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I also had to read this for my book club. A good read about different cultures. Gogol's parents could not get into the future, He did not want to be part of the family's old fashioned(to him) ways. Not a joyous book, but a thinker's book.....easy to read. My whole group enjoyed it. Excellent character development, wonderful author. Had good redeeming social value.
From http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/namesake/: Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli are recent immigrants to Boston from India in 1968 when they give birth to their first child, a son. Their son ends up with the pet name of Gogul, when his "good name" never arrives from India. Gogul despises his name and grows up as American as he can while his parents cling to their Bengali past while living what appears to be a typical American suburban lifestyle. Jhumpa Lahiri (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies) has written a novel about immigrant lives, families, and bonds that can never be broken. The Namesake has received high praise from most reviewers. Michiko Kakutani begins her review for the New York Times, "Jhumpa Lahiri's quietly dazzling new novel, The Namesake, is that rare thing: an intimate, closely observed family portrait that effortlessly and discreetly unfolds to disclose a capacious social vision."Read full review
I purchased this to read for my book club. I had not heard of it before, but saw it was recommended by a few groups. I enjoyed the read, it was a nice story, though somewhat predictable. I read it very quickly, in 3 days. It offers a thought provoking look at the dilemma of immigrants to the US raising children born and educated here. The portrayal of the Mother and Father,as torn between 2 cultures, their native India and adopted country the US was somewhat unsympathetic. The Mother was perhaps typical of women of that time from India, in an arranged marriage with little or no control over their lives. She does her best to instill her values and culture on her children, but in the end they are more American than she or her husband would have liked. Father works hard and is successful in his career, and also tries his best to keep his children part of the Indian culture. The background story of why they named their son Gogol is meant to be a privotal point of the story, but somehow loses its impact for me. Though dealing with his name was hard when he first started school, the other children eventully treated him much as an equal. Eventually, as he reaches adulthood, he throws off the old name and adopts Nikel as the first step to a new independent life, apart from his family and past. I sympathize with his parents, who must have felt betrayed and abandoned at that time. After years of distance from his family, he realizes too late what those ties meant to him.Read full review
This was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad I read it. It deals entirely with Indian and American cultures blending, smoothly or not. I am glad I have seen so many well-written images but do want to let you know that it isn't plot driven. It's almost as if nothing happens. Or nothing I'd think of as worthy of a book. However, the subtlety of the small things that happen in a person's life, the people they meet, the feeling they have, are well handled here and it's worth a read if you are interested in how others view life in our country.
This is a pretty standard immigrants getting used to America story except that the smooth silky writing of Jhumpa Lahiri makes it something special. The story of an Indian couple traveling to Boston right after being married in an arranged marriage is filled with the missteps and problems which such a situation would produce. The husband goes back to school and work leaving the young wife alone all day to find her way. In time, two children are born and each one of them also has to find their way. The interaction between the parents and the children, the older people trying to hold on to some of their customs and the young people having to become "American", to survive, is one which we have seen many times. However, the skill and tact of the mother, perhaps remembering her own stumbles and mistakes, helps to make the children's journey easier than her own had been. Altogether this is the story of the journey of the mother as she moves from young bride to widowhood. It is also, however, the story of many of us who began as young wives, had to adapt as the world changed and are now making a separate peace with ourselves. The irony of this story is that it made me remember my own struggles with my two daughters. We were all born here and have always been completely American. However, I remember some of the struggles as I got used to the new ways my own children were learning as they grew up. Perhaps this is really an Everywoman's story and applies to each mother as she watches her children learn to survive in what will be their world.Read full review
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