Review: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

[kderse]

Stuck in their Indian culture while living in America, the characters in these stories that appear, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri , share in in a beautiful way what many people experience when moving to a new country. There are many different stories in this book, the first one about a couple that faces the devastating event of their baby being born still born.

I would recommend this to young adults.

Again, this is a book I read that I normally wouldn’t read. I picked this one up to complete my reading challenge a book that would help me check off a book that won the Pulitzer Prize Award. I enjoyed it but I found each story leaving me wanting more and there just wasn’t. These are short stories.

In the first short story we find a couple who are barely roommates after a tragedy of losing their baby to a stillbirth. They are notified that for a week they will be losing power every night at 8. Somehow that leads to a game they grew up playing when they lost power. Telling each other something the other person does not know. This story takes a twists very fast and led me rushing to the next chapter which i found out was a completely different story. I was so disappointed I wanted to hear more about their story. One of the last stories also captured my attention. It was about a young man recently married who moved to america and needed to move in with an old lady while he worked at a school. The woman was very stern at first but she made her way into his heart. While reading this story I found myself imagining the home that my husband stayed in when we first moved to Mexico. We went to language school in what was a new city to us. We stayed with a host family who didn’t speak much english. They were not the type of family we were used to being around but they made their ways into our hearts. We still often think fondly of them and dream about going back to that city to see how they are doing. There were some stories in this book I just didn’t have much interest in and to be honest I do not remember them as I have been sick and in bed and to be honest in kind of a fog.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars.

[Truepeacenik]

I enjoyed this book. Like the OP, I wanted to delve deeper. Instead, it's a series of vignettes, stories one might overhear on public transportation (or a loud telephone conversation).
On a second read, I found I like this. I could imagine my own next chapters for each person.

I'd not limit to young adult.

[Rachelkaye]

I really enjoyed this collection. I don't often read short stories and it is a very different experience to reading a book. I wanted each story to carry on so that I could learn more about the characters and their lives. I found the stories touching and they left me with a sense of nostalgia and sadness. I will definitely read it again.