Rating: 
Summary: Spices from India
Review: Nine short stories.
Each one more satisfying than the last...Like several excellent appetizers which become one beautiful feast."A Temporary Matter" About a couple who has lost their spark, romance, excitement, the way things once were.
The lights are temporally turned off...
A metaphor for their boring, dull, rut of a marriage that has been turned off. When did this happen? When the lights are off, they begin to open up, talk, reveal things. Things they could never reveal in the light. "Mrs. Sen's" About an Indian woman who really never left her country, but brought it with her to America. "Two things, Eliot learned, made Mrs. Sen happy. One was the arrival of a letter from her family. The other was fish from the seaside."--Mrs. Sen's-- "This Blessed House" About a newlywed couple, Sanjeev and Twinkle. Twinkle begins finding Christian statues and pictures hidden in their new home. She displays them on the mantel.
"We are not Christian!" Sanjeev says.
"No, we're good little Hindus." Twinkle says kissing the top of his head.
During the house warming party Twinkle reveals to her guests about these Christian treasures. Suddenly everybody is scrambling around the attic searching for these items like a game.
This story was my favorite. Looove Twinkle. And I do hope Jhumpa Lahhiri uses her in one of her next novels. Her strong character shines in this short story. Is this what Jhumpa is like? I wonder. This was a lovely book. The smells and tastes and colors of India are experienced throughout the body.
I Inhale the spices. Still.
Rating: 
Summary: Collection of little gems
Review: This is a beautiful collection. Each story is developed with fleshed-out characters and interesting situations. Stories primarily focus on the culture clashes of Indians living in the US. Her words are chosen well, and she has a knack for finding just the right descriptions to make the scenes vivid. Very enjoyable and satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent collection
Review: I'm not a great fan of collections of short stories, usually because each collections tends to be a mixed bunch, some good, others indifferent and the remainder thrown in as make-weights. This, however, was an exception. I didn't think that there was a weak story in this collection, and the author wrote in a highly sensitive way throughout, displaying a rare ability to both reflect on and convey feelings and emotions - humour, pathos and irony were used in a carefully-controlled way. Most of the stories were concerned with Indian expatriots in the USA, others are set in India. Although all were interesting, I was most taken with the ones set in America, as they examined the reactions of Indians to America and the difficulties of settling into a new way of life - do these people really ever leave India? Clearly some of the characters were more successful than others at assimilating themselves into their new home, but none divested themselves entirely of their motherland. Should anyone have expected them to? I thought that the most interesting story was "The Interpreter of Maladies", as this dealt with the meeting of Indians from different backgrounds: Americans of Indian descent (I take it that is the right term, as "American Indians" would not be correct, advance apologies for any error though) and Indians living in India. It seemed to me that the two shared much of the same culture yet were markedly different in outlook and attitude, due to the fact that one group had been brought up in the West, the other in India. There was, therefore, both a clash of cultures and a meeting of cultures. Fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of THE Award!
Review: With 240+ reviews already having been written here, I need not be repetitive. For me, I knew the author was a good writer from the "get-go" when I was immediately drawn into the stories. I did not have to "force" myself to read them. (This was a selection of the book group that I belong to which meets monthly so I "had" to read it because it was our selection for June.) In my judgement, it is much more difficult and demanding for an author to write nine short stories than a 450-page novel. I highly recommend the book! It is well deserving of the Pulitzer. I have been somewhat disappointed in some of the Pulitzer winners in the past five to six years so this was a wonderful turnaround!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful writing
Review: This book has been adequately praised by other reviewers. I can simply add my vote and say that this book is undoubtedly one of the very best collections of short stories to be seen in a long time. The pulitzer was well deserved! congratulations to Ms Lahiri. I eagerly await another collection or novel from you.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting stories
Review: This is truly some of the best writing I've come across in a long time. The stories--especially the last one--leave you thinking for days afterward. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless fiction about immigrant Indians in foreign lands
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri reminds us what good fictional writing is all about. It's about simplicity, clarity and integrity in conveying some essential truth about our human condition. "Interpreter of Maladies", Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning short story collection, embodies all these qualities. The stories are mostly though not exclusively about immigrant Indians who have settled overseas and the cultural displacement they experience in their adopted homeland. Sometimes, the perspective is reversed, the location shifts back to the Indian subcontinent and we observe how second generation Americans of Indian origin are regarded when they return as tourists to their motherland. The stories are varied and thoroughly enchanting but the ones that work best are those that capture the absurdity of ordinary situations. There are no heroes and villains in these stories, just people who are vaguely discontent in their relationships due to disharmony with their new environment. "Interpreter of Maladies", the collection's centrepiece, is absolutely brilliant. It is poignant, yet humourous and the ultimate comedy of errors. "A Temporary Matter", "When Mr Pirzada Came To Dine", "A Real Durwan" and "Mrs Sen" are also memorable and deeply affecting for the little truths they reveal. It's great to see that the award committees are finally getting back to basics and recognising the virtues of good writing. Far too often, the splashier titles hog the headlines when it is timeless books like "Interpreter of Maladies" that are the more enduring and enjoy the longest shelf life. I'd be willing to bet that a decade from now, people would still be reading Lahiri's collection when other more showy titles have lost their shine.
Rating:
Summary: A Definite Page Turner
Review: I highly recommend this book, to a reader looking for short, but interesting and puzzeling, stories. There is a cultural aspect in each story, somehow linking to the Indian life. There are nine short stories, some relating in topic.There are three stories about couples, three stories about women, and three stories about characters adjustments to America. Although some stories share themes, they are all very different, and interesting in their own way. Every story is very detailed, so it is not hard to remember each one clearly. The stories make you think, and sometimes you are left with questions, and just have to assume things.But once you put the pieces together you can enjoy a perfect puzzle. A definite page turner.
Rating:
Summary: Trust me: buy two.
Review: And if you are someone who loves to give books to friends, buy more than two. You'll want to give it to someone else to share the excellent stories, but you won't want to part with yours. This book is nothing short of amazing. From the first story, I was hooked. Sometimes you read a story that socks you in the gut just when you're feeling charmed (another review I read said "reseduced"). This book has such stories. The prose is crystal clear. The characters... are. It's stories about reality. The plots are intricate, easy to follow--though absorbing. If you want to read about the culture, buy this book. If you want to read a great collection of stories, buy this book. If you want to study masterful writing, buy this book. And buy one for your friends--it's that good.
Rating:
Summary: short stoires with big messages
Review: Jhumpa is a wonder writter, I have enjoyed the last weeks researching her life on becomeing a pulizer prize author. Interpreter of maladies is a wonder book to read, some stories are slow going but other are very heart felt. Jhumpa describes the differece in culture beautifully, each story opens a new door to a life of a new character. I recommend this book to any student that is doing a book report, summer reading or doing reading as a past time. I recomend that you read the last chapter" the third and final continent" very slowy. I enjoyd this this short story the most.
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