Self-Acceptance Is The Key (4.5 stars)

books:


	• The Namesake: A Novel Jhumpa Lahiri Mariner Books, 2004 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 463 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Self-Acceptance Is The Key (4.5 stars)

"What's in a name? Everything, if you find to whom it belongs." - Jonathan Gardner

From Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Overcoat":

"The reader should realize himself that it could not have happened otherwise, and that to give him any other name was quite out of the question."

The second quote, seemingly simplistic, is yet prophetic to "The Namesake" and only when one reads the entire novel can one derive the pleasure of knowing what it truly means in relativity to the story. It is a befitting quotation that is included in the first few pages of author Jhumpa Lahiri's second novel.

The beginning chapters pit Ashoke Ganguli in the frigid Northeast of Boston, MA, the young Bengali man having survived a horrible train wreck and seeking a clean slate in the Americas with his young bride Ashima. After discovering they are expecting their first child, Ashima eagerly anticipates a letter from her grandmother, who has indicated that she will choose a name for their baby. When her letter never arrives and Ashima receives word from her family back in Calcutta of her grandmother's failing health, she is beside herself and with no name in the wings for their new son, Ashoke dubs his firstborn Gogol after a favored Russian author (Nikolai Gogol). Gogol soon resents his father's choice once he is of school age and he will not even begin to understand the reason behind it for many years, the utter significance and emotional attachment his namesake holds.

In having just finished the book this very day that I write my critique, I take from Lahiri's tale of Gogol is that no matter whether we abandon or embrace tradition, it will not guarantee our happiness. I also believe that it forewarns that when we wage a constant war against ourselves, no relationship we have - be it familial or romantic - will endure. However it comes across to those who read it, Lahiri's writing style is simplistic yet thought provoking. Sometimes one cannot be sure of the motivation of certain characters, but in the end all will be seen as either victims or victors of their own circumstance.

(WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS) Gogol experiences both the American way and the Indian way to equal degrees and has romantic relationships which at first ignore Bengali tradition and values and predictably disintegrate, particularly when cultures begin to clash in unexpected ways. But even when he falls in love with and marries a fellow Indian-American and childhood acquaintance, the commonality of their cultures and families still cannot placate their bewildered and embittered souls. (END SPOILERS)

Lahiri, now 40 and married with two children, (who was 36 at the time "The Namesake" was first published) can now be proud of her "pet name"; this name not only adorns her publications but also her 2000 Pulitzer Prize for her debut novel Interpreter of Maladies. Her inspiration for Gogol was found in her own childhood when her teacher decided to use her "pet name" for its easier pronunciation instead of her "good name" (an event that she relives through Gogol when he first goes to school). Good names and pet names are a Bengali tradition that is difficult to understand. Good names are your given name, the one that appears on your birth certificate and other documents of importance, such as driver's license, social security card and college degrees (Lahiri's good name is Nilanjana Sudeshna). Pet names are names spoken only by those who know you best - your family. She is quoted as saying about her teacher's decision: "I always felt so embarrassed by my name; you feel like you're causing someone pain just by being who you are." Her struggle with her identity would be the brainchild for "The Namesake" and Gogol Ganguli a portrayal of Lahiri herself and her inner turmoil.

Gogol spends the entirety of the novel resisting his identity and his name, even going so far as to legally change it to demonstrate his distaste for not only his strange moniker but also the life his parents chose for him. It is only when he discovers the reason behind it and embraces it that he experiences the inner peace he has been seeking all along. Perhaps this is a message to Lahiri herself and others who have felt the same inner conflict. To quote once again in the words of a renowned Indian author and erstwhile philosopher:

"Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted." - Deepak Chopra

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a good read

This is a great story of culture, family, and identity which are some important elements to most human beings and Lahiri brought that to this book. Novel centers around a family who lives in a different culture than their own and is forced to accept something different and apply to their lives. Good writing from the author and very entertaining story.

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Lovely and haunting

The Namesake is a compelling examination of the immigrant experience, but it's more than that. Lahiri does a beautiful job of letting her characters slowly unfold over the course of the story. The characters and the overall feel of the story stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I would definitely read more of Lahiri's work.

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Fun to read

The story, in general, was about the lives of Bengali migrants, how they fit in their new surroundings, and how their children reacted to Bengali traditions and customs. It is quite similar to a few other books before it. But The Namesake is written well and reading it is every bit as enjoyable as watching a movie. It is a little "chick-lit" but I liked it.

I will read all of her books now

I loved this book that I will absolutely read everything else she has ever published and everything else that she will ever write. Thank you Jhumpa Lahiri!

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

Jhumpa Lahiri's debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, took the literary world by storm when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. Fans who flocked to her stories will be captivated by her best-selling first novel, now in paperback for the first time. The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations.
The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ashoke does his best to adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we watch as Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.
With empathy and penetrating insight, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our parents and the means by which we come to define who we are.

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