Interpreter of Maladies/ Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri
I decided to write about these two books together since they are both collections of short stories and I read them one after the other.
I’ve always been attracted to Indian fiction and short stories. Actually, I think the only short stories I read are Indian-based. I just find them very interesting and though I can’t say a hundred percent that all the stories Jhumpa writes about depict Indians correctly, I do feel like I know their culture just a little bit more.
I find Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing beautiful and sort of entrancing. Her stories mostly take place in India, New England, and England, with characters that range from mostly immigrants to second-generationers, both lost and wanting more.
The only gripe, though slight, that I have, is that at times the stories start becoming the same as the one before. I observed this more in Interpreter of Maladies, in which the stories were much shorter and therefore the stories were harder to separate; they almost seemed like one big story. Unaccustomed Earth I found to be a lot better than IoM. The stories were longer so it gave you time to connect more with the characters.
Jhumpa Lahiri is a beautiful writer and I will definitely continue reading her future works. For now, I still have to read The Namesake.
Interpreter of Maladies: Rating: 
Unaccustomed Earth: Rating:
Tags: cultures, immigrants, Indian, Jhumpa Lahiri, short stories
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The Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri « Cover to Cover — July 25, 2009 @ 11:53 am
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By Humaira, May 24, 2009 @ 5:08 am
I’ve been wanting to read more of her writing since I fell in love with The Namesake, so might add these to my summer reading lists!
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