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Product Description
Review
‘Lahiri has an extraordinary voice’
Salman Rushdie
‘Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say
“Read this!”
She’s a dazzling storyteller with a distinctive voice, an eye for nuance, an ear for irony. She is one of the finest short story writers I’ve read.’
AMY TAN
‘Jhumpa Lahiri’s strong, subtle short story collection is a debut to relish.’
Guardian
Product Description
Pulitzer-winning, scintillating studies in yearning and exile from a Bengali Bostonian woman of immense promise.
A couple exchange unprecedented confessions during nightly blackouts in their Boston apartment as they struggle to cope with a heartbreaking loss; a student arrives in new lodgings in a mystifying new land and, while he awaits the arrival of his arranged-marriage wife from Bengal, he finds his first bearings with the aid of the curious evening rituals that his centenarian landlady orchestrates; a schoolboy looks on while his childminder finds that the smallest dislocation can unbalance her new American life all too easily and send her spiralling into nostalgia for her homeland…
Jhumpa Lahiri’s prose is beautifully measured, subtle and sober, and she is a writer who leaves a lot unsaid, but this work is rich in observational detail, evocative of the yearnings of the exile (mostly Indians in Boston here), and full of emotional pull and reverberation.
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First Sentence
THE NOTICE INFORMED THEM that it was a temporary matter: for five days their electricity would be cut off for one hour, beginning at eight P.M. A line had gone down in the last snowstorm, and the repairmen were going to take advantage of the milder evenings to set it right. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
THE NOTICE INFORMED THEM that it was a temporary matter: for five days their electricity would be cut off for one hour, beginning at eight P.M. A line had gone down in the last snowstorm, and the repairmen were going to take advantage of the milder evenings to set it right. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Several of the stories in Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies leave you with a feeling you ought to be left with when reading a short story- like you have been fed a very interesting snippet of a life which is not yours. It is a pleasant read, the stories starting off downbeat and eventually becoming very optimistic, displaying clear comparisons about the impact of the western world on people of Indian descent who experience it. Lahiri is quite good at making characters seem believable, although she seems to be obsessed with academics.
Out of the nine stories, four of them were really great (the first and last being personal favourites), another three were fine reads, and then there were a couple which left you feeling quite short-changed. Some people may be irked by Lahiri's determinedly literal writing style; she goes into detail but keeps the writing frank, which might be off-putting to people who prefer a bit more emotion injected into their writing.
Out of the nine stories, four of them were really great (the first and last being personal favourites), another three were fine reads, and then there were a couple which left you feeling quite short-changed. Some people may be irked by Lahiri's determinedly literal writing style; she goes into detail but keeps the writing frank, which might be off-putting to people who prefer a bit more emotion injected into their writing.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are many Indo-American books currently doing the rounds and I have probably read most of these. This book is one of the best. I stayed up many a night to read this book. The stories are beautifully told. Often, the stories would end quite abruptly and there was no happy ending or at least the hope of one - but then that is life. Excellent writing!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There's a trend that runs through most modern fiction about India, and that is of overcooked literary constructs, wordy sentences and cardboard cut-out cliches of people, tastes and smells.
Luckily, Jhumpa Lahiri decided not to rely on any of that. Her writing is simple, understated but yet so powerful. The simplicity doesn't feel contrived at all. It's natural, light and unassuming, but still so satisfying.
My only complaint was the continuous references to food (mustard oil, curry, aubergines, etc) which strayed into the formulaic 'Indian fiction' I mentioned earlier but, to be honest, I only got round to reading this ten years after it was first published in the UK so it could be that all the cliched food stuff came after this was written.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
Luckily, Jhumpa Lahiri decided not to rely on any of that. Her writing is simple, understated but yet so powerful. The simplicity doesn't feel contrived at all. It's natural, light and unassuming, but still so satisfying.
My only complaint was the continuous references to food (mustard oil, curry, aubergines, etc) which strayed into the formulaic 'Indian fiction' I mentioned earlier but, to be honest, I only got round to reading this ten years after it was first published in the UK so it could be that all the cliched food stuff came after this was written.
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
great potential
These short stories, as fine ones should, allows the reader to enter alien lives quickly and succinctly. Read more
Published 12 months ago by rob crawford
Not bad
The overall theme is repetitive but it gave a good account of immigrants and an insight into their own troubles ... worth a read for all children of immigrants.
Published 15 months ago by Ms. Samia Bushra
Hit the short-story Jackpot with this one!
This is a lovely book of short stories. Even though each story is not long, I became quite engrossed in each one, something that other stories take longer in length to typically... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2009 by Jessica
Undistinctly mediocre...
This collection of short stories is a fairly insipid group of overly-similar tales, which neither present an interesting snapshot, nor constitute mini-stories in themselves. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2008 by bloodsimple
Over-Rated and Over-Feted Lahiri
Unlike most readers and reviewers, I am not gaga over this collection. In fact, I am amazed that several of the stories even saw the light of day. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2007 by MatterOfFact
Over-rated, unbelievable and trite
Sorry, I disagree with all the reviews (and the Pulitzer prize panel!) - I found these stories dull and just not credible. Read more
Published on 29 July 2006 by Roman Clodia
Kind and sensitive
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is exquisitely simple and elegant. The stories convey immense kindness and the characters are shown in such sensitive and compassionate light that they feel... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2006 by de Joncaire Narten
Very interesting
A wonderful collection of short stories about people and relationships. It is a hilarious mix of India and America, of traditional and modern, love, jealousy, grief, loneliness and... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2005 by Sam Tchanda
Revealing and Heart-warming Cultural Short Stories
There are eight heart-warming, revealing, personal human interest stories in this small volume which make it quite clear why Ms Jhumpa Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2004 by Erika Borsos
Touching, thought-provoking tales of life and love
A collection of short stories which left me wanting more each time. Lahiri's attention to detail while keeping the big picture in perspective is excellent.
Published on 27 Feb 2002
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