Interpreter of Maladies

Rating:
Summary: Between two worlds
Review: Most of the central characters in Jumpa Lahiri's award winning collection of short stories are products of the great Diaspora of post independence India. Many live out their lives in that place where the ancient traditions of Indian clash with the youthful and brash culture of late twentieth America. Existing between two worlds, they struggle to come to terms with the inherent contradictions and discordant values that arise when Easterners live Western lives. With clear crisp prose, empathy, insight, compassion, and a wonderful grasp of the art of short story telling, Jumpa Lahiri takes the reader on a journey that travels between Indian and America, between the traditional and the modern, between the old world and the new. It is a journey well worth making for along the way you will be entertained, surprised, educated and enthralled. There are no low points in this book, no weak links, no disappointing stories. It is a stunning debut and one must hope, and harbinger of things to come.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven but spectacular
Review: I was moved by the plight of Shoba and Shukumar and laid awake for a long time having made the mistake of reading the first of these stories too close to bed. They are mourning the loss of a still born child and their ache is palpable in this subtle evocative story. The next seven stories were just as subtle and beautiful but didn't make the emotional connection that this one did. If the book ended there it might be a three or four star book, but the author struck gold again with The Third and Final Continent. This is a sweet wonderful nugget about being newly married and newly American that surely has something precious to say to any reader. For anyone who enjoyed Mukherjee's stories about immigrants this book is a must read. For those not having read those stories, I might recommend this book first, its quiet elegant style is truly a joy to read. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A hit and miss debut
Review: Personally I think Jhumpa Lahiri is overrated as a writer, though she is definitely more suited to the short story format than to the novel. This collection of short stories offers some genuinely interesting moments, but it also lacks that indefinable element of truly great story-telling. Lahiri is still finding her way as a writer and is yet to really prove her mettle. There are some good moments here but somehow I doubt that Lahiri will be the next best thing in Indian/American/migrant fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Heart-warming, Revealing, Cultural Short Stories
Review: 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 literature. Her stories are vivid and colorful descriptions of human experiences and life situations. Some are light-hearted and humorous, others serious, some are everyday occurrences; all leave a deep impression on the reader who is a little wiser, kinder and more compassionate after having read them.

The reader will long remember the nights that the electricity went out in a neighborhood where Shoba (female) and Shukumar (male) lived. They became emotionally distant after the still born birth of their baby. On the first night, Shukumar prepared a traditional Indian dinner which the couple had not eaten for a long time, not since they grew apart due to the impact of this personal tragedy. Shoba started a little game, of revealing something to her husband that she said he never knew about her. He was expected to reciprocate. Shukumar began to have more intense feelings of love toward his wife after these revelations began. In fact, even after the electricity was fixed ... they continued their "candle light suppers" and "secret revelations". Shukumar was in for a big surprise one night when Shoba laid before him, one of her 'secret revelations'. Read the story to find out what he discovered ...

In another story, we are introduced to Mr. Pirzada, originally from a region of India, which later was partitioned to become Pakistan. He routinely visited an Indian family for dinner and to watch TV, particularly the news, to learn of developments in his homeland. He was a research botanist at a local university and lived in sparse surroundings. He left his wife and seven daughters in the region of India which broke out in war and afterwards became Pakistan. He won a research grant at a prestigious University in his specialty. During his visits to this family, he brought treats and candies for the little girl. The little girl was raised in the USA and primarily learned only US history. Much later, she discovered the reasons Mr. Pirzada visited and his strong affection for the little girl. She hoarded her treats in a secret box, and carefully doled them out to herself to make them last. The war had ended and Mr. Pirzada's research was competed. He returned to Pakistan and sent the Indian family a letter, explaining that all was well, his wife and daughters survived the war. Life was being built anew. It was only then the little girl realized the importance of these visits to Mr. Pirzada and to herself as well. Watching the news, learning about developments on the otherside of the globe reminded him of his wife and family. Providing the little girl treats had somehow connected him closer to his own little girls. There are other equally enchanting stories in this book which leave the reader filled with a warm glow. All the stories in the book reveal significant details about people's lives with sensitivity and compassion. Each is a slices of human life, which unravels deep emotions that are delicate threads which connect the person or people to their culture and to humanity as a whole. This is an excellent book and receives my highest recommendations. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Rating:
Summary: Not quite an A+
Review: "Interpreter of Maladies" was very good, but not as earth-shatteringly excellent as I had expected it to be. On the surface, it looked like a book that I would love. After all, it's a collection of short stories and I ordinarily really love reading short stories. Also, I have developed quite an Indian fiction fetish in the past couple years and this book seemed to fit right in that. On top of all that it won the Pulitzer prize and received extremely favorable reviews from quite a few sources that I really trust. What with all of that, I expected to find myself raving about the book. Of course, this is probably all just meant to be a lesson to me about the dangers of high expectations and setting myself up to be disappointed...

I don't want to make it sound like the book was bad, since it certainly wasn't. Jhumpa Lahiri is a very competent, good writer, and Interpreter of Maladies is an extremely impressive debut. The first story in the book, "A Temporary Matter" is an absolute work of genius, gorgeous and heartbreaking. Unfortunately, the other stories don't quite deliver the same emotional impact as that one, but they are all interesting and her prose is beautiful. Every once in a while her characters seem to cross the line into caricature, but for the most part she has a good feel for people and also writes believable dialogue. Nonetheless, the stories (with the exception of the first one) fail to make the leap from good to great. I think the reason for that is that Lahiri chickens out a little bit. She doesn't take the kind of creative risks that you need to be willing to take in order to write something truly great. While I was reading most of the stories in this book, I didn't get the feeling that she was really laying herself on the line to create something that stood out from the ordinary. Most of the stories seemed like the work of someone who has done an extremely good job of closely and carefully following a recipe--the meal is delicious, but it's not the work of a master chef. Lahiri's stories are like that; they're very well-crafted and lovely, but lack a certain spark of originality. Even so, that first story is good enough to indicate that she's worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: Make it a Must-Read
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri, whose book I stumbled upon by chance, and bought with some doubt in my mind (I have found many short-stories to be quite boring, or lacking in some other way), even if it was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2000, as indicated on the cover, is a showcase for the power of the short story. The individual narratives are quite varied, but share in common three elements that make Lahiri's collection a treasure to behold: They all centre around the lives of Indians, whether living in India itself, or abroad. They all share the same subtlety, realism and attention to detail, with a tinge of the enchanted. The language of the narratives is wonderfully crafted, and varies to suit the tone of each. If I were to write any more about this collection, I would be revealing little details that I would readers would discover for themselves. Let me just say this: Even if like myself you are prejudiced towards short-stories, and prefer to read through heavy doorstoppers, this collection will enchant you. It features some of the best writing I have seen published for a long time, and each individual story holds enough truth, character description and detail, to form the basis of a film. I would thus thoroughly recommend this collection of intelligent, wonderfully written stories to anybody who likes to open a book and forget about his or her surroundings, even if only for a few hours. Other Amazon quick-pick suggestions: THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez, [e-mail] by Tom Grimes

Rating:
Summary: Like a song you hum long after hearing it...
Review: Though written from an immigrant viewpoint, Jhumpa Lahiri tells stories that stir feelings and stay with you long after you have read them. Little details and beautiful expressions of Indian habits and attitudes depict truly a picture u can visualize immediately. Enjoyable especially to immigrant Indians but also to anyone who has a taste for sensitive writing.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: This collection of stories does a fabulous job in describing and explaining many aspects of the Indian culture and how they are affected by living abroad. In that sense, it is a great accomplishment and learning experience. However, after I read many of the stories, particularly the most promising ones, I kept wishing for more-- more detail, more depth of emotion, more impact. She is the kind of writer who is capable of brilliant work but for some reason does not let herself commit deeper to the intensity of a story. Not enough risk taking, which yields a sometimes-bland collection.

Rating:
Summary: Sad but True
Review: Most of Ms. Lahiri's stories in this anthology are of a sad nature. however, this is true life. life is not always happy. Interpreter of Maladies presents stories that will touch you, for altohugh almost all of the characters are indian, every story must relate to someone's life. lahiri has found a way to transcend race, heritage, and ethnicity and relate these stories to any reader. a fantastic read for anyone who wants something a little bit different, but a little bit familiar.

Rating:
Summary: Great short stories
Review: I think Jhumpa Lahiri is a great short stores writer. She isn't situated to write novels, but she does a good job on short stories. Interpreter of Maladies is a good collection of stories, the author did a good job of describing situations. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a fast paced book or is interested in reading a collection of different stories.