The Namesake: A Novel [Hardcover]

Months pass, and the letter fails to appear; it seems it's been lost in the mail. Initially, the Gangulis aren't too worried, because Bengalis often aren't officially named for months or even years; but the American system demands a name immediately. Meanwhile, the great-grandmother has fallen severely ill, and is in no state to reveal baby names. Running out of time, Ashoke names his son "Gogol," after his favorite Russian writer, a name that has immense personal significance to him. But to young Gogol, the name is a burden, a disfigurement, an ugly reminder of the many differences between him and his peers. As he grows up, Gogol embarks on a bitter love-hate relationship with his name; he loathes it, he denies it, he tries to escape it. Only when Gogol has made peace with his ethnic background and his family's traditions can he learn to accept his identity.

Lahiri, known for her critically adored short-story collection The Interpreter of Maladies, makes her debut as a novelist with this work. Her writing is understated and simple, but beautifully evocative and filled with sensory detail. Though much is necessarily omitted in a story that covers several decades in under three hundred pages, Lahiri chooses her words deftly, focusing on quotidian scenes of startling intimacy to make the reader feel close to the characters. Which is not to say her characters are incomplete or undeveloped; though more development would be welcome, the characters still feel well-thought-out and complex, and their relationships with each other are believable and sympathetic.

Focusing on themes of displacement and foreignness, and the bewildering and alienating process of assimilating into a new society, The Namesake is powerful and genuine, blending humor and drama into a realistic portrait of a family. Given their struggle to retain their heritage while becoming fully integrated into their new country, and the resulting confusion of identity that trickles down the generations, what is, perhaps, most surprising in the end is how all-American the Gangulis really are. I truly enjoyed this novel, and I think you will, too. In addition, I'd like to recommend another recent Amazon purchase, 'The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition' by Richard Perez, an unconventional and highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

It has got all the ingredients of conflict in a person's soul, conflict in a family and conflict in a community trying to stick together in another land. In this novel, the conflict in culture between Eastern vs. Western, The Old World vs. The New World, Father vs. Son is brilliant exposed. I could easily relate to the story as someone who is caught in the same situation himself. I was certainly disappointed by certain parts of the story, but on the whole it was marvelous. I was impressed by the positive reaction to it.
The characters are marvelously depicted and made to interact with so much fluidity, tenderness and love. The setting involving India and the USA is genuine. Brilliantly told, Namesake vividly brought out a clash of two cultures and of a boy realizing his father's life. In the end, we come to understand the enormous prize immigrants pay as they abandon their ethnic or national identities in their quests to be accepted in their new countries.

Also recommended: DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, FATHERS AND SONS