic sounding and understandable for non-indian readers..but Jhumpa Lahiri does not do this, she weaves her story skillfully without ever making india sound like something it is not, yet capturing truths that are neither over flattering nor condescending; just truths. Her characters are real and believable, able to extract emotions from you as you read. And I came to enjoy it far more than Interpreter of Maladies. Her story starts with the birth of a young bengali whose nickname, a second name used amongst bengalis within the family and with close friends, comes to be used as his 'good name' through a series of unprecedented events.

The life of this young american indian that unfolds before us is then told with a touching sincerity as we grow attached to the development of the character and the events that surround him. There is no exceptional plot, nor climactic ending, yet Jhumpa Lahiri creates a story that brings to surface the thoughts and emotions of what it is to be indian in a foreign land that is your home and what you know best; she captures emotions that lie within so many indians a way that no one else seems able to do. It is not the centre of her story, and she does not make grand sweeping statements of the nature of our country or our customs, but there is something so real about the way she writes; she commands a reader's respect with her sharp observations and attention to detail, her way forming a character whom you can relate to or empathize with; whether his lifestyle is like yours or not, he is still a character that can be understood, one that has your support and interest. A friend mentioned to me that although the book was perceptive and interesting, it dragged a little but I did not find this to be the case, and I welcomed the journey I took with the book's principal character, content with Lahiri's honesty to a character such that the book did not necessarily have fairy tale happy moments but the truths that emerge from our choices and efforts and those that emerge regardless.