Interpreter of Maladies

Rating:
Summary: Interpreting maladies.
Review: An Interpreter of Maladies is not, as Mrs. Das thinks (and as the reader of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories may initially be thinking, too), a medical doctor or a psychologist; someone who interprets the origin and meaning of his patients' various illnesses and malaises and then prescribes the adequate treatment. No: an Interpreter of Maladies is someone who helps them communicate, who speaks the patients' language and is therefore able to translate their personal representation of their feelings to the listener who then, in turn, must come up with his own interpretation of those representations.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: The stories in this book accomplish what a short story should. The reader gets a slice of the character's life and problems. The stories are thoughtful and intresting. Most of the issues that are delt with in the book are that of unhappy relationships.

I would also like to say to the reader who said that it didn't diserve the pulitzer if it was published after 9/11, that the book was published in 1999. Also it won the pulitzer for the year 2000, which was also before 9/11.

Rating:
Summary: INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by JHUMPA LAHIRI
Review: This novel is a very interesting piece and it reflects Indians in a variety of ways in their country or in other continents migrating for different reasons either by birth or by heritage. The authors use of short stories invites us into the inner experiences of her characters and goes in depth about the way of life of some Indian descent both in India and from one continent to another. The novel doesnt specifically focus on a particular character but on various Indians and thier situations capturing moments of their day to day lives, customs, reasons for migrating, expatriation, values and many more. Her switching from one short story to another lets us imagine other lives in different situations, giving each story something special to remember. Some of her stories are set in 1960.
Her background comes to show us why she uses migration to come to play in her stories and why she focuses on India. Jhumpari Lahiri was born in 1967 in London, England to Indian parents and raised in Rhode Island but visited India several times. In her book, she has a collection of nine stories which she draws on this immigrant experience to create worlds where characters of Indian descent live both in the U.S. and back in India, travelling back and forth.
Some of the stories are set in the 1960s where the U.S. and countries like Pakistan had political turmoils and was. She tends to put in our minds things about her culture ranging from way of lfe, marriage, beliefs, and many more capturing different moments in different stories.
The title story was set in India and it was about an Indian who gave tour guides and he engages with an unhappy housewife who has been trapped with a secret for so long and then feels a sign of relief being able to finally share it him, learning about his other job, being a translator for a doctor for people with ailments.He finds himself involed with the intimate details of other lives as he serves as an interpreter of maladies.
In "A Temporary Matter", a married couple on the brink of divorce due to the loss of a baby rediscover their lost love, thanks to a nightly power outage in their area. The temporary matter refers more to their marriage than to the power outage because helps in reuniting their long forgotten closeness and make them recapture secrets the had kept from eachother. This was a good story because it showed the way a mishap can destroy a relationship and how a little situation can rekindle it.
In "Where Mr Pirzada came to Dine," she goes into a more suspense context and she moves into the life of an Indian under emotional pressure because of the situation in his country. It describes what happens when an immigrant couple invites a visiting Pakistani to dine with them each night and watch television broadcasts on what was going on in the war at Pakistan because his beloved wife and family where there which he had not heard from. The story is told by the couples 10 yr old daughter who is drawn into the sentiment of the moment wishing his family well and praying silently for him and his family reuniting.
In "Sexy," she moves into a more intimate context. A young woman has an affair with a married man she meets at a dept store perfume counter. she shows the reader how their relationship was perfect till the feeling of guilt broke it up because of the effect of how a broken marriage affected her coworkers cousin and made her think twice about the whole affair.
In "Mrs sens," she shows us a young boys analysis of an indian couple using qualities the couple portrayed for example their uncloseness, comparing them to what he was normaly used to.
There are also stories of sadness, grief suffering and loss which made me feel sad."The treatment of Bibi Habler" and "A real Durwan" possesed such qualities.They had this sad feeling to it, i feel she was trying to let us know of the suffering and of how backward some places still are.
I really enjoyed the stories in the book although i did not want any of the stories to end. Another thing which was good was the fact that all the stories had something to it and something to learn about which made the book special.The book also tends to broaden your mind about other cultures, their beliefs and many more.

Rating:
Summary: [...]
Review: The book is priceless. Stories felt strangely familiar, especially the ones that related to events in own life. Not all stories in the book were equally moving though, probably because her writing will seem ordinary to a reader who has not lived or experienced her book. Love her writings style.. book is inexpensive and reads quick. Suggestion, go for it.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, highly-skilled storytelling at its best
Review: This is one of my favorite books of all time. The way the author weaves emotion into her stories is nothing short of amazing - while reading the short stories, I realized that I was sharing the characters' feelings of melancholy, frustration, confusion, etc., etc.. And once I was done reading, I was left with the deliciously lingering feelings...I see it as a spectacular skill on the author's part, that I should feel so much a part of the stories and the characters' lives.

Being of Indian descent, I feel especially attached to the final story in the collection, "The Third And Final Continent." I feel like she's telling me the story of my own father, and all that he went through to build a new, better life...no doubt many others readers felt the same way, as this theme is such a universal one to most people's families.

In short, these short stories are amazing, and I'm impatiently waiting for Jhumpa Lahiri's next projects.

Rating:
Summary: A Pulitzer prize for THIS ?
Review: I enjoyed most of the short stories in this collection. Two of them, although not including the one that gave this collection its' title, were excellent. It was an excellent book for the daily train commute or the 15 minutes before bed time. I find it more than astonishing, however, that it was awared the Pulitzer Prize. It simply does not belong in that category.
The collection contains nine stories each of about 20 pages. The stories all involve Indian characters or characters of Indian heritage, sometimes in India, sometimes in Ameirica. This is a useful plot device to portray stories of isolation and disorientation that can be felt by people who have never even left home. These are not, however, immigrant stories. They are stories of people, and love, and life. They are good stories but they are still only short stories. There is not room for complicated character development or plot twists.
I can find no record of any collection of short stories ever winning a Pulitzer Prize. Why this book ? Was the multi-cultural nature of the book just too politically correct to pass up ?
It is a good book and it is worth a read, but it's no Pulitzer Prize winner.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: This ranks as one of my all time favorite books. The stories are well crafted, and intriguing. Well worth my reading time.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Elegant
Review: Ms. Lahiri's stories seem to be simple tales of everyday life until they take an unexpected turn. They linger. It is the elegance of the writing, the ability to evoke a mood or emotion that is so wonderful. You feel the stories.

Rating:
Summary: No Pulitzer if Published after 9/11
Review: The writing is elegant, but most of the stories are boring and not particularly inspirational compared to many other true immigrant experiences.

My real problem with the book, however, is the author's attitude toward American immigrants who predate those she chooses to cover. This passage particularly annoys me:

"But what does she learn about the world?" My father rattled the cashew can in his hand. "What is she learning?"
We learned American history, of course, and American geography. That year, and every year, it seemed, we began by studying the Revolutionary War. We were taken in school buses on field trips to visit Plymouth Rock, and to walk the Freedom Trail, and to claim to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. We made dioramas out of colored consturction paper depicting George Washington crossing the choppy waters of the Delaware River, and we made puppets of King George wearing white tights and a black bow in his hair. During tests we were given blank maps of the thirteen colonies, and asked to fill in names, dates, capitals. I could do it with my eyes closed."

She does not seem to grasp the critical importance of the American revolution and the birth of democracy. Her crack about doing it with her eyes closed is particulary irritating. Would she prefer American elementary school children draw pictures of planes hitting the World Trade Center and people jumping out of buildings like I saw at my own child's school last month?

Perhaps the author will be more satisfied with the cultural awareness of Americans when we all live to see riots from our own rooftops and need to obey curfews and eat rationed food like the Kashmir residents in her short story about Mr. Pirzada. Where is her safe and easy life today? Is she more satisfied after 9/11 that we can experience more suffering, as if suffering makes us somehow better and more significant people like Mr. Pirzada.

Although this is a well written work I resent it being selected as the best literature available to represent America. I purchased it because it was selected, but in the future I will be more cautious at believing the works selected for the Pulitzer are the ones most worth my time.

Even the official Pulitzer website acknowledges its bias:

"Over the years the Pulitzer board has at times been targeted by critics for awards made or not made. Controversies also have arisen over decisions made by the board counter to the advice of juries. Given the subjective nature of the award process, this was inevitable. The board has not been captive to popular inclinations."

My limited observation is that the board seems to go out of its way to select controversial works rather than to pick the best written work.

Rating:
Summary: a gem
Review: My book group read this book last fall and it was the only book every one of us has loved. Lahiri's writing is a joy to read and her characters have stayed with me. So often I recall the sights and smells in Mrs. Sen's apartment or remember the couple and the old woman in the final story. This book is a treasure.