Unaccustomed Earth Jhumpa Lahiri’s second collection of short stories after her debut Interpreter of Maladies and then her novel The Namesake, is a return to a form that I believe she is more uncomfortable in. While not as striking as her first volume, the first story is a clear stand-out (very much worth reading) and the final three stories form an extended look into the lives of two consistent characters.

Yes, this book is likely not going to revolutionize the way you think about short stories or Indian-American fiction, it is worth reading for its clean and elegent storytelling.

This novel chases Gogol Ganguli ( though first his parents for a while ), through what may be best described as life. The novel is epic in span, though it does not cover enough time. We see the circumstances leading up to his birth, his childhood, his adolescence, and his escape from family life. We are not privy to his conclusion though.

While I marvelled at Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies just weeks ago, for her excellence in describing everyday life artistically, her punctuated circumstances in this novel feel nearly overwhelming. Every action we are presented with carries such deep undertones that there is a feeling of grandeur that just resonates from every page of the novel, however this detracts from humanity that each of her characters possesses. Unfortunately The Namesake struggles from overextending the reader through too much artistic weight.

The Namesake is certainly a wonderful read, full of characters that you will know like siblings and experiences that will take on even more meaning as they begin to blend with your own. Yet, with such a reputation to live up to this novel cannot stand up to her previous short stories where beauty is expressed in snapshots and situations, a realm Lahiri has mastered.

I started reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories from 2000; and the first story is just lovely and horrible and beautiful.

It follows a couple living together, the husband, at 35 finishing his doctoral thesis, the wife, slightly younger, working as an editor/proofer. Beautifully explaining her planning skills, her ability to organize everything, and always be prepared. Her attention to meticulous details is highlighted so well. Unfortunately the child she is pregnant with, dies immediately before birth which slowly seperates the couple.

A note from the electric company comes in the mail, letting all the residents know that their power will be out for one hour at 8 pm each night for five days. And as they eat together, the room lit by a few remaining birthday candles in the darkness, they tell each other one secret that they have never before told, a pattern that continues each night, and redefines their collapsing relationship.

It is really an amazing story, I love the way their relationship unfolds with each hour of darkness, but I don’t want to spoil the
ending for you, so I will stop there.

And this is just the first story in this amazing collection by the Pulitzer Prize winning Lahiri. Each short take on life is torturous and beautiful, each with tragedy, but nothing so extreme it is not believable. That is where her prose truly shines, her ability to take an absolutely normal situation and make it into a painting of tragedy, love, and humanity.