A little angsty, but absolutely scrumptious!

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	• Unaccustomed Earth Jhumpa Lahiri Knopf, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A little angsty, but absolutely scrumptious!

So The Namesake fell a little flat, but I was convinced that this was because Lahiri's style is not well suited to longer fiction. That said, I was excited to read Unaccustomed Earth, and as such, I did something that I rarely do - I sprung for a non-bargained price hardback! I took this book on vacation with me, and even with typical vacation distractions abound, I could not put this book down. The stories were more varied and complex than the Interpreter of Maladies, which often made them difficult to read because they rang so true. Lahiri has accomplished no easy feat - she was able to capture that indefinable in-betweeness of the immigrant child's experience. Her eloquent prose captures both the anger and the angst, the discomfort induced by merely existing, the bitter sweetness of success, and the tragic consequences of "failure." The second half of the book - a short story in three parts titled "Hema and Kaushik" is perhaps one of Lahiri's most impressive stories to date. The format is long enough to allow Lahiri to wind a deliciously simple narrative, while being short enough to allow her to avoid some of the tedium of The Namesake. Overall, this collection was well worth the cash and I consider it to be a must read for those of us in need of relating to some well-written immigrant angst.

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Outstanding

Jhumpa Lahiri just keeps getting better and better. "Unaccustomed Earth" is her third book and her second collection of short stories. I'm amazed that she was able to top "Interpreter of Maladies" with such rich, emotional portraits of love and loss. This book contains eight stories, three of which are linked together, and like all of Lahiri's previous works, each story focuses on individuals from Bengali families who are now living in the U.S. The title story revolves around Ruma, a woman who feels obligated to ask her widowed father to move into the home she shares with her father and son. Other highlights from the book include "Only Goodness," which revolves around an older sister's sense of duty toward her alcoholic brother; "Nobody's Business," a story of an American man who falls in love with his unavailable Indian roommate; and "Hema and Kaushik," three related stories that chronicle the relationship between two characters that spans more than 20 years.

Lahiri is one of the most prominent writers of modern fiction, and "Unaccustomed Earth" is another flawless collection of prose. I recommend this book to everyone, and strongly encourage you to check out the author's other two works as well.

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Beautiful and Profound

What a wonderful collection of stories, equal to her debut triumph and Pulitzer Prize winner, The Interpreter of Maladies. I was immersed in each story and felt connections to the various characters, despite the cultural differences. There is so much in life that can be universally understood beyond ethnic, national and racial boundaries, and Lahiri communicates this beautifully.

The first part of the book contains five separate short stories which all deal with similar themes. All of the Bengali characters are involved in unconventional relationships, often marrying Americans despite their traditional parent's wishes. The emphasis is the rift these relationships cause between the parents and their grown children who shirk the conservative lifestyle and culture of their parents. But underneath it all, there still remains a sense of obligation to aging parents and a familial bond that transcends the younger generation's Americanism.

The second part of the book is three related stories that could have easily been a novella. It is the story of a Hema and Kaushik whose lives intersect at different periods over the years. They first know each other as young children whose parents are close friends. Then they are thrust back into each other's lives as teenagers, under uncomfortable and tragic circumstances. Finally, decades later, they meet randomly in Rome and have a fleeting affair despite Hema's engagement. Theirs is a story full of remorse and what-could-have-been. It is a sad but profound conclusion. I loved the different voices Lahiri gave to these three stories, the first being told in first person by Hema, the second by Kaushik, and the final story of their last reunion in third person. Brilliantly written and engaging.

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Emotional wisdom

This is the best to date of Lahiri's books and the jacket blurb saying she displays "emotional wisdom" is descriptive of her talent. She has been unfairly criticized for the sameness of her settings and characters which focus on the Bengali immigrant experience. That is like criticizing Hemingway for writing about men facing adversity in war or on hunting or fishing expeditions.
Lahiri writes with a transparency that is the epitome of style. Her books truly touch the reader's heart.

Good read

The author gives you a first hand look of what it feels like to be an immigrant in America. Most of the short stories have a similar story line, makes me wonder if the author has adapted to living in America after all these years.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize?winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories?longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written?that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers.

In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he?s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he?s keeping all to himself. In ?A Choice of Accommodations,? a husband?s attempt to turn an old friend?s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In ?Only Goodness,? a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in ?Hema and Kaushik,? a trio of linked stories?a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate?we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.

Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri?s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.

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