6/19/08

unaccustomed earth

i still remember receiving the interpreter of maladies for my 20th birthday. i had started reading the first short story on one of my bart rides to berkeley. soon enough found it depressing, and put it aside. i revisited the book last year, and liked it more. also read "the namesake", and that wasn't bad either. with this latest release however, i finally find myself accustomed to jhumpa lahiri's style of writing, and like it very much.

i like the way she builds her characters. i like that none of them are perfect, and in fact, that they are all very flawed. i like that there are no happy endings, but fleeting happiness that is enough. for so life is. although the lives of characters sometimes appear incomplete, the stories are not. they set themselves out to convey an idea, an experience, a thought or feeling, and do just that.

i have a whole slew of books waiting to be read, but the withdrawal symptoms from completing this one are holding me back.

all in due time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you better read that big fat one you use as the makeshift pillow.

Anonymous said...

Heyyy!!!So cool you like Jhumpa Lahari!I really like all her books as well. You put it really well, when called it 'Fleeting Happiness' yeah, thats exactly what it was for most her stories, but somehow she brought those moments out so beautifully, you didnt really feel too bad in the end. ( Err...background being, I HATE sad stories). Btw,You ought to try Amitava Ghosh too - Suggest Glass Palace or my personal all time fav - The Hungry Tide.