The Namesake

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I LOVE Lahiri's short stories, so I'm wondering if her talents are just less suited to the novel.

I enjoyed learning about the Indian-American experience, and contrasting that “American dream” story with the more conventional variety. And I also thought it so interesting to think about the importance of naming and names: how meaningful names are, both culturally and individually, and how names shape our identities.

However, the characters felt distant and ill-developed. We are allowed to peer into the consciousness of most of the main characters, but there was little variation and richness to each, lending a flat feeling to the book. There is some beautiful writing, but little that truly made me pause. And then in the end, it was pretty depressing...