"He wonders how his parents had done it, leaving their respective families behind, seeing them so seldom, dwelling unconnected, in a perpetual state of expectation, of longing. All those trips to Calcutta he'd once resented--how could they have been enough? They were not enough." --The Namesake
So roomie must already be expecting this, seeing that I could not even get through the second chapter without crying my eyes out. She'll probably say that that's not saying much since I cry over everything on TV, in books, and what not. But to someone so far away from home as we are, The Namesake so perfectly illustrates the lives of those who have been transplanted from everything that they've known. The novel focuses on the family of Gogol (later on, Nikhil) Ganguli--how his parents came to America from Calcutta and had to adjust to the American culture for their kids who were born Americans, how they struggle to keep their culture alive in the foreign country and how ultimately these contrasts and combination of cultures play in Gogol's own story.
Lahiri is able to capture the nuances of being a foreigner so perfectly that when she describes the longing that Gogol's parents feel for home, I felt that she was writing about me. In particular, the novel touched me so much because it captured that unspoken fear that I've had since coming here--apart from the regret of missing milestones such as births and weddings, one of the greatest fears that I've had is that someone passes on and I'm not there. It is an unimaginable feeling that I push to the very back of my mind but somehow I'm always aware of.
The novel should also enlighten people who are left behind. When you have to live away from all that you love, it is scary to think that to the people you've left behind, you might actually become anonymous. You will be somebody that they send an occasional email or text message to. Or somebody that they take out to an obligatory dinner when you're in town. But there are details about you that are just lost. During visits, there are new things about them to learn, private jokes to be understood, but before you have once again become part of everyday monotony, you have to leave.
Lahiri's storytelling is brilliant in that it is so matter-of-fact and effortless. Her character's emotions, strengths and imperfections are so known to her that you feel that she's drawing it all from within. A wonderful read.
So roomie must already be expecting this, seeing that I could not even get through the second chapter without crying my eyes out. She'll probably say that that's not saying much since I cry over everything on TV, in books, and what not. But to someone so far away from home as we are, The Namesake so perfectly illustrates the lives of those who have been transplanted from everything that they've known. The novel focuses on the family of Gogol (later on, Nikhil) Ganguli--how his parents came to America from Calcutta and had to adjust to the American culture for their kids who were born Americans, how they struggle to keep their culture alive in the foreign country and how ultimately these contrasts and combination of cultures play in Gogol's own story.
Lahiri is able to capture the nuances of being a foreigner so perfectly that when she describes the longing that Gogol's parents feel for home, I felt that she was writing about me. In particular, the novel touched me so much because it captured that unspoken fear that I've had since coming here--apart from the regret of missing milestones such as births and weddings, one of the greatest fears that I've had is that someone passes on and I'm not there. It is an unimaginable feeling that I push to the very back of my mind but somehow I'm always aware of.
The novel should also enlighten people who are left behind. When you have to live away from all that you love, it is scary to think that to the people you've left behind, you might actually become anonymous. You will be somebody that they send an occasional email or text message to. Or somebody that they take out to an obligatory dinner when you're in town. But there are details about you that are just lost. During visits, there are new things about them to learn, private jokes to be understood, but before you have once again become part of everyday monotony, you have to leave.
Lahiri's storytelling is brilliant in that it is so matter-of-fact and effortless. Her character's emotions, strengths and imperfections are so known to her that you feel that she's drawing it all from within. A wonderful read.
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