Suzanne
Rating:
Review
Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of stories mainly about the lives of Indians who immigrate to the east coast of the United States, although a few of the stories take place in India itself. This collection garnered much critical acclaim, even winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, but I did not like it. The writing style didn't seem exceptional to me, and the stories came across as depressing pieces about unhappy people. Marriage in particular is depicted as a miserable institution. I was not able to get engaged and really had to push myself to finish reading the book. Culture shock and alienation are the main themes, and characters include newlyweds in an arranged marriage, a babysitter who doesn't want to learn to drive, and a young woman involved in an affair with a married Indian immigrant.
Best Line:
"While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years."
Kim
Rating:
Review
This collection of short stories begins with
A Temporary Matter, which I didn't get at all. The main characters are married and are both unhappy and grief-stricken due to the loss of their baby, though they make a last ditch attempt to salvage their relationship by sharing secrets with one another. A
Real Durwan is about a woman who is an unofficial doorman for her apartment building until she leaves her post for a short time and robbers strike, and Sexy chronicles Miranda's affair with the married Dev, which is told in such a matter-of-fact tone it reminded me of Steve Martin's
Shopgirl. The title story,
Interpreter of Maladies is interesting in that the main character is a tour guide sometimes but works for a doctor as an interpreter during the week, as he explains to his American tour customers one day, while quietly falling into a happy fascination with the woman/mother of the family until monkeys and Mother Nature intervenes, and probably my favorite of all the stories is
Mrs. Sen, a babysitter with a love of fish and a fear of driving, though I suspect her charge, Eliot, will never forget her. I appreciate that Ms. Lahiri won a Pulitzer for this book, but I'm not a big fan of her writing.
Best Line:
"You say that now, but you will see, when you are a man your life will be in places you cannot know now."
