Rating: 
Summary: an overwhelming air of self-consciousness
Review: i don't mind autobiographical works, or works that are tinged with said autobiography; there are uncountable works of absolute genius that had their genesis in events that the author experienced. furthermore, i don't give the Pulitzer committee largesse; anyone remember "the stone diaries" or "a summons to memphis"? my major problem with Lahiri's book, and with the acclaim afforded it, is that in every one of the stories you feel, overwhelmingly, that Lahiri was conscious that she was TELLING A STORY; i.e., here is the opening scene; here is a bit of background; here is more of that scene; here is the conflict; here is the resolution, perhaps unfriendly, perhaps friendly, always leaving a spate of unanswered questions. this book reminded me of nothing so much as "Stories from the New Yorker told from an Indian background." there was little, if any, organic matter within them; the detachment of voice, in the sense that i got the feeling that Lahiri was doing nothing but observing, served to deaden the stories for me, and coat them with a sheen of sediment. for that, however, they ARE extremely well-constructed and written wonderfully. but i wonder where all of the passion was.
Rating:
Summary: styleless and generic
Review: Her characters are Indian, but ignorant about India. This is not necessarily a flaw, but when not only the main characters (living in the U.S.), but natives to India speak using Americanized terms, it destroys the reality of the location. Distances described in miles, Indian foods described in english instead of using itallics and an overall stubborn outlook on life in India, pulled the book downhill for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read
Review: The worst thing about the short stories in Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies is that all of her stories eventually come to an end. In Interpreter of Maladies Lahiri lets the reader in on one small moment in the lives of a person, family or town. Her narrative style is simple and her imagery is subtle. It lacks the complexity that literary critics seem to find so valuable in the works of other contempory Indian writers. But it is this simplicity that makes her work so engrossing. In the small space of a short story Lahiri creates characters that are so real you feel as though you have known them all your life. Lahiri was raised in America by Bengali parents. She obviously writes about what she knows. All of her short stories intertwine the Western and the Eastern world. In one story an American boy, of Indian heritage, observes an Indian man who is visiting his family. In between the young boys descriptions of his favorite toys,and his favorite lollies the story of the Indian man gently unfolds. He is running away from the war between India and Pakistan. He is an outcast from his own country. As a foreigner he is an outcast in America too. All the characters in Lahiri's collection of stories are outcasts and exiles. On one level they are outcasts from the American or Indian society they live in. On another level they are outcasts from the people and the things that are important to them. In America an Indian man feels like an outcast from his wife and her family after their child dies. In India a poor woman is outcast from the building she cleans once the values of the its residents change. All this talk of outcasts makes Interpreter of Maladies seem like a rather depressing book. I can assure you it is not. Lahiri may write about sad people, but she doesn't implore the reader to feel sad themselves. Oddly enough most of her characters inspire hope through their sad situations. It is no wonder Interpreter of Maladies has won the 2000 Pulitzer prize. Lahiri deserves it.
Rating:
Summary: An Exquisite Collection
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri shows mastery of the short story genre in her "Interpreter of Maladies." These nine stories narrate the experiences of brief encounters with displaced persons. The narrator maintains distance from the characters and does not pass judgment on them. But the reader is drawn into their lives through everyday details which appeal to the senses. It is in this way that the narrator is the interpreter of maladies of arranged marriages, loveless marriages, and the lives of the lovelorn and marginalized. Anyone who has lived in a university town or in a country not one's own will be familiar with the feelings of alienation and loneliness that affect Lahiri's characters. Her debut collection is being compared to other authors of Indian descent. But, in my opinion, her work has echoes of Shirley Jackson.
Rating:
Summary: Impersonal and Melancholy
Review: I was eager to read more on Indian culture, and found this book lacking. If you enjoy the melancholy or are searching for a read to make your troubles seem minimal, this might be the book for you. It may be that the author is too Westernized. The closest to culture that I found was "The Real Durwan" - one of two stories that wasn't focused on Western influence on Indian life. One reader previously indicated this book was in the line of Roy's "God of Small Things" - which is true, but not something to boast about, and at least this book comes in smaller doses. I had a hard time liking any of the characters - which may be because the stories were never written in true first person even when written from the storyteller's perspective. The only story I found truly entertaining was "This Blessed House" just because it was extremely absurd and Twinkle - so likable. In response to the "Gentle Breeze" review - I found a few mixed up facts. Lillia is a little girl in "When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine". Most of the stories were not centered around "insignificant" circumstances - unless you call leaving your spouse, being torn from your family, adultery, poverty, and severe illnesses "insignificant". And I am pretty sure Mr. Kapasi was pretty relieved when his address fluttered away - since Mrs. Das didn't want him sexually, just wanted him to "Interpret" her sorry life and make her feel better - which is the only thing Mr. Kapasi gained from the incident - a realization that he had the ability as an interpreter for a doctor to have a significant impact on others' lives.
Rating:
Summary: poolside reading
Review: Even as an American of Indian bengali descent (like Ms Lahiri), I found it hard identify much with some of her characters - they behaved in such peculiar ways as to stretch credibility. I'll admit the stories did engage me enough to keep reading to the end, but once finished I was disappointed and unsatisfied - left hanging too soon. I'm sure she is better as a novelist as her writing style is very reader friendly.
Rating: 
Summary: What a first effort!
Review: I remember reading that this book had won the Pulitzer and being rather uninterested from the initial description. 200 pages later and I'm thinking this is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. Jhumpa Lahiri has written a beautiful collection of stories that take place in India and America. Her gift is to write weightless prose with a deceptively simple feel. Whether dealing with a young American woman's feelings toward her married Indian lover, the unexpected, sometimes unwanted, discoveries when newlyweds really get to know one another (unfolded in a clever analogy), or the title story about a tour guide's revelatory afternoon with an American family these tales amuse, enchant, and touch your heart. Brilliantly conceived from start to finish.
Rating:
Summary: A promising new voice
Review: I read Interpreter of Maladies to understand better what all the fuss was about. I finished still wondering. The reviews all point out that the author is a talented new voice: I couldn't agree more. Amy Tan thinks she walks on water. Lahiri's style is clean, traditional and she employs a straight-ahead narrative technique. Her portrait work of eccentric characters is highly vivid and the characters do come alive. The sentences flow together beautifully and she shows great promise. But this work lacks depth of perspective: it appears highly autobiographical and seems to occur on her home turf: both marks of first novelists. Furthermore, the scope we expect of a Pulitzer Prize winner just isn't there in this work. After all, she must be the very best writer that America has to offer. Right? There must be innovation in the technique. There must be evidence of real genius. Americans expect, and have a right to expect, genius of writers who win this award. They are the literary voices of our nation, after all. Read Saul Bellow. Read Annie Proulx. Or V.S. Naipaul. And then tell me this author belongs in their league. A promising new voice? Absolutely. A Pulitzer Prize winner? I can't imagine what they were thinking.
Rating:
Summary: great first collection
Review: I have to say that Jhumpa is certainly a first class artist. There are many unexpected moments in these stories, never a boring moment. I am very impressed with her first effort. I especially loved the title story. Good twists and turns. A book I will keep and read again.
Rating:
Summary: Interpretive and a window to another world, but not enough
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri is a talented write, no doubt, (the book won the Pulitzer for 2000) writing with a poetic cadence and within a genre that has recently become more and more of interest today -- the ethnic genre. Writing about Indian-American and modern Indian experiences, Lahiri brings to life a rarely considered experience in today's contemporary arena. The entire book is actually a collection of short stories, with all of them with the the exception of one of them, published in magazines, anthologies or newspapers. Some of the stories are told from the viewpoint of immigrants, some from the Caucasian, and some from the second generation Indian-American in search of an identity. What sets <I>Maladies</I> apart from other books of this genre is her attention to the various emotions and feelings that seemed to this reviewer to be very real and certainly identifiable. What may seem alien to "normal," mainstream America in the strange Indian culture of pre-arranged marriages, a love affair for spicy foods melt away with an understanding from the way the story is told. Lahiri however, seems at times to over dramatize her stories by over-relying on what she thinks is a panacea -- blinding candor. It's may seem tiring to the reader when simple short paragraphs keep on popping up. Regardless, a window to another world that is worth exploring more is opened and all readers should look through it.
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