Unaccustomed Earth

able to sleep well without having to wait and not to toss and turn is a gift.. Blessed are the people who can do that.. here I am past midnight on a Saturday unable to secure a visit from the goddess of sleeep (She is beautiful.. Isn't she ??) .. After a controversial post let's move on to something normal.. A book review ! When ever I read book reviews from the NewYorkTimes I was almost always awed by the reviewers' ability to see through the author and dissect their writing .. Although I cannot even hold a candle to the person who can hold a candle to these reviewers.. Nevertheless I will add my two cents and try to tell my version ..

Unaccustomed Earth

It's a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri the Pulitzer winning writer who won acclaim for her other works "Interpreter of Maladies " and "The NameSake". I started reading her work when I was at Auburn and liked her way of writing about NRI Bengalis and their overseas adventures... Her characters consist of people trying to assimilate into this country's culture but unable to due to their identities or this country's reluctance to accept them as one among themselves.

Coming to Unaccustomed earth the title story of the book which deals with the relationship between Ruma a lawyer who is married to Adam (all of Ms Lahiri's Bengali characters would have either loved or married Americans) and her father. The story brings to light of how Ruma struggles to cope with the pressures of pregnancy and how she wishes her mother would have been around.. Her father pays her a visit between his world tours and she wishes he would stay with her forever.. But he feels a belongingness with a lady who he meets during a tour to Italy and cannot stay with Ruma..

'Hell-heaven' is a story about a married lady who falls for a man she meets in Harvard Yard taking her daughter for a walk.The story is narrated through her daughter and it's about how age makes people wise,less hasty and sensible..

In 'Only Goodness' we learn about 'Sudha' who has a brother with a drinking problem and how she thinks she is the reason for it and tries unsuccessfully to change him until it reaches crescendo and threatens to destroy her own family..

' Choice of Accommodations' is a story about a night gone wrong when a couple attends the marrriage of the husband's school friend..

In 'Nobody's Business' we come across Sang (americanized Sangeetha) and how she falls for an egyptian guy and appears to be in bliss when things start falling apart and it is left to her housemate to come to her help whom she suspects of having a crush on her .. (You see in America housemates can be guys.. ).. you cannot stop feeling sorry for Sang after reading this and the character Sang stays with you for a while..

'Hema and Kaushik' is a trilogy of stories which start with Hema narrating how she felt when kaushik's family visit them to stay with them for a few days.. and then it's Kaushik turn to describe how his life took turns and finally they both meet in Rome and celebrate life and go separate ways again..

My Opinion :

The emotional grip that Ms Lahiri has on her characters is amazing.. The characters stir varied emotions in you while reading.. if you have seen or read 'The Namesake' you should remember Moushumi, the character who married kal Penn (Gogol ).. when I was reading the book and read how Moushumi cheats on Gogol... I was so outraged that my Yahoo IM had the caption of "I hate Moushumi " for the next week .. In this book I felt the same emotions for "Sang". "Sex" too plays a large role in her stories and Novel. Although I am not too much bothered by it I wish she doesn't portray her characters as sex crazy ppl.. (The Namesake). I think she can acquit herself well by breaking the monotony of writing about Bengalis and deal with other subjects as well.. I should say I was not so thrilled by this book.. Maybe it's just a case if expecting too much (No .. not again.. !) I was very impressed by her earlier work and was looking forward to read this ,, I think I got bored about reading bengalis' stories of America.. it is difficult to match or reach expectations if you are writing on the same topic and if you're previous works are already touted as best. Ms Lahiri was one of my favorite authors and still remains as one.. I would suggest people to get this book and start turning away the pages..