Rating: 
Summary: Satisfying
Review: The premise: a man follows a stranger's advice to live large and, together with his new wife in an arranged marriage, immigrates from India to the U.S. and raises a son and daughter. The novel follows the man (Ashoke) as he provides a life for his family; his wife (Ashima) as she resists that life and endures an overwhelming sense of displacement; and their son (Gogol) as he struggles to become comfortable in his own skin. These characters tell a universally appealing story; they are not solely Indian but rather are fully developed humans rendered intensely sympathetic to the reader. And it's a bonus when the story allows us to peek into East Indian culture and gain a new perspective.Written almost entirely in narrative, this novel contains little dialogue and few dramatized scenes. Yet the prose lets us see everything, and the choice of words and phrases evokes a setting that's a little slower, a little gentler (a little more Indian?) than modern-day USA. I did become frustrated with Ashima's pervasive perspective that everything good was back in India. Then why are you in America, I wondered, Can you find nothing positive here? I felt protective of my country and angry with her for the negativity that undoubtedly leaked all over her family. But in the end, what a strong lesson from her about living (or refusing to live) in the present moment. Interestingly, [sigh...] Now I've thoroughly enjoyed "The Namesake" and "Interpreter of Maladies" and must be patient for Jhumpa Lahiri's next work.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel with a Short Story Style
Review: This was one of the best books I have read recently. After reading Ms. Lahiri's first book, Interpreter of Maladies, I was looking forward to reading this book. If her first book was deserving of the pulitzer prize then this book certainly meets those expectations and deserves many accolades. The author uses the same short story flare to create a capturing and turnpaging novel. The characters are developed so quickly, and the reader gets to know so much about them within a short time. I got connected to all the characters in some manner as soon as I encountered them. It is a touching novel with a lot of twists and turns. I just could not wait to find out what would happen next with the main character Gogol. The ending is surprising and also made me think about the whole story. I am not going to give it away, so you have to read it in order to find out what happens :) I look forward to her next book.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful read
Review: I adored this book. Ms. Lahiri looks at the complexity of families and the crossing of cultures. When a couple from India immigrates to the United States and starts their life here, where is their home? Which culture do they belong to?
The book starts with the main couple and then gradually moves on to examine their son's life, and the conflicts between his parents' ways and culture, and his own as a first-generation American. The son is shamed by his parents' non-American ways and tries to create a life very separate from them. He makes many mistakes in his life until he learns to appreciates his family and that part of himself.
I coulnd't put it down. A sweet, sad and smart novel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Jhumpa has a extraordinary ability to describe a story and the namesake is written beautifully. A must read. Now I am even interested in reading Gogol after this.
Rating: 
Summary: THOSE CREVICES BETWEEN TWO CULTURES..
Review: Lahiri's characters come alive in her simple yet moving language, almost like Italio Calvino's. If you read "Interpreter of Maladies," you need no introduction to this brilliant writer. Get this book and savor it. The fluid style, an undercurrent of the vagaries of cultural dislocation, and the worldliness of her characters are almost in continuation of her touching yarns from "Interpreter.." If you are considering this author for the first time, Lahiri has a way of getting under the skin of her characters and painting a wonderful web of life's simple moments. The lead character, Gogol, is vintage Lahiri: a man baffled by split national identities. We follow a trail of his life as he grows up in an alien environs, with different people and mores. But Lahiri, with her seamless literary skills, cuts through life's usual messiness to reveal some fundamental themes - about how people cope with love, adaptation, family, and the perpetual quest for a mooring. To allow myself a "harsh critic" moment, perhaps some of the non-protagonist characters get a short shrift in terms of ink-time -- the parents and the sister of Gogol, for instance, never really transcend their cardboard descriptions. The novel overall left me with a feeling of not having taken any risks other than what her stories in "Interpreter.." had already embraced. But these are trivial, subjective quibbles. This is a highly recommended gem of a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Did the Author Stop to Think.......At All??
Review: I did like the Interpreter of Maladies.
Though not one of my all-time favorites, it certainly had its moments of some splendid literature. So what happened in this work of Ms. Lahiri's? Utterly boring, completely clichéd and totally a waste of time, this book portrays an aspect of a community, that was real, perhaps, a 100 years ago. Biased, prejudiced and mostly incorrect, this book is surviving either on ignorance, or because it feeds greedily from the innumerable stereotypes that have surrounded the Indian Immigrant population for years.
And, today, through this book, Ms. Lahiri has single-handedly destroyed the years of effort spent by numerous individuals in dispelling the STEREOTYPES surrounding their life-styles. She has, through this book, restored those clichés and stereotypes firmly back in place!
Rating: 
Summary: Lahiri pens a gem
Review: A fantastic, one sitting read. Specially for people who live away from home. Gogol is brilliantly etched. The book suffers from some weak links though - Moushumi breaking up with Graham and even why she leaves Gogol - too hastily written in. On the whole, elegant yet easy prose and a very pluasible life.
Rating:
Summary: A gift of a novel
Review: I had knew that Jhumpa Lahiri was an author I should be mindful of from reading "Mrs. Dutta Writes A Letter" in a short story writing class, so I came to "The Namesake" with a good deal of anticipation. Would I be adding Lahiri, to my list of "must buy" Indian authors, Mistry, Mukherjee and Divakaruni? The answer...absolutely! "The Namesake" is a peek into the world of immigrant Americans that I can only imagine. I have always wondered how one lives between cultures, not entirely part of one or another. "The Namesake" gives me a snapshot of that world. Helps me to understand. A wonderful gift of a novel.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER PULITZER PRIZE?
Review: Her second book and first novel deserves another Pulitzer Prize. And anyone who gives it fewer than 4 stars is probably prejudiced in some way. Easily read; incredible depth. In today's world, everyone should read it and think its message over. BRAVO, Jhumpa! MORE, MORE, MORE!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!
Review: I did not read Interpreter of the Maladies, so I began this book with no expectations. I loved the book. Being a second generation Polish American, I totally saw my mom in Gogel. Lahiri's insight and sensitivity were right on. I resisted finishing the book because I couldn't bare losing good friends.
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