The Namesake: A Novel Paperback – September 1, 2004

I put this book on my “to read” list a couple of years ago. I read the first chapter and never got further.My daughter brought it home from school the other day and I got curious. Two days later and I basically ignored other deadlines to finish it.How to describe this? This is the story of setting out and making a life in a foreign country. Ashima is never fully American, but yet she is. Her children desperately want to not be Indian, and in many ways they are baffled by their parents’ culture. However, it comes to define them in ways that others cannot understand. Gogol’s name sets him apart and ties him to his family despite it not being Indian and it not being officially chosen for him. And yet, it becomes who he is despite all of his efforts to create his own identity.

I have just finished "The Namesake" so all my impressions are fresh. As many other readers, I bought this book because I was impressed by Lahiri's short stories. This one, although obviously the author should try to do better with the novel form in future, is remarkable too. The story of Indian immigrant family, typical for second half of the 20th century and, in many ways, matching my own, which just started (scholars moving to the States thanks to their academic achievements and lured by career prospects, sinking into this "melting pot" and becoming a part of it) is emotionally charged so much that sometimes I had tears in my eyes. The parents, Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli, deal with detachment from their families and their world in India by incorporating parts of their old life and tradition into the American everyday reality, surrounding themselves with Bengali friends in the same situation, but their children, born in America, have a much greater problem with their identity. This is common to most of the immigrant children and more or less a generally known truth, but Lahiri describes the feelings of the main protagonist, the firstborn son of the Ganguli family, with extraordinary acuteness. The boy is named Gogol, after his father's favorite Russian writer, but Ashoke gives him this name not only as a tribute to the novelist. It is a memory of an important event in his life, he treats the name as a symbol, a sign. Gogol, however, hates his name and we go with him through the rebellion years, contesting the values of his family, trying the new ways, name change, falling in love with American girls (or more with their lifestyles), slowly and gradually getting to understand, accept and finally appreciate the Indian heritage and his parents (although there are many failures on the way). I was left with a profound feeling of melancholy and thoughtfulness.Formally, there are some uncomfortable shortcuts (especially towards the end of the novel) and the plot feels sometimes a bit awkward (I would like to make a more general remark here, namely that the new generation of authors who attended the Creative Writing courses has something in common, as if the rules they learn left on each of them the same mark, difficult to wash away and cover with the personality; it might be expected from beginners but surely must fade away if they do not want to be called beginners any more), but it is an interesting novel. I treat is as somewhat of an appetizer, a promise of the masterpieces yet to come from under Jhumpa Lahiri's pen.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is an extremely intriguing book to read. It contains all the amazing aspects of a great book, family, interesting culture, and of course love. This fiction novel is about a Bengali husband and wife from Calcutta, India moving to the United States as an arranged couple. They venture off to Massachusetts where they have their firstborn, Gogol, and then later on they conceive a daughter named Sonia.Gogol goes through life dreading the name his parents have bestowed upon him. Before he sets forth for college, he makes a life altering decision by changing his name. As he attends Yale, he meets his first of three love interests, Ruth. She is also a student studying at Yale, but later on Ruth decides to move to England to further pursue her career. Upon her return, the two began to continuously argue, and eventually split. Gogol's second love interest's name is Maxine. She's a very wealthy young woman who lives with her parents. After Gogol falls for her, they move in together. Another shock to the book comes when Gogol's father dies. This to me is the climax of the book. Gogol has a change of heart and suddenly starts to grow closer to his Bengali culture, which in my opinion is to honor his father. He also splits with Maxine, and meets his third love interest, Moushumi; who also happens to be Gogol's childhood friend, which he has no reelection of. After the both of them date for a while, they become engaged and eventually get married.These are just glimpses of a writer's thoughts that has much more detail. I would definitely recommend this book. However I must say, The Namesake contains specific details of sexual behavior between Gogol and his ladies. Therefore, although it is a family book, parents might want to refrain from reading to young children. Other than that, this book has been astonishing. I love it because personally, I can relate to the culture aspect within Gogol's life. Having to deal with parents that are new to America is something that I've had the honor of experiencing. I also love it because it just helps me appreciate the family and friends I have in my life to support me. This book is a must-read!

This is the first book I have read by Jhumpa Lahiri but it has been on my TBR pile for a while after seeing it so highly rated. I love being immersed in another culture when I read and, as I have also emigrated to another country, I was keen to start and be taken on a familiar but different journey.We start the book in 1968 with Ashoke and Ashmina Ganguli, they are recently wed in an arranged marriage and have immigrated to Boston from Calcutta so that Ashoke can pursue a PhD in engineering. This is a world away from their Bengali family and friends and in the days before the internet, Ashmina is immediately homesick for India so she finds a network of Bengalis up and down the east coast, preserving traditions and creating a pseudo-family in her new country. Within the first year of the Gangulis arrival, Ashmina gives birth to a son, Gogol, named after the Russian writer, whose volume of short stories saved his fathers life during a fatal train derailment in India. Ashoke and Ashmina then have a daughter and they desire that their children have a Bengali life in America despite being one of few Indian families in their area but Gogol and his younger sister Sonali grow up fully assimilated as Americans. They barely speak Bengali and only once in a while crave Indian food. Both choose career paths that are not traditionally Indian so that they have little contact with the Bengali culture that their parents fought so hard to preserve. We follow the family over many years, shifting in perspective from parent to child, and see how their lives adapt, change and remain traditional in some ways as they navigate their futures in the US.I was immediately swept into the story and regularly found myself thinking about the characters when I wasn’t reading the book. This doesn’t happen often and I love it when a book does this to me. The writing is beautiful (it helps if you like short sentences) and the characters are complex and real. I loved reading about the struggles the family overcame and how their diverse upbringings made for an interesting story. Ashima's culture shock and Gogol's identity crises both felt very authentic and I also liked seeing one family's experiences over such a large timescale (around 30 years).At its heart, this is a simple family story told very well and, for a first full-length novel, it is brilliant and I really look forward to reading more of Jhumpa Lahiri’s work.

Reading Lahiri’s first novel immediately after her Pulitzer-winning collection of short stories proved to be disappointing. Yes, it’s an effortless and enjoyable read. Yes, it’s written in her trademark prose style, flowing, lyrical and teeming with detail. And given the success of her stories about the Indian immigrant experience in America, you can see how her agent and friends would have urged her to write a full-blown novel on the same theme. The problem is that there is no plot to speak of and the Ganguli family, a pleasant but rather prosaic bunch, are not interesting enough to carry a whole novel. Ashoke’s traumatising train crash and its long term consequences add something, as does Lahiri’s skill in addressing the various challenges of assimilation, but for the most part the novel lacks the freshness and vitality of her stories. And there is a formulaic quality to some of Gogol’s rites of passage.

Being of Bengali origin, there were points of interest and commonalities that I could relate to. Btw Bengali does not mean Bangladesh which was created in 1971. Prior to that it was East Pakistan, before that it was East Bengal and before part of Bengal and before that part of ancient Bengal. The story of immigrants from East India to a foreign land where the language, weather, customs, social norms, lack of roots, family and friends all resonate and there is a certain beauty in the pain or should that be pain in the beauty of the telling. So why 3 stars because where Lahiri writes from the heart or her own experience or the experience of other she has witnessed from very near, other parts seem strained and out of place, particularly where there is profanity or sex involved. These sections do not flow naturally and it seems the author is desperate to challenge any criticism or comment that her writing is traditional or formal and not aimed at a modern audience. But for me, the inclusion of these upsets the balance and ultimately creates a two tone book.

Book Review "The Namesake", written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a masterpiece. I know this book and specially the author, doens't need any introduction here amongst this elite group of readers . There is a movie too which stars Irrfan Khan and Tabu which isn't bad either, though reading the book would always be recommended. This book dwells upon the intricacies of the life of Indian immigrants in America- A Bengali couple, dares to dream to have a life away from their home, in a foreign land, dealing with situations, circumstances unintended, unanticipated, unplanned one after the other, with the major one hovering around the life of their son, who is named " Gogol" by his Father, after the famous Russian author -Nikolai Gogol. How he hates his name and changes it when he is an adult, however is never able to erase the person that he is, his roots and his origin. He is never able to detach himself off his identity that came from his parents. All the characters in this novel are so empathetically created, that you as a reader would care very fiercely and ardently for each one of them in the various situations of life they are in, without being judgemental. You will find yourself, laughing, crying and feeling for them. You would barely be able to out his novel down. If this is you first one of Lahiri's work, you are sure to pick up the next one soon. And this book does raise the standards of choice of books that one makes. Atleast it did that to me. Go for it. And it will draw you effortlessly into its world.

This is well written, with rounded, believable characters and a valuable glimpse into finding identity in a new country. But in the end, it just went nowhere. It might be true to life, but as a story, it was disappointing - and didn't really have that much to do with 'the namesake'