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.