Reviews

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

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acesy_vale's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’ve been wanting to read this since I watched the movie about a decade ago and it did not disappoint. I mainly wanted to read it because my parents are also immigrants and I’ve also been Americanized and I get being split between two cultures without knowing how to merge them. It was a good read.

abhireadingnotes's review against another edition

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5.0

I read this book at a time in my life when I was going through some experiences that were similar to the ones the main characters experienced in this book. I recently lost my father and was a South Asian immigrant in North America. Gogol, Ashoke, Sonia and Ashima reminded me of my family and our experience building a life in the middle east. My father immigrated in the 1970's and then my mother moved there in the 1990's. I was born in 1993 and my sister was born in 1990. We grew up with a steady diet of Bollywood, Indian Functions and Cricket. We visited India once every year. This kept us rooted or we believed it did. This book helped me understand that home is the people and not the place. We identify the idea of home with memories related to the people we love and cherish. Our parents have had interesting and important lives before they became our parents. It is important to accept and acknowledge those parts of their identities as much as we accept their roles as our guardians and protectors. Gogol was rebellious towards his parents and their beliefs at the start of the book. He slowly came to accept his parents stories as he grew older and experienced life himself as an adult. He realized that he needed to find a sense of home in himself before he can find it in the people he loves. Ashima also develops a sense of independence and grows tremendously through this book. She moves to a new country, builds a life, starts a new career and raises two amazing children. Ashoke strives hard to provide for his family and also presents a strong emotional front even with all the difficulties he faced and experienced as an immigrant. Each character shows nuance. This book explored the journeys of immigrants and the lasting impact of that first journey on the next generation that calls a new country home. We all have cultural and familial roots that need to be peeled and understood if we want to make sense of our place and identity in the world. Gogol who became Nikhil demonstrated that gradual curiosity by peeling back several parts of his story that included his childhood, his parents backgrounds, his professional identity and his cultural identity. Through Nikhil's journey we also get to reflect and think about our own identity and place in the world. A highly engaging read! A great way to start the new year.

voe's review against another edition

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3.0

Aptly named, The Namesake revolves around the life of Gogol/Nikhil, an American-Indian. I was *really* invested in this book in the beginning. The life of a "confused" desi, along with being named with a unique name were aspects which resonated with me.

The later chapters were less interesting, and I sped through it just wanting to get to the end.

The writing was really nice. Up until Ch 7-8 especially, I was engrossed and would have considered it as one of my top reads of the year. Sadly, it went downhill after that.

I liked how there was a chapter dedicated to Moushami to show her mindset and how the couple drifted apart from each other due to differences. Her cheating was definitely I do not condone, but that chapter prevented her just from becoming the evil heartbreaker.

Overall, a worthy read. 3.5/5

thaurisil's review against another edition

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5.0

This book follows the life of Gogol Ganguli. It starts with his Bengali parents, Ashoke, who was saved from a train wreck by the page of a book falling from his hand, and Ashima, forced reluctantly to move to America with her new husband. Gogol is born, named after the writer who saved his father's life, the name made official by a cultural misunderstanding. He grows up resentful of and embarrassed by his background, and moves away from his parents when he can, taking up architecture instead of medicine or engineering. He changes his name to the more respectable Nikhil. He gets into love affairs, the first a forgettable one, the second with a wealthy and fashionable girl whose lifestyle could not be more different from his parents'. He remains distant yet emotionally chained to his family until the day his father dies suddenly of a heart attack. Overnight, things change. His mother, for the first time in her life, learns to be independent. Gogol suddenly feels the need to regularly contact his mother and sister. One day, his mother encourages him to contact Moushumi, a Bengali girl from his childhood. They marry within a year, but Moushumi yearns for a non-Bengali, gets into an affair, and they divorce. Gogol returns to his boyhood home in the final scene, and finally reads the book of short stories by Gogol that his father gave to him years ago.

Lahiri captures the identity struggles of Asian immigrants remarkably well. Ashima could not be more typically "Indian", and like many immigrants she clings on to her past, finding ways to incorporate it in a world that has changed. Ashoke is more positive about the move, seeing hope in America, yet his Indian roots betray him such that he never fully fits in. And Gogol represents the typical second-generation immigrant, wanting desperately to fit in, yet thwarted in his attempts by his parents. Lahiri was clear about one subtlety – Gogol doesn't resent his Indian ethnicity, but rather the Indian culture. He changes his name from a Russian to an Indian one, and he enjoys a visit to the Taj Mahal. But it is his parents' attitudes, the large parties, the crowds of relatives, his parents' insecurities and fears, that embarrass him. He is an American in an Indian skin, yet his skin influences his internal nature more than he realises.

But the characters change. Gogol grows, bit by bit, to accept his culture. He remains resolutely American, eating American food, living in New York and maintaining an occupation his mother never wanted for him, yet he embraces his family. When he finally marries, it is ironically to a Bengali lady suggested by his mother, which is as close to an arranged marriage as it can get for him. And when he divorces, it is not of he, but Moushumi, who cannot come to terms with being married to a Bengali. Ashima too miraculously but not surprisingly changes, developing fortitude and stamina, and adapting over twenty-seven years till finally she calls America her home, and when she has a choice, chooses to spend half her time in India and the other half in America.

Lahiri paints a struggle with identity that is nuanced in a way only someone who has experienced the same struggle can write about. But it is not only Indian immigrants who experience these struggles. Many Asians, even in Asia, face the same struggles of trying to honour parents with old-fashioned mindsets while living modern lives in a globalised world. We fight the ties that embarrass us, fight and fight until we don't know what exactly we are fighting or why we are fighting or whether there is any point to the fight. And eventually, like Gogol, we may realise that nobody thinks of us the way we think they do. Slowly, like Gogol, we may realise that being the same as everyone else isn't always an advantage, that there is comfort in casting off your insecurities and accepting your uniqueness.

I enjoyed Lahiri's writing style. It is factual yet melancholic. It tugs at your emotions without being soppy. It is sometimes verbose, sometimes redundant, yet always readable. Her voice is personal and relatable, and I come away wanting to know more about her, about the life she has led that has inspired the characters she has created.

kessler21's review against another edition

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2.0

This books seems to be one you love, 4-5 stars or one you hate 1-2 stars. I did not enjoy it, taking me 7 days to read an under 300 page book.

This is supposed to be the story about an 1st generation American, children to immigrant Indian parents....and it is. But even more so, I found the book to be about selfishness.

Jhumpa Lahiri is a wonderful author and I loved Interpreter of Maladies, however I did not like her style of story telling in The Namesake.

The story is 3rd person present tense which I found a little abnormal but nothing major, then the story is filled with endless, useless, details. At times, I felt I was reading list after list of surroundings, feelings, or actions. The book, which spans many years, apparently only takes place in the winter. Every time outdoors the air was too cold and biting. I don't know why, but this started to bother.

And now the story. The main character, though the story changes points of view a few times, is just plain selfish and I struggled to fester an ounce of empathy for him.

Spoiler

To start with, he hates his name. The book makes a point to explain that he does not hate his name because he is being made fun of for having an unusual or meaningless name, but instead because he just hates it. So he changes his name, but again is not happy. He feels lost with his new name but also angry there is a previous life where everyone knows him by his last name. Throughout the book, he runs away from his Indian culture and and his family, but when his father dies unexpectedly, his whole culture starts to make sense. He embraces his culture and customs and traditions, feeling guilty about his fathers death. At this time, he is dating an American girl who has allowed him to assimilate into her and her families life. She takes action to be with him during his father's death and trying to understand his customs and what he needs, yet he is almost mad at her for not being Indian. For being an outsider to his family, which is all his fault. Then to top it all, his Indian wife is selfish and cheats on him because she doesn't want to become a dependent ordinary wife like her mother.

I am glad I have finally finished the book but am not glad I read it.

taramarion's review against another edition

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4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this character-driven novel. I really cared about Gogul and his family by the time I finished reading The Namesake, a poignant story of an immigrant family from India.