Unaccustomed Earth, Finale

The second half of the book comprised three short stories that involved Hema and Kaushik, two acquaintances throughout life. Both Hema and Kaushik are second-generation children, however while Hema stays in the United States for much of her life, Kaushik's parents move back to India for awhile, and then return again.

The first story takes place when Kaushik and his family move back to the U.S. when he's 16 and stay with Hema's family until they find a new home. It's told from Hema's point of view. The second story, "Year's End," is told by a 21-year-old Kaushik about his struggles with his current family situation. The third story jumps 20 years ahead when, by happenstance, the two meet again.

In the podcast interview with Lahiri that I listened to this week, she talks about how Hema and Kaushik have been with her for at least 10 years. She had them in her head, but was unsure how to tell their story. She knew she wanted to tell a story of a family moving back to India, then back to the U.S. She also wanted to tell a story that took a similar form as letter-writing, which these three stories do. After she wrote her first story about Hema and Kaushik, she said it was the only time she felt there could be a sequel - that she wasn't done telling their story. This is how she ended up with a trilogy at the end of Unaccustomed Earth. Each is a story in its own right - but together, they're beautiful.

As Lahiri was talking about Hema and Kaushik, I could tell she loved them. More so, maybe, than any of her other characters. Perhaps because they'd been with her for so long. This definitely came out in her writing. I loved these stories - I was moved once again. Why did I read this book so fast? For one, I couldn't put it down. But now I wish I could read it all over again.

Unaccustomed Earth, Part II

Many of Lahiri's stories have similar themes. Interpreter of Maladies encompassed many stories about first-generation Bengali immigrants. The Namesake also started out as a story about first-generation immigrants, but then became a story about their children. Unaccustomed Earth focuses more on the second generation. But, no matter what generation Lahiri focuses on, some of the struggles remain the same.

In many situations, it's the husband who comes to the United States for work (most often in New England). Either he marries (often arranged) before he comes, or his parents arrange a marriage for him while he's away, he comes back to India to marry, and then moves the woman to the U.S. With the woman so far from her family, not working, not being able to drive, she's often lonely and relies heavily on this new stranger. Most often, the man can't figure out why his wife is sad all the time. In several of Lahiri's stories, the women feel resentment toward their husbands for taking them away from India. When they have children, things change a bit, get better. However, as their children grow up, they become more and more American, leaving behind their parents who may still struggle with English and new American customs.

Lahiri was born in India, but moved to America when she was two years old. I listened to a podcast interview with her recently, and she said she feels more American than anything else, yet she still struggles with her identity sometimes. I've always wondered if her stories came from something real deep inside of her, and now I believe that to be true.

In the podcast (if you're interested, head to B&N Studio and click on Meet the Writers), she also talks about why this most recent book speaks more toward second-generation immigrants. In her personal life, Lahiri is second generation (out of three). This is the first book she wrote as a mother - and when you read it you can tell, especially compared to Interpreter. It's also come to the time in many second-generation children's lives when their parents are aging, perhaps dying. That is also a big theme throughout the book.

It was a very interesting interview. Lahiri seems soft-spoken and humble, not realizing the talent she possesses. She believes success is arbitrary - who knows what book people are going to like? It's so true. She also seemed a bit "above" the interview, but not in a bad way. Just that she expected more of the interviewer. I felt she wanted to be asked something she's never been asked before. As a journalist, I know how hard it is to ask new questions, but I think that also makes me in tune to an interviewee who's looking for more from her interviewer.

Unaccustomed Earth

I've been breezing through Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri. As with Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, I'm in love. Each story is so completely different from one another, yet they're based along the same themes.

The book opens with the title story, probably my favorite so far. Unaccustomed Earth is about a young Bengali woman who's married to an American. Her widowed father comes to visit. The story studies their relationship from both points of view (POV), so the reader can see all the miscues each person gets from the other. It was so moving.

Hell-Heaven explores a friendship between a married woman and a brother-like friend. It's told from the POV of the woman's young daughter.

A man and his American wife return to his high school alma mater for a wedding of a friend in A Choice of Accommodations. The man deals with many emotions during the weekend, including abandonment, resentment, love and loneliness. This was particularly interesting to read from the male perspective. Also impressive how Lahiri could write from that perspective as well.

I was most surprised (for reasons I won't say) by Only Goodness, a story about a brother and sister and how they grow up, sometimes close, sometimes not. The family dynamics in this story were very intriguing - parents feeling shame, the sister (the most Americanized) having to grow up so much quicker to help her parents, etc.

Nobody's Business actually takes the POV of an American watching the comings and goings of his female Bengali roommate. This was also an interesting perspective, though I would've liked to know more about what was going on in the roommate's mind during her time at his apartment.

I've now moved on to the second half of the book, which comprises three stories about the same family. I'd rather read all of them first, before sharing my thoughts. The stories are so good, it's nearly impossible to put the book down without at least finishing each story.

Interpreter of Maladies & The Namesake

I've just started Jhumpa Lahiri's latest collection, Unaccustomed Earth, but I thought I'd precursor my thoughts on that with my feelings of her first two books. Lahiri won a Pulitzer for her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. Her stories revolve around Indian Americans, those who have either moved here from India and must face adjustment, or those who were born here, yet feel somewhat out of place at home, within their own culture, or out in the world. I was moved by each and every one of these stories, especially the title story. Lahiri's talent is so true and so great, I'm in love (and a bit jealous). I went through a phase a couple years ago where I read as many novels about India that I could get my hands on (see here and here for examples). This book fell in the midst of that phase, and after just posting about it, I want to pick it up again.

Many people are probably familiar with The Namesake because it was a recent Hollywood movie, starring Kal Penn. While the movie was good, as in most cases, it doesn't do the book justice. The Namesake was Lahiri's second book, but instead of a collection of stories, this is a full-length novel about an Indian couple who get married, move to the United States and have children. The book spends much time on both the mother's struggles with her new American life (I love the passages about her driving) and Gogol's, the son, struggle with his identity as well. It's a beautiful story. While I preferred Interpreter of Maladies just a bit more, The Namesake is also extremely good.

The Feast of Roses

If you read below, you learned my love for The Twentieth Wife. I lucked out when Indu Sundaresan published its sequel, The Feast of Roses. We join up with Mehrunnisa again, now in her 20s (and through most of the rest of her life). She's fulfilled her dream of marrying into the Empire, and the book follows her struggles to maintain power amongst her husband's other 19 wives and against her husband's personal assistants who feel the Emperor already gives too much power to his latest wife.

Mehrunnisa was an early feminist, demanding that she be able to hold court alongside her husband - while women usually have to sit above, behind a veil - and help him make his decisions. The Emperor was very accommodating toward her - she was his one true love - and, to me, he was unique among the men of those times. He respected his wife, loved her and her child, and valued her opinion, as she was very smart. Almost everyone within the Empire disagreed though, and Mehrunnisa's relationships with her friends and family suffered because of it.

Wives of the Emperor usually obtained assets of some sort - most likely a fleet of ships that they could manage and reap the monetary benefits from. This was very interesting as the book examined the trade relations between England and India as an offshoot of the main story. Also, if something were to happen to the Emperor, while Mehrunnisa could stay within the Empire, her power would diminish. Unless she could marry her daughter to one of the Emperor's many other sons. When her husband becomes sick, the book takes us through her determination not to lose the power she's worked so hard to gain.

I found The Feast of Roses, like The Twentieth Wife, to be very educational of the times. Even though the finer details of Mehrunnisa's life are exaggerated, the hierarchy, the customs, the names and the events (ex: construction of the Taj Mahal) are all very true. While the ending is bittersweet, it is nice to see Mehrunnisa's life through to the end.