Unaccustomed Earth (Vintage Contemporaries)

I'm perplexed by some of the reviews calling the stories in this excellent collection from Jhumpa Lahiri 'monotonous.' Other than the fact that the stories all start with a base of second-generation Bengalis in the US, each of tales seem fresh, new and inventive. It's a treat to see the small worlds that Ms. Lahari can create in 40 or so pages from a standing start. Of course, I came in with a bias: I adored The Namesake: A Novel - both the book and the faithful adaptation by Mira Nair.

Speaking of movies, one can't help when reading these stories to think "this one would make a great movie." I was doing that with all the stories, but really raised that refrain to a ruckus upon completing the three chapter story ('Hema and Kaushik') that comprises Part Two of the book. This beautiful, heartbreaking tale has screenplay written all over it. I'll buy my ticket for the premiere right now.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri: Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Interpreter of Maladies, and author of The Namesake, returns after five years with Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of eight stories that are longer than short stories but not quite novella length. It's split into two parts. The first consists of five individual stories, while the second part consists of the last three tales, each involving the same two characters, Hema and Kaushik.

The first story, "Unaccustomed Earth," involves a family who recently moved to Seattle. After the death of Ruma's mother, she is left feeling guilty over the decision of whether or not to invite her aging Baba (father), to live with them. Not sure how to handle this, she invites him to stay with her for a week. Over the course of their time together, father and daughter rekindle their relationship, while secrets are revealed about their separate lives. Baba also meets and falls in love with Ruma's son Akash, looking after him, teaching him some Bengali, and treating him like a grandfather should - giving him more respect and attention than he has ever given Ruma. At the end of the week, Baba goes back home to his secret girlfriend and life of travel, leaving Ruma unsure, and the reader wanting more. "Unaccustomed Earth" sets the tone for the book, which offers stories of lives with problems and decisions and changes that affect all the characters. But it is those of Indian descent who have to deal with how much of their original culture they hold on to in their American lives.

"A Choice of Accommodations" is an interesting story about an interracial couple who are having problems with their marriage. During a weekend attending a friend's wedding, they rediscover their love and respect for each other. The most compelling story of the collection is "Nobody's Business," involving a young Indian girl, Sangeeta, who is involved with an Egyptian man, but continuously has suitors calling her with the hope of a meeting and eventual marriage. What makes the story interesting is that it is told from the perspective of the roommate, Paul, who has a crush on Sang, and finds himself unavoidably involved in her romantic and personal life while trying to complete his doctorate. While at first the story seems to go in an obvious direction, it eventually moves off on a new tangent as things change in Sang's relationship and she ends up moving back to England, with Paul having to deal with the leftover pieces.

Lahiri continues to do what she does best, creating strong, unique characters who stay with readers after the story is over. Sadly, Lahiri fails to take risks with her writing, always portraying Indian characters who - like herself - come from an affluent, upper class upbringing, in most cases in New York or New England. Perhaps in her next work, Lahiri will branch out from her write what you know world and venture into new territory. Nevertheless, Unaccustomed Earth is a fascinating collection of stories involving Indian characters struggling with issues involved in being American, but at the same time keeping their original heritage and culture alive.

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I am one of Lahiri's biggest fans. Her books never fail to evoke a sense of nostalgia (although I'm not Bengali, I am from another part of India but the cultures are similar enough). Her language is simple, very easy to understand, but I feel that it's not so simplistic that it reads like a fifth grade novel. It reads as if life itself was narrating the stories. I have one problem with this book of short stories, which is the same problem every other reviewer reported - the recurring theme of successful Bengali families that are usually loaded and have a 6 feet long list of accomplishments. It's just not possible. She needs to introduce a little more variety with the character's socioeconomic statuses and careers.

Otherwise, it was a pleasure to read.

The pluses of this work are that it revitalizes the art of short story, a too forgotten literary modality; the author is articulate; the stories are well written.
The stories are depressing. The work is fiction and there are strands that link the stories, the Indian diaspora in the US, characters from previous stories reappear, the losses of assimilation, the losses of non-assimilation. The stories are a mirror of our failures as human beings to be human beings: failures of love, failures of communication, selfishness, loneliness, extolling those who achieve status, jealousy, failure to face death with dignity . But there are no lessons learned, no ways out, no transcendence. The world is depressing enough. I wish she would have chosen to be more than a mirror of the suffering of her Westernized heritage and characters sufferings.

Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the Pulitzer Prize with her book The Interpreter of Maladies, continues to have one of modern fiction's most powerful voices.
The eight stories in her present book do not disappoint at all. They are wonderfully structured and are filled with acute psychological observations, eloquent writing and detailed descriptions. The main themes are about family secrets and relations. In one of them, there is the story of a widower who has a mistress and who prefers to keep it a secret from his daughter, in another, a married woman who falls platonically in love with a friend, in another, a sister who introduces her brother to alcoholism, in another, the story of a teen who cannot accept the father's new wife, etc.
Lahiri's stories of exile, identity, disappointment, bitterness, relations and maturation are brilliant and extremely realistic. Her language is aesthetically marvelous.

In the prologue of this book is a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne that is simply astonishing in its disasporal beauty: "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth." And so begins this collection of equally astonishing short stories by Lahiri. As much as I enjoyed her first collection of short stories (Interpreter of Maladies), I was rather put off by her next novel: The Namesake. I felt that the latter was a depressing and foreboding warning against seeking out unknown lands and new adventures. But maybe I was mistaken, maybe Ms. Lahiri is, in fact, celebrating this diasporic journey. The short stories she has weaved in this book are perfect. The characters are so well developed that you feel a sense of loss when the story is done. The first few stories are self contained, and the last three are tied together; all written with Ms. Lahiri's precise sense on how to complete a sentence in the most descriptive way using the least amount of words. In the last set of stories, Ms. Lahiri uses the guise of fiction crossing over into real world calamities as the protagonist perishes in the 2004 Asian Tsunami (this literature device when used wisely is strikingly creative -- Nelson DeMille was the first author I read who used it in Night Fall; in his case, 9/11 being the profound event.) As is usually the case with Ms. Lahiri, the stories in this book are centered around the Eastern US seaboard, with Calcutta providing the anchor that roots the character's lives once they seek their fortunes in unaccustomed earths. This book was simply fantastic. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

What a wonderful collection of stories, equal to her debut triumph and Pulitzer Prize winner, The Interpreter of Maladies. I was immersed in each story and felt connections to the various characters, despite the cultural differences. There is so much in life that can be universally understood beyond ethnic, national and racial boundaries, and Lahiri communicates this beautifully.

The first part of the book contains five separate short stories which all deal with similar themes. All of the Bengali characters are involved in unconventional relationships, often marrying Americans despite their traditional parent's wishes. The emphasis is the rift these relationships cause between the parents and their grown children who shirk the conservative lifestyle and culture of their parents. But underneath it all, there still remains a sense of obligation to aging parents and a familial bond that transcends the younger generation's Americanism.

The second part of the book is three related stories that could have easily been a novella. It is the story of a Hema and Kaushik whose lives intersect at different periods over the years. They first know each other as young children whose parents are close friends. Then they are thrust back into each other's lives as teenagers, under uncomfortable and tragic circumstances. Finally, decades later, they meet randomly in Rome and have a fleeting affair despite Hema's engagement. Theirs is a story full of remorse and what-could-have-been. It is a sad but profound conclusion. I loved the different voices Lahiri gave to these three stories, the first being told in first person by Hema, the second by Kaushik, and the final story of their last reunion in third person. Brilliantly written and engaging.

As someone who grew up in a South Asian background, albeit Pakistani not Indian, one of the things I've seen is how people tend to idealize Desi (South Asian) culture. I'm sure every Desi growing up in the West has struggled between the expectations placed on you by Desi culture and the desires that you develop living in the West. And of course the fear that any choice you make will receive negative judgement from relatives and other family friends.

One of Jhumpa Lahiri's most attractive qualities is that her characters are both traditional and nontraditional (notice I didn't say modern). On top of that she doesn't judge them at all. She simply gives you their stories and allows you to make your own judgements. On top of that is the incredible writing which will keep you at the edge of your seat and maybe even make you smile or cry at the end.

Jhumpa Lahiri is simply a fantastic author and Unaccustomed Earth and every other novel she's written are simply amazing.

Jhumpa Lahiri is my most favorite author. Words spill onto her page with such elegance. This book is divided into two halves, one which contains a collection of short stories and a second which develops the story of two of the characters written about in a short story. It's an odd format. Lahiri's writing is so good and anticipated she could write on a cocktail napkin and I'd read it. Apparently, others feel the same way. In this book, Lahiri once again explores the theme of Indians becoming Americanized generation by generation. Like all immigrants their lives dilute into the American mainstream and the traditions of food, family, and dress are left behind. One wonders whether life in America brought the happiness sought by those who migrated or, referencing the book's title and the quote from which it is taken, whether our roots do grow stronger in unaccostomed earth.

This book was a fabulous example of what it is like for immigrant children and Indian immigrant children. I loved how there were several stories wrapped up in one. The different perspectives really make us Americans understand what it is like and maybe how we can help make things better for them.

I normally don't love short stories, but I enjoyed Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, so I was looking forward to Unaccustomed Earth. Overall, a decent collection of stories. There were only a few that I didn't love (e.g. A Choice of Accommodations).

I have read the criticisms that Lahiri only writes about the same types of people, and that is true, but I do find that her stories still differ enough to keep me interested. Although they might be the same 'type' of character, they are most definitely not the same characters.

And, her writing really does draw me in. In context, the last line of this book - "We had been careful, and you had left nothing behind." might be one of my favorite last lines out of any book I've read.

An old friend told me that I must read Lahiri, and she was right. Lahiri's prose is clean and straightforward; her characters are carefully drawn and ring true to life; and her plots are thoughtful. Unlike many short stories these days, hers have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Her depictions of a certain academic middle-class Bengali-American world, with which I had been unfamiliar, are fascinating. She has a master's ability to create characters of both genders and all ages who act and speak the way such people really do.

The analogy that another reviewer made to Michael Cunningham is, I think, apt. I will look forward to reading more of Lahiri's works.

Unaccustomed Earth consists of 8 short stories, all dealing with lives of Bengali immigrants. I consider all of the stories excellent and could have been written in any era, regarding any ethnic families. My favorite stories were probably the last three, in which the lives of two children are followed through adulthood.

Some of the preceeding reviews I have come upon discuss this fiction being overly melodramatic, even depressing. At times they were so. On the other hand, I feel that each story brings out how fragile our lives really are and how we should cling tenaciously to every desire to improve our familial condition. I have learned something from each of the stories and believe future readers will grasp the true meaning of this book.

Note : this is a collection of short stories.

That being said, every single story in this book makes you feel as if you are there in the moment. For readers not from a south Asian background it's a great book to get a glimpse into the different ways Indians are making the west their home.

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of the rare authors that I can feel the passion and joy of writing. When I read each one of her - sometimes - elaborated sentences, it comes with so much power that I cannot stop to envision, in the back of my mind, the pleasure Jhumpa Lahiri must have felt when she was putting together her thoughts on paper. Reading her brings me a ray of emotions. It is as drinking a very special wine, when all the flavors mixed together into something cohesive. Larihi is the grand cours of the literary word.

The themes are generation gap, the cultural gap, West vs. East, family, marriage, kids, death, building a career, Ivy League schools, geographic distances, love affairs, the 80s, Bengalis, New England (especially Boston and its suburbs) and a little bit of London. Anyone who has family and/or kids and/or experienced death in their family would easily relate with these story. Common household tasks, like working on the garden, washing dishes, throwing trash, are dramatically described, but the action always moves forward. All stories have beautiful ending. Sometime sadness, but never depression.

It is pure pleasure.

Lahiri's writing is plaintive. Reading parts of her stories that should be celebratory are tinged with sadness. In my humble opinion she expertly captures the difficulties and anxieties that immigrants feel when they have to adapt to a new culture and a new language. The feeling of being in limbo between the familiar and the new is on every page and is felt by every character. It takes extraordinary skill to write about everyday life and bring the small nuances to the surface and work with them until the reader can feel the confusion, wonder and struggle of not quite ever being able to assimilate. Positively fine writing.

As we've come to expect from Jhumpa Lahiri, this collection of eight short stories examines the immigrant experience in America, including the difficulties of adjusting to a new culture and workplace and the clashes between immigrant parents and their fully American children. Lahiri's stories, however, are not limited to immigrant issues but address global issues relevant worldwide: how we need our parents, how we develop our independence, and how we give up that independence to form lasting relationships. More than anything, these stories capture the search for a comfortable identity.

Lahiri's writing is rich with detail and complexity, making these short stories seem more like novels that end too soon. Lahiri's style is powerful. There's no sentimentality here but plenty of sensitivity and feeling. Many of these stories contain a hidden element or event of such significance that, when finally revealed at the end of the story, changes everything that came before. It's the shock of these surprising occurrences that makes each story a living, changing experience. Fabulous.

It's good to see Jhumpa Lahiri working again in the art form that best suits her temperament, the short story. Although "The Namesake" garnered much attention and a movie, it was for me ultimately a failure as a novel, as too many small moments stretched out over too long a span and collapsed from boredom and exhaustion.

These stories, however, work very well. Lahiri gives us just enough small concrete moments and perceptions to sustain the experience of loss and of what the immigration experience means for those who are transported into the west from India. The characters are precisely and neatly drawn from closely observed but telling details. The subtle and not-so-subtle encroachment of U.S. culture and life into the India mindset, with its subsequent fallout of loss and emotional ambiguity, is clearly captured here.

This talented observer and careful writer is at her best again. I highly recommend this collection for everyone.

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to read Jhumpa Lahiri's previous works like Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake already know the lushness of her prose and the emotional depth of her characters when they read her latest collection of short stories. She again focuses on the intractable bridge between old and new cultures and generations in her piercing look at the lives of expatriate Bengalis and their first-generation American-born children. The precarious balance the younger generation discovers they need to maintain is more than recognizing the disparities between Asian and Western cultures. It becomes an introspective struggle between maintaining traditional values and assimilating into the meritocratic American system. Primarily in their thirties and often feeling adrift in this cross-generational quagmire, they are silently ambivalent about their parents, traversing between betrayal and awe in mercurial strokes.

Each of the eight stories is meticulously crafted by Lahiri to amplify her unifying theme with a minimum of contrivance. The title story focuses on an aging widower's visit with his daughter Ruma's family in Seattle. He has felt inordinately liberated since his wife's death, and now Ruma wants him to live permanently with her family. They struggle to reach a level of intimacy they have never known before. A similar struggle can be found in "Only Goodness", in which a rehabilitated alcoholic attempts to return to his estranged family through his elder sister. Even relationships that seem established on the surface such as the cross-cultural marriage at the center of the subtle "A Choice of Accommodations" unravel in small details as they travel to the wedding of an old friend. A non-Indian perspective is also represented in "Nobody's Business" where a student named Paul gets involved in the personal affairs of his housemate Sangeeta. A surprising jewel of a tale, "Hell-Heaven" spells out a housewife's attraction toward a younger man in subtly engrossing terms.

My favorite part of the book is the three-part story under the umbrella title of "Hema and Kaushik" that ends the collection because it best summarizes Lahiri's concept of assimilation, specifically coming to terms with a constant disorientation. The first story, "Once in a Lifetime", introduces us to the two characters as teens with Kaushik having just returned from India. The middle and best story, "Year's End", flashes forward with Kaushik having become a globetrotting photojournalist who comes to realize his unaccustomed earth is his own home in Massachusetts where his father's new family has effectively eradicated any trace of late mother's life. Lahiri poignantly shows how his journey is not about fitting in or settling down but embracing one's heritage to forge one's destiny in full. The final story is a bit anticlimactic with Hema and Kaushik meeting again in Italy. Regardless, the author is fully aware of how the world's irrationalities pose a constant challenge to her characters. She knows they remain true to themselves only by keeping vigil on their culture.

I finished reading "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri in about four days. To me, that's the first hallmark of a good book--that you want to keep on reading it.

One reason I was so motivated to keep on reading was that Lahiri writes such accessible characters. They grapple with issues we all do (parents not understanding you when you're young, the death of a parent, etc.). Lahiri's characters in this book are as human and flawed as the rest of us, in spite of (or maybe because of) the pressure put on them to be so successful.

Lahiri gives many of us a window into what it's like to grow up Indian in America. I like the way that she adds details about Indian culture, foods, etc., but not to the extent that it alienates or makes the story inaccessible to someone of non-Indian background like myself.

Her writing style, at least to me, seems basic in that it's not cluttered with a lot of florid adjectives and description. Yet the characters' stories still come across as real. She gets to the essence of these characters and leaves out what is unnecessary.

In reading some of the previous reviews, I do agree that Lahiri should try extending her range by writing about Indian or Indian-American characters outside of the highly educated class that seems to be a hallmark of her stories so far. While her stories do show a certain degree of variety and uniqueness, there is always the danger of producing stories of a uniform sameness if she's not careful.

Overall though, I definitely recommend this book, as well as her earlier "Interpreter of Maladies" collection.

It's good to see Jhumpa Lahiri working again in the art form that best suits her temperament, the short story. Although "The Namesake" garnered much attention and a movie, it was for me ultimately a failure as a novel, as too many small moments stretched out over too long a span and collapsed from boredom and exhaustion.

These stories, however, work very well. Lahiri gives us just enough small concrete moments and perceptions to sustain the experience of loss and of what the immigration experience means for those who are transported into the west from India. The characters are precisely and neatly drawn from closely observed but telling details. The subtle and not-so-subtle encroachment of U.S. culture and life into the India mindset, with its subsequent fallout of loss and emotional ambiguity, is clearly captured here.

This talented observer and careful writer is at her best again. I highly recommend this collection for everyone.

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to read Jhumpa Lahiri's previous works like Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake already know the lushness of her prose and the emotional depth of her characters when they read her latest collection of short stories. She again focuses on the intractable bridge between old and new cultures and generations in her piercing look at the lives of expatriate Bengalis and their first-generation American-born children. The precarious balance the younger generation discovers they need to maintain is more than recognizing the disparities between Asian and Western cultures. It becomes an introspective struggle between maintaining traditional values and assimilating into the meritocratic American system. Primarily in their thirties and often feeling adrift in this cross-generational quagmire, they are silently ambivalent about their parents, traversing between betrayal and awe in mercurial strokes.

Each of the eight stories is meticulously crafted by Lahiri to amplify her unifying theme with a minimum of contrivance. The title story focuses on an aging widower's visit with his daughter Ruma's family in Seattle. He has felt inordinately liberated since his wife's death, and now Ruma wants him to live permanently with her family. They struggle to reach a level of intimacy they have never known before. A similar struggle can be found in "Only Goodness", in which a rehabilitated alcoholic attempts to return to his estranged family through his elder sister. Even relationships that seem established on the surface such as the cross-cultural marriage at the center of the subtle "A Choice of Accommodations" unravel in small details as they travel to the wedding of an old friend. A non-Indian perspective is also represented in "Nobody's Business" where a student named Paul gets involved in the personal affairs of his housemate Sangeeta. A surprising jewel of a tale, "Hell-Heaven" spells out a housewife's attraction toward a younger man in subtly engrossing terms.

My favorite part of the book is the three-part story under the umbrella title of "Hema and Kaushik" that ends the collection because it best summarizes Lahiri's concept of assimilation, specifically coming to terms with a constant disorientation. The first story, "Once in a Lifetime", introduces us to the two characters as teens with Kaushik having just returned from India. The middle and best story, "Year's End", flashes forward with Kaushik having become a globetrotting photojournalist who comes to realize his unaccustomed earth is his own home in Massachusetts where his father's new family has effectively eradicated any trace of late mother's life. Lahiri poignantly shows how his journey is not about fitting in or settling down but embracing one's heritage to forge one's destiny in full. The final story is a bit anticlimactic with Hema and Kaushik meeting again in Italy. Regardless, the author is fully aware of how the world's irrationalities pose a constant challenge to her characters. She knows they remain true to themselves only by keeping vigil on their culture.

I finished reading "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri in about four days. To me, that's the first hallmark of a good book--that you want to keep on reading it.

One reason I was so motivated to keep on reading was that Lahiri writes such accessible characters. They grapple with issues we all do (parents not understanding you when you're young, the death of a parent, etc.). Lahiri's characters in this book are as human and flawed as the rest of us, in spite of (or maybe because of) the pressure put on them to be so successful.

Lahiri gives many of us a window into what it's like to grow up Indian in America. I like the way that she adds details about Indian culture, foods, etc., but not to the extent that it alienates or makes the story inaccessible to someone of non-Indian background like myself.

Her writing style, at least to me, seems basic in that it's not cluttered with a lot of florid adjectives and description. Yet the characters' stories still come across as real. She gets to the essence of these characters and leaves out what is unnecessary.

In reading some of the previous reviews, I do agree that Lahiri should try extending her range by writing about Indian or Indian-American characters outside of the highly educated class that seems to be a hallmark of her stories so far. While her stories do show a certain degree of variety and uniqueness, there is always the danger of producing stories of a uniform sameness if she's not careful.

Overall though, I definitely recommend this book, as well as her earlier "Interpreter of Maladies" collection.

Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth is spellbounding. Eight short stories woven so tightly together, it would take a great deal of stretching, bending or breaking to get them to unravel. Lahiri's strength - among many of them as a story teller - lies is the character development of the protagonists, their realities, anxities, dream and behaviour. I first read one of the stories 'Year's End' in the new Yorker a couple of months ago. It was about a young man's fathers second marriage. I loved it. And, imagine the bonanza with seven more of these wondereful tales.

As an Indian, I lived in North America in the 70s and 80s, watching a first generation of immigrants. Now, I watch their children, the people Lahiri writes about. I see them in the US, in India and in other parts of the world. In them are all the things Lahiri writes about - strength, confusion, conflicts - and torn between the culture they came from and the one they are part of. She is right on target about them.

Reading Lahiri is pure pleasure. Don't miss the book!

I love Alice Munro's short stories, and I don't want to snub her, but Lahiri's writing is that rare sort that comes along every fifty years or so. She is a master. I felt palpable anxiety in the story that dealt with alcoholism - that was one of my favorites, but that in no way touches the last three short stories of the book, which are connected. Not only did I cry upon finishing them (I read a lot, but I RARELY cry over fiction), but I reopened the book and re-read them immediately (that, truthfully, has NEVER happened).

I can't wait to read everything she's ever written. Could not recommend this book more highly.

I thought this book was one of the best collection of short stories that I have read, particularly in the context of an immigrant's perspective.

What I particularly enjoy about Jhumpa is that she writes about ordinary people and examines their tensions and anxieties, their joys and disappointments. Her characters are multi dimensional, and she is able to show that ordinary persons are interesting and even fascinating. In an era when literature, film and media is full of abnormal (improbable) characters, it is refreshing to find an artist who is able to appreciate and elevate the ordinary, and imbue it with extraordinary fullness and interest.

Of course from an immigrant's point of view, she fully explores the uncertainty, the aloneness, the ambiguity that many of us feel because of our lack of not being fully at home. She expresses the tensions we experience and does it with great compassion and gentleness; seldom providing answers, but always questioning and probing

A wonderful experience that I would recommend to everyone

I spent time reading this novel over the holiday weekend. I read it while working on a Saturday at a group home and I could virtually picture some of the setting details in the novel like huge houses with couch sectionals, stairs without railings and huge windows without curtains. In one of the interwoven stories a boy's family joins another for two weeks and falls in love with a girl whom it meets later on in the novel.

A big fan of the "Interpreter of Maladies", I couldn't wait for the release of this book. Again, Lahiri explores the lives of the Indian and Indian-American communities with an enlightening eye. Centered on the theme of regret, the stories are poignant, moving me to the point of tears with the first story in the collection.

"Unaccustomed Earth" has a more modern and contemporary feel in comparison to the "Interpreter of Maladies". Written simply, although it was easy to read, the words pack a lot of punch. I find "Unaccustomed Earth" to be less poetic than the "Interpreter", but is nevertheless a great read!

Unaccustomed Earth is Lahiri's third book, with two collections of short stories and one novel. She seems to know the immigrant experience, the loneliness, the out-of-sync feeling with the rest of the world. Her characters try to form new bonds and try to change to fit the new world in which they are living. The title comes from a Hawthorne quote that promotes the benefits moving into new soil, both for plants and for people. These benefits are subtle in the stories presented here and only occur after an initial crisis of transplanting takes place.

The stories in this book will leave you wanting more. The first story in particular ropes you in and at the end of the chapter you find yourself wondering how the characters lives will progress; what will happen with her father? what will happen to her marriage? Each one is a wonderful commentary on being a foreign person in a foreign land, and conveys a feeling of longing for a place to belong. Beautifully written. Great read.

I liked The Interpreter of Maladies...loved The Namesake (the movie more than the book--funny, it's usually the other way around, isn't it?) but wasn't drawn in by this one. I am from the same background (Bengali, Ivy League educated parents, etc) but that wasn't enough for me to give this book 4 or 5 stars. I liked the 1st three stories a little bit, but after that, I was bored with so much backstory and detail. Even within the 1st three stories themselves, I saw way too much of the cliche "telling without showing," going on. I literally fell asleep during one of the stories. This is not to say that she is not talented. She is. She's just not my cup of tea. I prefer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, especially her short story collection, "Arranged Marriage."

I, like other readers, felt that many of the characters and stories seemed very similar to Ms. Lahiri's other works. While this may be the case, I found it comforting. Though the characters are almost always Begali, they could easily be members of other groups. I think Ms. Lahiri touches on themes common to most people: loneliness, isolation, longing, etc. Ms. Lahiri is writing what she knows and she does it well.

I think at this point, I would expect these types of stories from Ms. Lahiri, just as people expect horror from Stephen King. Can you imagine if you read this book and it was all about Cuban immigrants in Miami? Maybe a lot of the same themes would apply, but it wouldn't be what you'd expect.

It's nice to open this book and find some familiar (but different) characters back in Boston (and beyond). But once you go past the surface, there is more than the Bengali experience. It's not the "Namesake" in small chunks or "Interpreter of Maladies" with a few new characters.

With that said, I'd definitely recommend "Unaccustomed Earth" to those who have not read Ms. Lahiri before and those who are coming back for more. While the settings are familiar, you don't need to have read any of her other books to thoroughly enjoy this one. Finally, I'd say the last two related stories alone are worth the price of admission, so to speak. Enjoy!

Lahiri is an amazing writer who truly understands people. Her subtle insights into Indian (upperclass) culture are revealing and, at times, delightful. She is gifted and talented and well deserving of the praise (and awards) she receives

The stories in this collection will tug at your heartstrings as the people face different life situations. Perhaps it is the author's ability to describe things so well that one feels the emotion or as if they are in a particular place that kept me reading. My favourite of all the stories is Hema and Kaushik two people who are reluctantly brought together briefly as children through a family friendship. They grow up only to meet later in life in very different circumstances and find that they still share alot despite being on separate paths. Overall, a really good read!

This is my first book by Jhumpa Lahiri and she didn't let me down. I was pleasantly surprised by the way she captures human emotions in each of her story. She has a wonderful writing style which doesn't let a moment go bored. The characters are nicely woven, makes the story flow effortless still making an impact on the readers. Its very rare to find a good collection of short stories and this is one to treasure. I've already ordered her other books. An author to keep in your watch-list.

When "The Interpreter of Maladies" was published in 2000 the only word one could use to describe Jhumpa Lahiri is phenom. Almost fifty years ago the young Southern writer Carson McCullers stunned the literary establishment with her debut novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," and here was another young unknown writer expressing the extraordinarily emotional moments of the everyday and ordinary in pristine and polished, mature and haunting prose.

"Unaccustomed Earth" is Jhumpa Lahiri's second collection of short stories. The title story is about a father, who recently lost his wife and who visits his daughter for one week. It's a story of two different people who have always misunderstood each other dealing in different ways with the grief of losing the most important person in their life. The father feels liberated, having thought that his wife was too demanding and strident. Recently retired he has also happily found a companion for his world travels. His daughter Ruma, who was very close with her mother, never allows herself to grieve, and instead opts to throw herself into motherhood, trying hard to repeat her mother's life. She leaves a legal career to focus on raising her son, is pregnant with a second child, and -- just like her mother -- is silently angry at a successful but absent husband.

Ruma takes one step further in becoming her mother by asking her father to stay with her. The father, now much wiser and freer, refuses, and wants to tell Ruma about his new companion but can't quite bring himself to doing it. In the end he subconsciously leaves a postcard to his companion where it can be easily found, and upon finding it Ruma is at first hurt and angry but finally mails it herself, thereby finally freeing her father.

This first story is by far the best story in this collection, and the rest in Lahiri's book disappoint with their triviality and inconsequence -- the biggest disappointment is a three-part saccharine story of two star-struck lovers which is just lame and silly.

There are two stories though that if developed to their full potential could have been great. There is a story of an Indian boy who goes to an elite American boarding school, and falls in love with the headmaster's daughter Pam, the symbol and embodiment of what he could never obtain. Two decades later he finds closure by attending Pam's wedding at the boarding school, where he makes passionate love with his wife in the same dorm room where he spent his teenage years haunted by his social ostracization.

And then there's another story of a sister and her alcoholic brother, and the hint that the gifted and handsome younger brother fell into alcoholism because of his devout love for his sister. It was she who snuck beer cans into his room, and when she went to college and they could no longer be together he might have turned to alcohol just to be with her again.

In both stories the promise that there's something deep and disturbing lurking under the surface is subtle. But it's way too subtle.

Jhumpa Lahiri is an extremely gifted writer, far more talented than any of her peers but it just doesn't seem as though she's trying hard enough. Lahiri needs to wrestle with her characters more, break away from them, and probe deeper into their dark psychologies. Her talent and her wisdom rival those of Raymond Carver -- the master of the short story -- and she needs to study more the brevity and depth of his prose. Lahiri's stories can be powerfully affecting at her best but Carver at his best is just absolutely devastating -- the beautiful poignancy of his prose reveals that he is haunted and plagued by his perceptions and understanding of the human condition in a way that no one can fully appreciate.

Alas, Lahiri's prose is beautiful and compelling enough for her to be able to get away with predictable plotlines and underdeveloped characters. Carson McCullers would never achieve the same success she had with her debut, and after reading "Unaccustomed Earth" one must wonder if Lahiri would share McCullers' fate.

Jhumpa Lahiri just has a way of drawing you in. She keeps her distance from her characters. They are kept at arm's length. I absolutely love the way she leaps ahead in time within a single paragraph, vaulting over unnecessary components of the story with ease. "A Choice of Accommodations" might be my favorite here, the palpable tensions in a seasoned relationship fueling a story about a visit to a familiar but unfamiliar place. "The information fell between them, valuable for the years he'd kept it from her, negligible now that he'd told." But "Only Goodness" is compellling to watch unfold, a gripping portrait of the strains in a family and, to me, about adjusting expectations. Some terrific images and writing throughout.

Loved this despite not particularly liking to read short story collections that much. I just never have really appreciated them. This is the first that I have really liked in a long while. She's such a colorful, thoughtful writer and I like that all the stories tie in to one another and come back around in some way. They also all relate to Massachusetts in some way. And I kind of dated an Indian guy (ten years younger than me) and I have very fond memories of him and think of him from time to time-- he was very sweet and an excellent kisser plus tall and thin.

Jhumpa Lahiri's writing always enables me to have a clear mental picture of the characters and their surroundings. The stories in the first half of the book weren't as engaging as some of her other short stories. Most of the stories had been previously published in the new yorker it would have been nice to see newer material in this book instead of her pulling old from past work. I did like how in the second half of the book (Hema and Kaushik) she wrote from both characters points of view and for the final story brought every thing together in the third person. This book is not her best work but I did still find it enjoyable.

I think this may be her best work yet. She completely and effortlessly drew me into the emotional worlds of her characters. I grew attached to them, triumphing in their victories and anguishing in their heartbreaks. The stories all had a sad air about them and there were no happy endings in a traditional sense, which made for a bittersweet read. As for the critics who claim Lahiri is just offering up "more of the same" cross cultural stereotypes, I think these powerful stories actually transcend race, gender, and class, and present universal themes of grief, loss, and familial and romantic love that can be appreciated by all. Although she might revisit some underlying issues from her previous works, these tales stand alone as works of pure art.

I read this several years ago and it is still one of my very favorites. My stepson bought it for me and I put off reading it, but when I eventually picked it up I loved each story. I recommend it all the time.

Usually I can't find the same fulfillment in short stories as in novels... but Lahiri's writing is beautiful and accomplishes in several pages what other writers need many chapters to do--she makes you care for her characters. As a grown woman with three children of my own, I marvel that Lahiri is able to take me back so completely to my relationship with my parents, my childhood, my culture... it is not surprising but still unifying to realize how much Indian culture has in common with my own European family back story.

The recorded book proved a good dramatization of the novel. A woman and a man shared the reading. Choudhury assumed the female narrators and Naidu the men's. Their light accents authenticated the Indian-American heritage of the storytellers. Other language from India, Italy, and elsewhere they rendered well. A few paragraphs made me stop the recording and reread what preceded. Either my mind had wandered or the reader rushed over the words. I listened with a copy of Unaccustomed Earth before me.

Yes, I am an Indian-American, and yes, when I read "Interpreter of Maladies" and then "The Namesake", I was one of the many who had that wonderful reaction elicited by so much of great literature - "This is my life story". I was amazed at Jhumpa Lahiri's pinpoint, heartbreaking characterization of "generational divides", the difficulty of making a way in the world all one's own, the clash and commingling of cultures. I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I literally cried during the entire movie adaptation of "The Namesake", it was that good.

I've grown older over the past decade, and so has Lahiri, but here we are in 2009 (well the book was published in 2008), and she is still cranking out much of the same writing workshop-perfect depictions of first and second generation immigrants - the small cracks present in the facade of everyday life, small victories, small defeats. She has stated numerous times in interviews that she deliberately stays within this realm of Bengali-American immigrants, and that's her prerogative as a human being and an artist; indeed there is a rich tradition of writers who've always written within their narrow social milieu. But here's the thing - three books into her career, Lahiri's writing for whatever reason is just not that interesting, and honestly seems largely recycled from her previous work.

Perhaps it's just me - and I probably will get a lot of negative ratings for this - but increasingly, I find this sort of small, micro-scale, little domestic conflicts kind of writing boring and largely irrelevant to our times. Our economy is failing, we are in numerous wars across the globe, many are struggling with what it means to be an American, health care is broken, century-old companies are going out of business, oil is running out, and here we have another little story about an upper class woman and her alcoholic brother, and alright, we get it you are Indian, well-off, second-generation, and you don't know which way to turn in your adult life, etc., etc. It's not all bad, the title story was well-crafted and pretty enjoyable, but Lahiri is too good of a writer to settle for "well-crafted and pretty enjoyable." Let's see more writing about big things, big issues, life and death, moral obligations, how to live as an American in trying times, what is really important. She gets at this in a lot of her stories, but again, all of it is just so muted, rehashed, and unoriginal - buildup, conflict, anticlimactic non-conclusions. Let's have big and bold and passionate instead of twee and small and fractured, and that goes for all art, not just fiction or Jhumpa Lahiri.

(For example, say what you will about Dave Eggers' often "too cute" website and early meta-experiments, I think he's started to understand the need for art that tangles with bigger issues, and you need look no further than What is the What? or the direction McSweeney's has taken in recent years for gorgeous, heartening evidence. Also, huge props to Ben Fountain and his engaged collection of short stories.)

Yes, there will always be a place and a market for this subject matter, and perhaps it's just a limitation of a pretty limited form, but in these times, unless a "domestic life" short story is incredibly well written and/or innovative (i.e. Charles D'Ambrosio), it's just, well, dull. I hate to criticize a writer who I love so much (and that's why I stayed with 3 stars), but I'm beginning to think she's one of those artists who burst onto the scene fully-developed and then go no-where. I hope she proves me wrong.

I was disappointed that this collection of what I see as novellas more than stories was (1) not designated as a collection on the bookjacket and (2) lacked the same literary voice as previous writing by Ms. Lahiri. The stories focused on the Bengali/American culture clash and family relationships in general, but lacked the elegant, flowing language of prior writings by this talented author. I hope this is merely a temporary lapse. Many writers produce a book that falls short of the extraordinarily high bar set by the body of work which preceded it. I think that is the case here. I remain a fan of Ms. Lahiri's cultural insights and sympathetic characterizations.

I have read Jhumpa Lahiri's other books and novel, but this book I did not want to set down. I'm an 18 year old girl so you would guesss that reading isnt exactly in my list of things to do, but this book was so captivating and the characters were so surreal it was hard to not keep reading. You could relate to them so easily even if you arent bengalia or indian. It's a lot to do with just human nature and that is something anyone would be able to relate too. She got a bit more emotional with her stories and explored more of the characters feelings. Which really makes you feel closer to each and every character and keeps you guessing on whats to come. All in all this book was great I would recommend this to anyone who is open-minded :) really changes you views on people and life :D

Great Job Jhumpa!! Best work yet!

This book has multiple stories and each deals with different stages of Desi's life interwined with their American Born Confused Desis(ABCD) or American lived Confused Desis (ALCD) life.

The story "Unaccustomed Earth" deals with the life of an Old Indian man who is settled in America and tries to be live a single independant American life where as his ABCD daughter wants him to be with her as a typical indian culture.

Then the most notable story deals with the rude awakening of the fact that even ABCD's can become drunkards, throw their life over alcohol.

"Kaushik and Me" is a great stroy told from the narrator's point of view regarding the adjustment of life of 2 teenagers who cross each other's life for a brief moment and meet later only to have their heart broken.

The book through stories discusses how Desi's try to assimilate and lose their values( drugs, alcohol and Sex).

Overall a rude awakening to the desis of America.

From the first few words of Jhumpa's stunning first story, you know you are reading her.....the style is simple but very much hers.
I particularly loved the title story, and feel its her best yet. On the whole I liked this better than "Interpreter..."
I agree with one of the other reviewers however. As an Indian who moved here in the 90s, I'm stuck between the two generations of Indians (always refered to as Bengalis in her book...Bengalis happen to be from India but are known for a slight strain of chauvinsim, shall we say) she describes. I've adopted most of the ways of people who live here and still have ties to my home in India. I still can relate to their stories however. I just wish she would depart every once in a while and populate her stories with people who are slightly different. Maybe Indians with Blue Collar jobs or Gay Indians or whatever else. Jhumpa, you've lived here long enough to have been touched by people who didn't go to Harvard or Columbia, didn't grow up in affluent Boston suburbs and don't have perfect careers (but silent personal struggles)...
Its like I'm hearing variations of the same (albeit beautiful) song over and over again.

I read the first story in this collection with a lump in my throat. The way Lahiri describes her characters and their stories is so simple, yet so incredibly heart wrenching that I found myself aching along with the characters. Her writing is amazingly simple, no overwrought descriptions or tediousness, but I just found myself gliding into her characters' lives and feeling all the emotions: the loss of loved ones, sadness, isolation and hope. I think her stories are so universal that everyone can find something to relate to. Read this book--you will not be disappointed. The stories and emotions will linger long after you put it down.

Jhumpa Lahiri is a very engaging writer. Understandably, all her stories reflect a part of the expat Indian experience, usually in an Ivy League setting of some sort, but there's an overall veracity that resonates with non-Indians (such as myself) as well. This is the third book of hers that I've read, and I devoured them all with gusto. I love her writing, her characterizations, and the truthfulness that comes across. I cannot recommend her work highly enough. Very enjoyable!

Yes, we've been here before, as one reviewer says. But "predictable", NO. Lahiri writes about Bengalis who have left their country to raise their families in the US. The themes are recurring, some of the characters are similar and have similar experiences. You get the feeling that many of them probably know each other. But the characters are full-bodied and their stories have all of the immediacy and unexpected turns of real life. (The second generation gets a few surprises from their parents in this collection.) Her pitch-perfect word choice is enough to keep me reading. Just as when I finished her other books, I want more!

This review is a result of the audio book version which is highly recommended. The stories in this collection are excellent and each one is so poignant.

All of the stories are about Bengali people (individuals and families) who have immigrated to the United States. Each story deals with real life issues involving parents, siblings and lovers, and such topics as death, loss and longing across two cultures.

Ms. Lahari continues to create strong characters who stay with readers after the story has ended. I have read all of her books and this one does not disappoint.

The author tells individual stories of people whose lives are joined somehow. Sometimes the connections are not clear and the tales do not have happy, storybook endings but they are told with an understated mastery which is very satisfying.

Being critical and judgemental, I am usually moved to write a review when I think a book is being over praised. In this case, overpraising is impossible. While lacking the elusive, magical dimension of The Interpreter of Maladies, these stories may be even better in their depth, warmth, and maturity.

As is usual in Lahiri, the stories focus on people raised in two cultures, Bengali and American, and not feeling fully a part of either. An additional theme of this book is withdrawal and withholding from others, failing to make a vital connection. This is illustrated often by withholdoing information. In the title story, an aging, widowed father withholds the secret of his new found independence and love affair from his adult daughter while on a visit to her home where he bonds with his grandson. In "Only Goodness" a wife withholds the secret of her brother's alcoholism from her husband until it is almost too late. In a third, part of a linked series of three stories, a family withholds the knowledge that the mother is dying from the family that shelters them in American. In this case, the secret deepens the bond of the son and daughter of each family.

I did not want this book to end. I wish she would write more.

I am typically not a fan of short stories as I find the development of the characters lacking and just as you develop a relationship (of sorts) the story is cut and the next begins.

Unaccustomed Earth was an exception. The stories are neither complex or heavily worded but simple and straight-forward. The theme continues through the book with some stories being tied together to form a whole.

While I certainly do not believe her stories tell the tale of all Indian existence in the US or abroad I appreciate them for what they are and how beautifully they are shared with the reader.

I could not put the book down: an enjoyable read.

As always, Lahiri's short stories resonate with me in a truly hauntingly romantic way. Her prose and character development, while some complain are overdeveloped and stagnant or lackluster, are stunningly beautiful in my opinion. Yes, it is true that she 'recycles' bits of her characters into different stories and even novels, but the way in which she does so doesn't alienate the reader, it (at least in my case) makes them fall in love with the now familiar characters. Her writing is transcendent in ways I can't explain.

I've enjoyed Ms. Lahiri since her early days as a short story writer. Her biggest criticism is that her writing is simple, using the vocabulary of a middle-schooler. But this does injustice to her clear and powerful prose, her attention to detail, and her honesty in relating the Indian immigrant and 1st generation experience. Ms. Lahiri's writing is not a multi-layered cake, but a simple flan done to perfection. It's smooth, pure and genuine, tasting of each ingredient without fuss. The anti-Salman Rushdie.

Jhumper Lahiri is doing for America's Bengali community what Saul Bellow, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Bernard Malamud did for the Jews of America-and Lahiri lives comfortably with these greats.
Five short stories of love in a foreign climate-Bengali's adapting to America-and three forming a novella of the unfulfilled love between Hema and Kaushik.
These are stories to savour,that are completely satisfying on every level.
This is writing of Nobel prize standard without a doubt.

This book is a series of stories and the first story hooked me immediately. It really pulled at my heart chakra. It was subtle and beautiful. As I read the first story on the plane, I found that I was often smiling to myself, as the interaction between the grandfather and grandson really touched me...not in a sentimental way, but in a subtle and deep way...if that makes any sense at all.

I found that with the start of each new story, I was a wee bit reluctant to leave the last characters behind, so it took me a few pages to get into each story. But once I was in, I really enjoyed it.

The last section - three stories about two characters named Hema and Kaushik - was just exquisite. That is the best and really perfect word to describe this piece of work. Lahiri says so much about connection and karma and the complexity of origin, love and loss, without saying anything at all specifically about those topics. The intereaction between the characters is everything. Lahiri is an excellent story-teller. Her style is steady, subtle and powerful all at the same time. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how humans connect with one another in various ways, or in the many, many different permutations of the concepts of family and origin.

As a lover of short stories and a fan of Lahiri's other works, I was not disappointed by her latest collection. Her way with words is detailed without becoming boring or superfluous, and her insight into her characters' hearts and minds leaves you wanting so much more. My only suggestion is that if you're a softy like me, you should find yourself something more upbeat to read after this selection. Like many beautiful works of fiction about love and family, this book might leave you a little heavy-hearted. Other than that, it's a beautiful addition to any bookshelf.

(Note: I'm not Indian but have had plenty of Indian students, colleagues,
and friends.)
Interpreter of Maladies was probably the best short story collection I
have ever read. With The Namesake, Lahiri tried the novel form and
it just didn't fit her. Now she has found the perfect form for her.
I'd call these "short stories" because of the format but they have
the length of a (short) novella. This allows them to be meatier,
and yet she retains that wonderful sense of detail which makes her
such a joy to read. Again it is the quintessential American story,
the first and (more often) second generation Americans balancing (in her
case) Indian roots and American styles. Again it is the successful
parents worrying (with or without cause) about their Americanized
children. For the first time there is a story (about a young
woman named Sang, but I won't give it away) that was in parts
very amusing. Lahiri is a treasure -- and she's back!

Lahiri's latest is another completely satisfying, beautifully crafted collection of short stories. Resonating with emotional depth, Lahiri's chief strength is her subtlety. She can talk about things that all of us often feel but struggle to find words for. And her words are lyrical! Insightful but gentle, not intrusive. and somehow deeply satisfying.

The view of some that Lahiri's latest book is a retread inspires me to respond and defend this extraordinary writer. While it is true that she revisits characters with many similarities in profile (American-born of Bengali heritage, well-educated, often in the Boston area), it is my view that this strengthens her tales. By focusing on a specific and in some ways narrowly defined population, she is able to dig far deeper into the shared human experience underlying their outer trappings. So what if a character went to an Ivy League school? If her sibling is alcoholic, if she bought and hid for him beer when he was a teen, her guilt can be universally understood. The depth of her empathy and knowingness about human nature and the dynamics of relationships always leaves me breathless. At the end of this book I had tears in my eyes, feeling that I'd grown up with Hema and Kaushik, knew them that well, and had now seen a real event intervene in their lives. Her writing may not be for everyone, but make no mistake, her focus is not narrow but very deep.

a collection of short stories, this book is a great short read. some stories i did like much more than others but ovreall all of them were good. i especially like the last 3 stories that were connected. each story kinda ended at a climax and left you wanting. some amazing quotes about how scary it is to leave your child alone.

I don't read much fiction. I made an exception to my usual reading fare after watching The Namesake movie a really long time ago. I actually intended to pick up The Namesake, but seeing it was sold out settled on Unaccustomed Earth.

Jhumpa Lahiri can do things with words that I can only dream about. Fiction and non-fiction, I thought this was the best book I read in 2008.

I thought I would dislike short stories. Many times they give too few details and the stories become easily forgotten. These short stories did not disappoint and will certainly not be easily forgotten.

Jhumpa Lahiri has done it again. What a beautiful collection of stories. Some previous reviewers have been critical of her material, but I continue to find her characters interesting both in their very human situations and in their cultural diversity. The fist thing you are taught in a writing class is to "write about what you know." Lahiri does this with amazing style and insight. While her characters may be, for the most part, Bengali, the situations they are in are universal. As in her previous works, you can get a sense of Lahiri's own past, and that is wonderful.

I thought The Interpreter of Maladies was good, but this is even better. I most often prefer reading novels, but I have enjoyed Lahiri's stories so much. The length of the stories of the stories has a lot to do with it. Most are 50-60 pages. The last 3 stories are especially compelling. They follow 2 characters at various times in their lives: when they are children, in adolescence and later in their 30's.

Highly recomended.

Following the enormously successful 'The Interpreter of Maladies' and 'The Namesake', Ms. Lahiri weaves a beautiful set of stories in this evocative collection.
In her inimitable style, we view the world in the persona of the protagonists - taciturn, often Bengali. They do much of the "talking" sans dialogue, expressing their complex and deep emotions about the world around them. It is here that Ms.Lahiri's literary magic really becomes apparent. She paints broad brush strokes of time and emotion yet is remarkably descriptive of the smallest facets, taking us into the mind of her characters. In amazing detail, she outlines the smallest bits of scenery, without ever sounding verbose or dull. While one may not have ventured to all of her locales - Calcutta, Seattle or her favorite Ivy League settings in the northeast or an autumnal Italy, her vivid descriptions enable us to be right there. For the first half of the book, we are taken for 50-60 pages at a time into the lives of Ruma, a daughter who feels a strong sense of duty towards her widowed father who visits her and bonds with his grandson, all while concealing his secret love affair, to the "crush" of a married woman for another man as seen through the eyes of her daughter. The couple Megan and Amit who attend a weekend wedding with their own marriage having a crisis moment to Sudha grappling with her guilt at her brother's alcoholism to the story of Paul who harbors unreciprocated feelings for his housemate Sang and is drawn into her life in a manner he never anticipates. The second half of the book deals with the stories of Hema and Kaushik as their lives intersect as kids, the secret and kinship they share, Kaushik's life and a chance encounter decades later that leaves so much behind and yet doesn't.

One does not have to be Bengali or even Indian to appreciate the universal appeal of the human stories she deftly weaves - infidelity, familial interactions with parents and siblings, love, loss and longing and of course her themes of straddling two cultures. It is true that she is not venturing into unexplored territory in this novel. She writes as before, of (Indian) immigrants who struggle to adjust and who build their own little bubbles. But the feelings are global as is Kaushik the photojournalist who thinks "he had so little to do with India.....and yet.....he was always regarded as an Indian first".
The subset of people who may have roots in both Calcutta and the US is probably limited. A few uniquely Bengali mentions - a grimy "flat" in Maniktala, chanachur (an Indian snack for "tea" time), Haldiram's (purveyor of the same) and words like dada and boudi (for elder brother and sister-in law often not used in a strict relational sense) merely ignite a sense of kinship with the author. Her richly textured writing make these literary easter eggs all the more savory while one knows that almost everyone is likely to find situations, feelings and characters that they can relate to.
Some of the stories do not really come to "fruition" in a conventional sense. The complexities of what may transpire next are left to our imaginations. The characters and their stories leave a sense of poignancy that lasts long after.

After reading The Namesake, I knew what basic style and subject matter to expect from Lahiri. She did not disappoint with this collection of short stories. The generational differences represented in addition to the juxtaposition of the Indian and American cultures allows the reader to empathize with the characters even though many of us have never experienced life in quite the same way. I can understand why some reviewers felt downtrodden by these stories because the weight of them was overwhelming at times, but there is something to be said for taking the author at her word about the validity or at least the possibility of such a turn of events. The vignette style of most of the stories is reminiscent, to me, of Joyce's Dubliners, leaving something unresolved and yet natural and "real life" feeling. I have never experienced a book before where the cover was part of the story in a way that the narrative did not directly express. If you've read the book you'll understand, but the experience was so intriguing to me that I won't spoil it!

Lahiri's stories are described as a slow burn. This is most evident in this collection. Each story seemingly plods on, but at the end of each one, the reader sees it all come together. I absolutely loved the final story, which was more like a novella. It perfectly described the joys and pitfalls of illicit romance. I felt as if this collection took on cultural identity in a more subtle way than Lahiri's two other books. The characters are all Bengali, but they are somehow also more American than the characters in 'Interpreter of Maladies' and 'The Namesake'. I don't know if this is a function of Lahiri growing as a writer or if it was done intentionally. Either way, she's done a bang up job.

Lahiri continues to delight with her latest offering. This was as excellent as her other stories. Her writing is careful and sparse, complimenting the subtlety of her subject matter. Her displaced ethnic subject, underpinning most of her work, adds a sense of the exotic. We don't really understand, nor can we possibly understand, because eastern blood doesn't run in our veins. The people of color in her stories are "in" our world, but not "of" our world. They don't really understand it all, so how can we? I love her work. My only wish is for her to write faster, so there is more of it to read.

In UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, Jhumpa Lahiri continues to impress with her clear-eyed attention to the smallest details of human conflicts. In these emotionally resonant short stories, she presents a diverse assembly of complex, sympathetic, three-dimensional characters. Several reader-reviewers have criticized Lahiri for focusing on Ivy League-educated, upper-middle-class Bengalis - these reviewers should realize that academic success and financial well-being are common among immigrant Bengalis in the U.S. What is remarkable to me is how authentically wide-ranging the characters' experiences are, despite their common roots and status. It is the author's perspicacity and meticulous crafting which make the prose in these stories appear simple and fluid.

I could not drag myself past page 50. Every page seemed so leaden, with the convenience of plot the main drive, rather than anything real or interesting.

I believe that this sort of storyline of hidden family secrets and immigrant experience has been drained of all originality. These stories aren't bad, they're just not new. And that doesn't keep me reading.

Lahiri's prose is melodious and full. Her characters are gently coaxed into the light. She weaves a unique tapestry of interconnected stories and by the end, they all come together as one. Not everyone may be a fan but I would recommend this book to anyone. Her style is original.

I was mesmerized by the writing in this book. Many characters were so well drawn that then the story about them came to an end, I was almost in mourning. I wanted to hear more, to follow them longer. Although I am not of Bengali (or even Indian) heritage, all these stories spoke to me. They talk of universal issues, with tenderness and understanding. A stunningly good book.

Without a doubt, Lahiri is a gifted writer able to draw a vivid image, but do we really need another story of the children of Bengali parents in America. Why can no one have a happy, fulfilling relationship in any story? If you've never read any of her work, by all means, this is worth the read, but if you've read the others, you've already read this one. Perhaps Ms. Lahiri needs some Prozac and therapy.

It was definitely entertaining (I might have used "gripping" if it were a novel) enough to from cover to cover without a break. Even though it was about immigrant families from West Bengal (which I have never visited) living mostly on the East Coast of America (in cities and towns I have never heard of), she created a sense of association, call it connection, with the characters.

The little girl torn between two different cultures at home and at school, the teenager struggling in college and thereafter to prove herself, the accomplished professional resigning to an arranged marriage "to fix it", the expectant mom of a toddler, the parents wanting their kids to have the best of both worlds... they all hit home for this particular audience. Not sure if it would be the same outside the diaspora.

I always like Jhumpa Lahiri's work. This is an easy-reading, gentle set of short stories with Lahiri's usual subject matter of Indians and their cultural adjustments to Western life, generational conflict, etc. The final set of stories is somewhat heartbreaking in many ways. She's great at creating characters and settings and bringing the little tiny things in life out to reveal culture. I enjoyed the book and learned more about Bengalis than I had known before.

I don't know how she does it, but Jhumpa Lahiri had me from the first story for wrote in Interpreter of Maladies. Powerful, spot on portrayals of having one foot in two cultures. The final series of stories ends in an emotional, incredible explosion that only Lahiri could navigate without turning maudlin or trite. Brilliant work.

You don't need to be Russian to appreciate Chekhov nor Canadian to appreciate Munro nor Irish to appreciate Trevor. You don't need to be Indian nor Bengali nor Asian to appreciate Lahiri either. She writes about everyone; she writes about Bengali-Americans I guess because she knows what their names are, how they dress, what they eat, and how they call their parents.

Amazingly well written. Now I'll have to read The Namesake. Her insight into human nature is profound. I especially loved the 3 stories in part 2 that followed two children from two Bengali families as they grew into adulthood. Short story writing at its best.

Fabulous stories, warm with great insight into the heart. As the daughter of immigrants (not Bengali ) I understood so much of feeling like a stranger in your own life. But the souls are universal and needs are ubiquitous.

Lahiri has such a simple way of writing simple stories. Yet the straight-forwardness of her prose leaves much to the imagination and doesn't waste your time with lengthy, pretentious elaboration. Shakespeare said, "Brevity is the soul of wit." Lahiri understands this perfectly.

Unaccustomed Earth is a beautiful follow up to Interpreter of Maladies, which I had read and loved. Here, Jhumpa Lahiri returns to similar subject matter, the everyday lives of Bengali immigrants. Her characters remain, as ever, complex, well wrought creations that you feel you know intimately. I loved every story in this collection especially the long one at the end, which is more like a short novel. Lahiri's beautiful writing, her great story-telling ability, and deep sense of human sympathy make her works a pleasure to read. I could easily return to Unaccustomed Earth and read it again and probably with as much enjoyment as I did the first time.

Lahiri did her audience a favor with this one. These stories are beautiful and give readers a vivid glimpse into Bengali-American culture. The simplicity of the prose is stark yet moving. Several of the stories have a reoccurring theme of losing the matriarch in the family, however each group handles it differently. It's wonderful to see how two characters of her stories collide later in life but painful to watch the decisions they make unfold. I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone!

Unfortunately, I have to agree with those who have raised issues with Lahiri's single-minded focus on one group of people, telling and retelling the same story but in separate settings and with slight variations.

Do not get me wrong--Lahiri is an extremely talented writer, but this collection is not as "piercing" or "raw" as her Interpreter of Maladies. Nonetheless, UE is a wonderful, hard-to-put down book. You get drawn to the characters, their well-being, their flaws.

Here is another fixation of Lahiri's that I've seen now in story after story, and it is getting tiresome: cultural assimilation and inter-racial marriages. She is obsessed with mixed marriages, and yes they happen, and it's no big deal. But with Lahiri, it seems to happen all the time, as in every story. The majority of Indians still marry Indians among the first generation here. Once in a while, she should showcase that reality, with the truth and emotion that she treats mixed marriages with.

And yes there is assimilation. It happens in all societies. But Lahiri has an uncanny ability of picking out the most fractured, f***d up people you can find. And this is not an honest representation of 1st generation of Indians here.

Masterful. Lahriri's characters are so unique that they live on in your mind long after finishing the book. I'm am still enraptured by "Interpreter of Maladies," but I felt "Unaccustomed Earth" was more emotional and complete.

Jhumpa Lahiri has given us nothing short of literary gems, but she needs to experiment with different minerals, different cuts. "Write what you know," as they say, but I'm sure Ms. Lahiri's experience and immagination embraces more than Bengalis at home and abroad. I will be disappointed if new stories from this very gifted writer continue to begin in the vein of "Ananya fidgeted with her bangles and the ravika of her sari as she waited for Satrajit, her parent's favored candidate for her hand, to arrive from MIT where he had just secured a professorship in astrophysics......." Lahiri's is an interesting and compelling literary universe, but unlike the real one, not inexhaustible.

Each of the stories deals with acculturation and relationships, and each stands out as a character study of how people find their way when faced with conflicting values and loyalties. Some of the stories took my breath away, particularly the last 3, which are interwoven.I found myself thinking of these characters long after I finished the book.

Although all the stories in this collection are beautiful and relatable; it is the second part of the book that leaves you enthralled by Lahiri's exact depiction of emotions.

The last story brings together the first 2 stories of the second part; and it's only after finishing the last line do you completely realize the comprehensiveness of the title of the book and the image on the cover.

As the Oprah Magazine quoted "Ferociously good..emotionally precise".

I am usually not a short story reader (basically never) but this book intrigued me. What beautiful writing and heart-warming/heart-rendering stories! I couldn't put the book down and can't wait to read the Namesake.

Jhumpa Lahiri has given us nothing short of literary gems, but she needs to experiment with different minerals, different cuts. "Write what you know," as they say, but I'm sure Ms. Lahiri's experience and immagination embraces more than Bengalis at home and abroad. I will be disappointed if new stories from this very gifted writer continue to begin in the vein of "Ananya fidgeted with her bangles and the ravika of her sari as she waited for Satrajit, her parent's favored candidate for her hand, to arrive from MIT where he had just secured a professorship in astrophysics......." Lahiri's is an interesting and compelling literary universe, but unlike the real one, not inexhaustible.

Each of the stories deals with acculturation and relationships, and each stands out as a character study of how people find their way when faced with conflicting values and loyalties. Some of the stories took my breath away, particularly the last 3, which are interwoven.I found myself thinking of these characters long after I finished the book.

Although all the stories in this collection are beautiful and relatable; it is the second part of the book that leaves you enthralled by Lahiri's exact depiction of emotions.

The last story brings together the first 2 stories of the second part; and it's only after finishing the last line do you completely realize the comprehensiveness of the title of the book and the image on the cover.

As the Oprah Magazine quoted "Ferociously good..emotionally precise".

I am usually not a short story reader (basically never) but this book intrigued me. What beautiful writing and heart-warming/heart-rendering stories! I couldn't put the book down and can't wait to read the Namesake.

Jhumpha Lahiri always has a great writing style and ability to explore relationships between characters. This is again a short stories that are really good. I have read her earlier two books. I think she needs to move to different set of domain as I do see repetitions of Indian immigrants in American that to only in Boston & New York. Most of her characters are also very elite. I hope she tries to change her demographics in her next venture.

Man! This book should be retitled, Eight of the Most Depressing Stories in the World. Normally, I don't have a problem with depressing; in fact I find tragedy to be somewhat cathartic. But this was not that. This was, "I just spent the entire day watching T.V. and eating cheetos" depressing or "I have an Abba song stuck in my head" depressing. Despite the fact that Lahiri is a wonderful writer who is quite adept at capturing everyday minutia in compelling ways, I just can't give this one a thumbs up.

Unaccustomed Earth is filled with tepid marriages, disillusioned scholars, bored bon-bon eating housewives, haggard and guilt-ridden working mothers, dysfunctional parent-child relationships, not to mention death, disease, depression, drug abuse, divorce and natural disasters. After reading this, I can't help but ask, Is there such a thing as a reasonably happy Indian person living in America? I'm guessing Lahiri would answer, "No."

Her stories are all very similar. They're really quite engaging at first. I have to give her that. But she never provides a sense of closure and she really doesn't like good endings. Her stories either leave you hanging or very, very sad. I won't be reading any more of her books in the future.

With UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, Jhumpa Lahiri can lay claim with good reason to being the finest short story writer in America today. This book, her second collection of short stories with the full-length novel THE NAMESAKE sandwiched between, is a masterful collection of affecting tales about family life and individual self-discovery. While Lahiri's focus is relentlessly drawn toward what might be termed the "Bengali-American experience," her stories express rich underlying elements of universality, allowing them to transcend the mere "new American immigrant" genre. She shows yet again that she is a marvelous craftswoman of the short story art form and its language (words, imagery, and symbolism).

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH is eight stories, divided into two sections. The first section contains five distinct short stories, beginning with the near-novella length title story that is certainly the collection's finest. In that piece, a daughter of Indian descent, Ruma, welcomes her unexpectedly widowered father with trepidation to her new home in Seattle. Ruma is married to a Caucasian named Adam, and they have a young son named Akash. In every respect the young family is a model of mixed marriage and, in Ruma's case, full cultural assimilation. Nevertheless, her father's visit promises to force Ruma to confront the inevitable fissures that appear between first and second generation immigrant families. Travel to new countries or settling into new lands, postcards of foreign places, the soil in gardening, and measurement of distances all serve in symbolic support to the story's title, but it is a simple misplaced and unmailed postcard that pulls everything together into a poignant ending.

Lahiri's other four stories in the first section have similar themes. In "Hell-Heaven," a young woman recalls her childhood when a fellow Bengali became a family friend and part of her (and, surprisingly, her mother's) life. In "A Choice of Accommodation," (another title laden with multiple meanings), a middle-aged, mixed marriage couple (Amit and Megan) rediscover themselves and a bit of their previously unstated history during a friend's wedding held at Amit's old boarding school. In "Only Goodness," a model Bengali daughter named Sudha, married and a new mother, tries to cope with her younger brother Rahul's alcoholic failings and her likely role in making him what he has become. Of all the characters in this book, it is Rahul who comes across most powerfully.

The second part of the book contains three intertwined stories involving two characters, one female and one male, at different stages of their lives. Hema and Kaushik are first thrown together by circumstances of the latter's parents having relocated to India and then returned to the Boston area. Hema's family agrees to put Kaushik's family up until they can find a new house of their own, turning Hema's life upside down and even tossing her from her bedroom (now occupied by the three-year-older Kaushik) and onto a cot in her parents room. Tragedy looms behind these events, but it is one which Hema's family is not aware. The first story is told from Hema's viewpoint, the second about three years later from Kaushik's, and the third about twenty years later from both viewpoints. As with her opening story "Unaccustomed Earth," Lahiri finds an ending that, while somewhat contrived, is nonetheless touching.

It is only in this final piece, "Going Ashore" (again a title with multiple meanings), that Lahiri brings her narratives into the present day. The earlier stories appear to take place mostly in about the 1980's, with references to VCR's and record players and telephones with long extension cords. They seem oddly removed from everyday reality, as if they represented a sort of wistful backward stare at a different era, to a time when America was still a shining light on a hill and India was a place to escape before the Internet age and globalization changed some of the balance in their relationship. By the time of "Going Ashore," both Hema and Kaushik are adrift in global waters, world citizens who travel freely, lack strong personal attachments, and exist without the roots of family and place and culture that those of the prior generation clearly demonstrated in the earlier stories. Even their careers are disassociative: Hema's as a researcher of the ancient Etruscan civilization, Kaushik's as a photographer of world events who stands forever outside the very events whose images he captures.

If I had one criticism of UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, it would be Lahiri's seemingly incessant focus on one group of Bengalis, the academically-striving, economically prosperous, high achievers. Story after story expresses variations on the same themes from among the same types of people. Lahiri offers repeated mixed marriages (Ruma and Adam, Pranab and Deborah, Amit and Megan, Sudha and Roger Featherstone, Rahul and Elena). Nearly everyone is a PhD - perhaps that is what makes Rahul and Kaushik seem so refreshingly real - and everyone is an academic overachiever whose alma maters would make even US News & World Report blush - Princeton, MIT, Radcliffe, Harvard Medical School, Columbia, U Penn, London School of Economics, Cornell, NYU, Bryn Mawr, Tufts, Colgate, Swarthmore. One character has actually been slumming as a physics professor at Michigan State, but thankfully he's finally on his way to the more acceptable MIT. There must be other Bengalis in America worth writing about, and there must be other stories that do not lead one to paraphrase Tolstoy with, "Every happy Bengali family is alike, and every unhappy Bengali family is also unhappy in the same way."

Here's hoping that Ms. Lahiri can apply her brilliant writing skills (...clusters of swallows like giant thumbprints swiping the sky...") to a broader canvas in future works; the results promise to be stunning. In the meantime, be pleased as a reader to sit quietly and relish a master at work in these eight compelling and emotionally satisfying short stories. They are well worth the time.

This is my favorite Jhumpa Lahiri book, and she is my favorite author. It really doesn’t get better than this! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to fall under the spell of a master storyteller.

Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the people she knows best. Although all the stories deal with Bengali families, the incidents could be common to any Indian family living in the USA, and any non-resident Indian (NRI) can relate to them. She preys on the reader's emotions throughout the book, with a rather gut-wrenching finale to most of the stories.

Jhumpa's new collection is pleasant reading alright but lacks the spark that was felt in her "Interpreter of Maladies". She constantly speaks of the routine culture shocks and thereafters of the bengalis from west bengal who migrated to the West. But I must say that the greater diaspora of the majority muslim bengalis and their struggles are all too absent. Also the hard life that the non-previldged bengalis of both varieties faced in the foreign lands are not strongly reflected.

Excellent book! Well written! Because of the way the book is sectioned off into "short" stories, it can prove to very interesting for people who aren't accustomed reading and who are trying to get into the habit. The ending of the final story is particularly memorable...

I believe it's usually one of 2 reasons: either the topic does not interest you, or the story in itself is dull. In my case it's the second reason. While I was very interested in reading the experiences of people whose culture I don't really know, I found the stories to be very very dull. Sure, life experiences can be dull or full of emotion, however, as said by a previous review, the characters seem to never achieve a level of neither a good positive experience or a bad enough experience so that some excitement is transmitted to the reader. That kind of excitement that causes the reader not to be able to put down the book. It's like a good lullaby song, it puts me to sleep.

Unaccustomed Earth was selected by my book club. I wasn't sure what to expect, and found it to be a well-written, thought provoking book. I found the cultural clashes between family members worthy of discussion with my book club as they involve many grey areas. I really enjoyed the second half of the book with each section focusing on a different perspective of a character in the overall story being shared.

Jumpha Lahiri is undoubtedly a brilliant writer. The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies were fantastic. I do agree with two of the criticisms made by other readers.
1) Compared to her earlier works, she seems to have developed a more melodramatic style that seems contrived. It was more like reading Chitra Banerjee Divikaruni (who I enjoy because Ms. Divikaruni writes melodrama quite naturally by the way)--it seemed forced from Ms. Lahiri.
2) I also agree that the characters lacked variety after a while. The characters were definitely not as engaging as her prior works.
Nontheless, she is brilliant and engaging.

These stories where beautiful. Lahiri seemed to push the enveloped a little more with this book, and the result is a beautiful work of prose. I couldn't put this one down. It was fantastic. Again, her stories deal with love, friendship, marriage and tragedy, making her characters real to her readers.

If you read, "Interpreter of Maladies" and liked it, you will love this!

Despite being a prolific writer, Lahiri fails to offer something unique and new in her third book. All her stories are marked with predictability, repetition and sameness. Probably her imagination is limited to her own Bengali immigrant experience. Nevertheless, she has an innate ability to handle complex emotions and this sustains interest in her stories.

Lahiri's short stories are beautifully written - her language is simple, succinct and forceful - but her themes are unvarying. Having read _Interpreter of Maladies_ and _The Namesake_, I've begun to find her work much too predictable for my liking.

Ever since the publication of her mesmerizing, Pulitzer Prize winning debut collection, Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri has established herself as one of modern fiction's most powerful voices. The stories in that collection showcased what was to become Lahiri's trademark: acute psychological observations, eloquent writing, detailed descriptions, and a fiercely intelligent structure. As in poetry, each word feels carefully chosen, yet the overall ease with which the narratives flow belies the effort that undoubtedly went into them. "Interpreter of Maladies" also served to debut Lahiri's dominant theme in that each story featured Indian characters struggling to adapt to new surroundings after immigrating to the U.S. Her sophomore effort, The Namesake: A Novel expanded this theme into a wonderful full-length novel about the gap between a boy born and raised in America and his immigrant parents, who cling to their old traditions and ways of life. Lahiri, who was herself born in London but raised in New England, has made a career out of telling stories of cultural displacement, and until now she never once faltered when it came to crafting a powerful story.

"Unaccustomed Earth" marks Lahiri's return to the short story format, and while I had been looking forward to it with high anticipation, the product is surprising. Perhaps Lahiri succeeded at the transition from short stories to novels a little too well, because suddenly it feels like she has much more to say in an all-too-limited page count. The shortest story in the collection is "Hell-Heaven," which at twenty-four pages would have been right at home in "Interpreter of Maladies," and while it is one of the better offerings it feels clipped, as though there was so much more to say and not enough time to say it. Instead, the stories in "Unaccustomed Earth" verge on novella territory, allowing Lahiri to indulge in the slow-burn style she perfected in "The Namesake". The last three stories interlock to tell a single story in three parts, completing this effect. There aren't many authors who are at their best when they take their time, but Lahiri seems to be one of them. But this is a minor complaint.

I do, however, have more pointed concerns after reading Lahiri's latest work. Firstly, she seems to have acquired a taste for the melodramatic that doesn't suit her elegant style at all. Lahiri's writing is always very restrained when it comes to emotions, which is one of her strong suits, so when she indulges in plot contrivances such as alcoholism and abusive relationships it feels forced and more than a little jarring. Quiet desperation is more apt for her style; it is what makes it feel so authentic. Melodrama makes it feel theatrical. The high points of "Unaccustomed Earth" are its beginning and ending, "Unaccustomed Earth" and the saga of Hema and Kaushik, which notably steer clear of these plot elements. Luckily, Lahiri seems incapable of writing anything that doesn't maintain a grip on realism, but it still felt out of place to this reader.

Secondly, Lahiri's characters are starting to suffer from a degree of sameness. Perhaps that is why she infused the melodrama that I just discussed into the collection's middle section, but the fact that each character seems to have an ivy-league education and a doctorate and strikingly similar back stories still begins to feel stultifying.

Despite these complaints, Lahiri remains one of the most psychologically astute writers out there, and her keen plotting and pointed observations make "Unaccustomed Earth" tower head and shoulders above most other literary offerings. And even though I feel warier about what direction her next book will take, I still have the utmost faith in her abilities and look forward to it with the same degree of anticipation that I waited for "Unaccustomed Earth".

Grade: B+

I have been a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri ever since I read her first book. This one, a collection of several short stories, is one of her best creations. Her detailed expressive style, fluid language and diverse topics make this book unputdownable. I recommend this book to everyone is looking for beautiful contemporary fiction.

Lahiri is a skilled storyteller. Her detailed descriptions and choreography of characters across time and place demonstrate her writing talent. At the same time, her frequent failure to develop characters we grow attached to - historically often the hallmark of great storytellers and writers - makes me question where her accolades originate from. Though, it's not as if there is no potential. I read 'Interpreter' when it first came out and was impressed. However, at that time the Indian immigrant story was a new genre, and Lahiri was a strong cut above the rest. Following the wave of the recycled 'immigrant struggle' story, I bypassed her first novel, 'Namesake', altogether and from what I heard I didn't miss much. I turned to this, her newest book, after some convincing. Unaccustomed earth was good enough to make hard to put down but still left me wanting.

I was left wondering why such a strong writer does not wish to, by her third book, use her ability to evoke emotion through her characters' personal relationships to also evoke a sense of familiarity among readers whose principal interactions are with people other than ivy-league graduates, upper class whites, white collar professionals, and globe trotters? This would bother me less, since Lahiri is probably fully concious of her character choices, if the media did not cast Lahiri as the authority on the Indian-American experience. The experience is so much larger than that which Lahiri portrays (including among Bengalis), yet her non-immigrant audience almost co-opts her writing to represent what they are comfortable with. None of the political ugliness that non-immigrant America needs to contend with is unearthed in Lahiri's work.

Strong stories in the book include 'Hell-Heaven' (which also appeared in the New Yorker around 2002) and 'Only Goodness'. 'A Choice of Accomodations' and 'Nobody's Business' much less so. The best part of this book comes in part two, the 'Hema and Kaushik' trilogy. This second part reveals what Lahiri is capable of. Her writing strength is on display here, as is her ability to build bonds between characters and readers. She connects readers to not only the immigrant experience, but complex personal emotions and contemporary events and phenomena that have shaped both immigrants' and non-immigrants' lives. It also has a stronger ending than many of the other stories in the book. Her accomplishment here leaves me wondering why she sacrifices so much in some of her other stories. The media's focus on her work actually does her harm in the end. It sets up unrealistic expectations for an otherwise solid writer. If Lahiri were to write an entire novel that captured the range of ability, emotions, and relevance as the 'Hema and Kaushik' trilogy, she could then righfully claim all that she has already been afforded.

Reading this book is like taking a vacation. This is one of those that you really cannot put down, not when you get sleepy, not when you have to go do something else. Jhumpa Lahiri's lovely prose draws you into a completely different world. The simplicity of the stories, combined with the complexity of the characters, contribute to a very real dose of "hey, this is like my life". Happy sighs.

This book is one of the best things happened to me in the last month! Read all of Jhumpa Lahiri's books, this one is not a disappointment at the slightest as it happens with other authors but a hugely satisfying adventure among the sea of hard reads.

I am beginning to see a pattern emerging in all her work, with her characters all seeming to suffer from the same discontent in their lives. While the writing is uniformly good, boredom is setting in where story lines and character development are concerned.

This collection of short stories is much more even and consistent than the author's prior "interpreter of maladies" and the characters more engaging in certain respects than 'the namesake'. While Lahiri's dispassionate style is almost clinical, the emotion she feels for her characters & their predicaments comes through in her elegant prose. While some of the plots can feel contrived at times, the best efforts here such as "Heaven-Hell" and "Unaccustomed Earth" are haunting and will stay with you for a while.

What I like about the author's style is that she has a way of narrating complex people, events, and deep emotions in a simple yet elegant way. Her stories tend to be interesting enough to make you want to keep reading without getting lost in details or feeling like it's dragging on.

Lahiri's book is brilliant. Her first person prose is delightful and brings you to the time and place of the action. There was only one chapter that I did not fully enjoy because the characters were a bit flat but even this story did enough to fill in the holes to move on to the next chapter, which was truly wonderful. Overall, a great read and a wonderful gift for someone who enjoys Lahiri's style.

Having read all of Ms. Lahiri's books, I felt a little let down by this one. Most of the stories were run of the mill, even a little jaded. The one exception is the last story - this brings together all the main themes that run through Ms. Lahiri's very imaginatively, and caps the story with a great ending.

Overall, a good read, but not a patch on the "Interpreter of Maladies".

I have listened to the audiobook of this twice. It is the best, most vivid writing I have read in a long time, and the stories are absorbing. It is difficult for me to believe that this book doesn't have all 5 star reviews. I am more impressed with it than interpreter of maladies.

Rarely have I finished the last page of a book and wanted to start a book again until I read Lahiri's third book Unaccustomed Earth. I've read all three of her books and believe that she is a true short story teller.

When I saw the advertisement for this book in a magazine, I bought it the very next day. After reading both The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri has found a permamnent place in my list of authors to read and recommend. In Unaccostomed Earth, she writes candidly about the everyday and mundane. Her work is relatable yet sophisticated; dependable, and surprising all at once. I give this book, as well as all of her work, five stars.

What is scary is that Lahiri is getting eerily good at this. She seems to have developed an effortless grace with her stories and each of her characters seem to be inspiring. These are not all Bengali, Boston based, MIT overeducated PhDs, yet suffer the same lack of belonging to anything. Worth a read for every patient reader who likes the lingering aroma of melamcholy but doesn't mind being asked tough questions.

It was beautifully written but I couldn't appreciate the short stories. The second half could have been a novel all on its own. There was not one happy ending or even a satisfying ending. It was a sad book.

compared to The Namesake i felt some stories were too open ended.i guess in some stories you get so lost that you what to know how it would have ended.a certain amount of gloom is prominent in all her stories which as an immigrant makes me homesick.i like her writing,it makes it hard to put down.

I greatly enjoyed this book, a series of short stories about different aspects of life in immigrant Indian families, in America as well as abroad. Lahiri writes about universal themes: love, marriage, solitude, deception. It was an easy and enjoyable read and interesting to discuss with my book club.

I enjoyed all of the stories in Unaccustomed Earth and the perspectives that they provided on the Indian-American experience. If you are a first-generation American or know one, read this book! Unaccustomed Earth proved to me the reason that Jhumpa Lahiri continues to be one of my favorite authors.

I just read the first story unaccustomed earth.. it was so good.Simple yet spectacular, felt so good, refreshing, relaxing.After namesake, this was the second book of hers I've read and she does not disappoint, like vintage wine,the first story is so good

While on the couch nursing a knee injury, listening to Jhumpa's ardent yet easy flowing style of writing I just couldn't get enough of her heartfelt stories,wishing I could write as she does...identifying with some of the experiences, struggles as well as the tender beautiful moments the characters were going through. What a talent!

I LOVED this book. I especially enjoyed the Hema & Kaushik triology. Lahiri's writing just seems to flow with ease, and it's a pleasure to read. I just love the way her stories unfold very carefully. I actually liked this collection of short stories even more than Interpreter of Maladies. It's the best book I've read in years.

While on the couch nursing a knee injury, listening to Jhumpa's ardent yet easy flowing style of writing I just couldn't get enough of her heartfelt stories,wishing I could write as she does...identifying with some of the experiences, struggles as well as the tender beautiful moments the characters were going through. What a talent!

I LOVED this book. I especially enjoyed the Hema & Kaushik triology. Lahiri's writing just seems to flow with ease, and it's a pleasure to read. I just love the way her stories unfold very carefully. I actually liked this collection of short stories even more than Interpreter of Maladies. It's the best book I've read in years.

This is to my mind the best so far from this talented writer. It is different from the short story collection in her first book. The stories (some of them linked) are longer than in the "Interpretation of Mladies". It contains more varied set of situations--all very absorbing and well done---than the novel "Mamesake".

Jhumpa Lahiri does another great job of portraying well-developed characters in interesting situations in a wonderful compilation of short stories. She highlights well the Indian culture without making an overwhelming presence.

This is a lovely collection of short stories that stays with you long after you've read the last page. This is Lahiri's best by far...same simple yet searing language, but the observations are so true they take the wind out of you.

Its a very interesting read . Some of the stories end by the time we are feeling bored of the story . Its very similar to the lifestyle of american indians here . Some of them are very good .. some are too boring .

The Enigma of Arrival's Evanescence

By

Rajesh C. Oza, India Currents

It is altogether possible that some twenty years ago, Jhumpa Lahiri, not quite twenty herself, might have read V. S. Naipaul's "The Enigma of Arrival," an autobiography published as a novel. Lahiri's new collection, "Unaccustomed Earth," is fiction that reads like autobiography. Both writers use powerfully quiet, unadorned language to create vividly imagined illusions of their reality. Naipaul's reality is expressed through characters who are on the enigmatic edge of arrival - a metaphor for postcolonialism. Lahiri's characters reflect a different reality - they have successfully put their mark on the new world only to recognize that their arrival is short-lived.

The title of Naipaul's book is borrowed from a Giorgio de Chirico painting of a wharf in which two faceless figures have seemingly disembarked from a schooner; so much of Naipaul's writing explores the exterior landscape of people living on distant shores. After writing about the familial immigrant experience of his native Trinidad, the Nobel Prize winner worked primarily across a broad canvas of large, political themes.

In one of Lahiri's short stories, a character admires van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Marriage," a painting of a bedroom in which a husband and wife are formally and exquisitely rendered; Lahiri's world is more confined than Naipaul's, focusing on the interior landscape of personal relationships. The Pulitzer Prize winner is a miniaturist with an eye for the highly educated children of Indian-American immigrants, living the professional's life of upscale consumerism and downtown angst. Like van Eyck's art, Lahiri's writing is architected with deftly placed furnishings, clothing, and accessories. Whereas Naipaul's characters are those anonymous individuals to be found in front-page photographs of wars and uprisings, Lahiri's characters reside in the New York Times' "SundayStyles" section, prominently celebrating Ivy League couplings and a few years later bemoaning their "Modern Love" breakups.

Comparing and contrasting Naipaul and Lahiri is helpful because both share a brilliant understated style, but each plows different fields. After three books, it is becoming clear that Lahiri has found her own "unaccustomed earth." With the prize-winning "Interpreter of Maladies," Lahiri arrived in a spectacularly precocious way. "The Namesake" (and Mira Nair's adaptation of the novel to film) dispelled doubts that the young author might be a one-time wonder. The happy news is that the freshman phenom not only hurdled her sophomore slump, but has also avoided a junior jinx. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri's preternaturally mature voice has grown even more confident. The title short story is the strongest of the five fine pieces that constitute the first half of the book. Sensitively portraying the independent lives of a daughter and father, "Unaccustomed Earth" is the only story in the collection that is not predominantly located in America's Northeast. While Seattle is a stock location serving to suggest the double displacement from India and the East Coast, Ruma and her father are authentic characters that the reader cares for. They have been twice removed from each other: first by the death of their mother/wife; and then by the geographic relocation of the daughter and her non-Indian husband and son, and the European travel by the father and his sudden love interest. Lahiri's sharp and sympathetic observations are deeply considered, using memory, dialogue, and visual detail to capture the family dynamics: there are the nearly forgotten epic trips to India, the daughter pained by her father's criticism, the father in his baseball cap resembling an American in old age. And there is the diasporic's lament of India fading away, as immigrants and their children make life in a new part of the earth: Ruma "had remembered the many times her mother had predicted this very moment, lamenting the fact that her daughter preferred pants and skirts to the clothing she wore, that there would be no one to whom to pass on her things."

All the short stories are masterful in their use of metaphor. In "Unaccustomed Earth," there is an unkempt garden tended by Ruma's visiting father; in this natural nursery, a gentle, evanescent intimacy develops with the light-skinned grandson, who becomes brown for a moment, "his golden legs covered with dirt." Similarly, there are recurring images in "Hell-Heaven," "A Choice of Accommodations," "Only Goodness," and "Nobody's Business" which bring pleasure to the reader: a teacup is introduced as an innocuous replacement for an ashtray, only to be revisited later as a symbol for shattered romance; a safety pin becomes a frightening symbol of an attempted suicide; and, less successfully, a secret six-pack suggests rebellious, teenage alcoholic ennui. In her cautionary tales about precarious love, Lahiri writes about a highly educated class that transcends ethnicity. Ruma of Colgate and Northeastern Law, Pranab of MIT, Amit of Columbia, Sudha of Penn, Rahul of Cornell, Sang(eeta) of Harvard do resemble Barnard-educated Lahiri, with her multiple graduate school degrees. And to some extent their loves - Adam, Deb, Megan, Roger, Elena, and Farouk/Freddy - do resemble, at least in European name, Lahiri's husband, Alberto. Perhaps because of the surface similarities of these characters, there is a tiring redundancy masked by Lahiri's exceptional competence. By the time I reached the fourth story, I felt the weariness that non-Indians (and perhaps, Indians themselves) must feel when hearing for the umpteenth time about the academic and professional accomplishments of Indian-American children.

The second part of this collection is a novella that begins promisingly. The opening two chapters of "Hema and Kaushik" are finely crafted first-person narratives introducing the intersecting lives of the title characters.

Lahiri captures the bittersweet tone of Hema's puppy love feelings for Kaushik. Kaushik is three years older than Hema when he and his parents return to America from India and stay for a short period with Hema's family. Thirteen year-old Hema, who has had to relinquish her bedroom to make room for the visiting family friends, conveys her infatuation by way of an imagined conversation with Kaushik: "You had successfully wiped away all the other crushes I harbored at school, so that I thought only of being at home, and of where in the course of the afternoon and evening our paths might intersect, whether or not you would bother to glance at me at the dinner table."

Kaushik, older and more experienced, is indifferent to Hema's feelings. He is isolated by family tragedy and by the temperament of one who likes to travel alone. It is not until five years later, when he has almost graduated from college, that he thinks of Hema: "I had hated every day I spent under your parents' roof, but now I thought back to that time with nostalgia. Though we didn't belong there, it was the last place that had felt like a home." Interlaced between Hema and Kaushik's story are touching asides about parents and their children and about adult friendships that slowly grow apart. Towards the end of these two chapters, there is a powerful scene where Kaushik must come to terms with his maltreatment of stepsisters who have recently arrived from India. He recalls that "tears fell down their faces but words continued to pour out of me, words that should not have been uttered, should not have been heard." In shame and anger, he flees from the house and travels across a New England landscape that is psychologically far removed from the cloistered life of immigrant families.

The final chapter of "Hema and Kaushik" ends somewhat unevenly. Unlike a triptych that is integrated, the third story seems to have been hastily cobbled on. An omniscient narrator fast-forwards twenty years to a quaint part of Italy; and as in a Bollywood movie after intermission, there is a convenient reunion of the childhood acquaintances. Unfortunately, the contract with the reader is broken and the lovely tenderness of the first two chapters is forgotten.

However uneven the contents, the title of this book will not be soon forgotten. Inspired by a passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Custom House" (preface to "The Scarlet Letter"), Jhumpa Lahiri has reincarnated from her fellow New Englander a phrase which is startlingly original:

"Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."

As other reviewers have noted, the stories follow a monotonous theme of second generation American Bengalis, who often have an under layer of lust lurking beneath while they struggle with or hate their dead/distanced parents. It was a chore to finish the book. Borrow it from a library if you really want to read it.

I initially enjoyed the first few stories in the book, both because they were something different, as well as getting a first glimpse into mixed Indian-American culture.

But as other reviewers have noted, the stories eventually seem to all sound the same, and by the end I couldn't wait to be done with this book.

I was further disappointed because most of the characters are miserable (to various degrees), and two of the tragic endings rely on completely implausible circumstances -- the resolutions come across as lazy, since the reader can imagine plausible circumstances that could have yielded the same results.

Don't get me wrong--I think Jhumpa Lahiri has a way with words and telling stories as was evident in her first book, Interpreter of Maladies. Interpreter was like a breath of fresh air with short stories that truly helped a reader transcend to human reaches of pain, joy, disappointment, hope and many other emotions. I think that the writer is great at short stories, horrid at the long novel (I was tremendously let down with The Namesake) but needs to change up the formula.
I was excited that Jhumpa Lahiri was coming out with a book of short stories again but upon reading the first few stories, I was nothing short of crestfallen. Although the stories themselves are not written badly, I am getting really tired of the same old formula she's using. It seems like almost every one of her stories revolves around Boston, involves an American-born Indian struggling with either their own culture or a family member, and of course involves Indian parents and their struggle coming to America. OK I get it already!
These stories didn't provide any new insight, I felt, that she didn't already communicate to me with Interpreter of Maladies. I ended up getting really bored and tired of her always leaving stories hanging with no resolution in sight. Some of the stories almost seemed pointless (the last one in the book is a prime example) to even write. After writing about having such emotion and turning around and completely ignoring that emotion just to have the character regret seems so tiresome, trite and overdone in her books.
The writer is obviously talented and I am not knocking on her ability to write mellifluously--however her stories need a breath of fresh air so I don't feel like I'm reading the same story that has been slightly altered 10X.

Lahiri's skilled writing is transparent; words simply melt on your brain!
However, the sameness of her characters is boring. I could skip pages and didn't feel if I missed anything. To describe her book an imagery of a surgical room came before me: The operation room is ready for Dr.C.., Bengali doctor's skillful surgery. He enters with no expression on his face. He checks the gleaming surgical tools. Nurses become silent and steady their masks. He nods, pulling the mask over his face. The lights are on; patient lay motionless but fearless. Dr. C lifts the sheet and skillfully removes the band-aid from the patient's knee...

If you've read Ms. Lahiri's other works, you will have no need to read this collection. After reading the first story in this collection, I thought I was experiencing de ja vu. As I read further into the book, I realized that what I was experiencing was more similar to the movie Groundhog Day, in that the same characters, plots and settings were being reused and recycled. This book is tired.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote, "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn out soil. My children ... shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth." This quote, which was a revelation to me, so much so that I redid my work e-mail "inspiration quote" signature to put it it, is the inspiration of Jhumpa Lahiri's new collection of short stories called "Unaccustomed Earth".

This is the first book I have read of hers, and it simply does not disappoint. Eight stories are so intricately woven with their words and themes that each in itself is a beautiful work of art, and yet together, form the basis of a masterpiece. Former author of Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake (movie tie-in edition), Lahiri's carrying on her success with this new bunch. The book starts with the story named after the book, a story about a Bengali woman named Ruma and her father who comes to visit her from Pennsylvania. Cultures and expectations collide as these two virtual strangers learn to exist with each other without the familiar glue of her mother, who passed away only months before. A garden, her mixed race son, and a secret love, permeate the layers of this opening story that literally leave you breathless by stories end. Similar themes are woven through the other seven stories, some which I liked more than others, but all of them written with such scope and craft.

Reading a story written by Lahiri is like sitting in a well ordered, immaculate living room, with a rich, fragrant onion sitting in front of you. As you delve into the story, you peel back the layers of the onion, and the exactitude and preciseness of her stories marvel, and the scent of the onion, not bitter or harsh, but rich and alluring, fill that perfect room, so much so that by the end, all of yours senses are heightened, and you may possibly have tears in your eyes.

It's as if Lahiri wrote her stories, and took a literary comb and brushed out all of the extra verbs, nouns, and adjectives (most which can clutter today's fiction), leaving only the essential words behind, creating an exquisite picture. People have compared Lahiri's writing to Hemingway. I sense more of Michael Cunningham, who also strives for leximic precision. Both Cunningham and Lahiri's writing is character centered, creates worlds of inner conflict, and flows like a beautiful river.

After just reading the first story, I told five people of this marvelous new book, and highly recommend you to that if you want to marvel in the worlds created by Lahiri, this is the perfect place to start.

It was kind of annoying to read different stories after getting into the character of the each story. Also didnt know that Indians were alcoholics. There is alot of good imagery. And second part is more interesting.

Lahiri needs to branch out of her comfort zone and write a story that goes beyond the account of Bengali-Americans trying to adjust to new frontiers. Enough already. The writing is narrative at best. For truly evocative writing on a similar theme, read Monica Ali's Brick Lane.

Time and again I am told that short stories don't sell well in America. And yet here we have Jhumpa Lahiri, who has churned out one more book of short stories, titled 'Unaccustomed Earth'. I say churned out because like its predecessor 'Interpreter of Maladies', this book too contains short stories about the miserable personal lives of Bong (i.e. Bengali) Ivy Leaguers in America. Well that sums up the gist of the book. Reading it I felt like I was eating generic Chinese 'take out' food in a five star hotel. Let me explain.

Fiction has an ability of taking you inside the human mind, in a way, no other medium can. Ms. Lahiri's writing style is superb with beautiful attention to detail. Its almost like a five star hotel's presentation. Her narration melts in the mind like a creamy dessert on the tongue. But instead of using this talent to take us into brilliant and beautiful minds, she takes us into troubled and tormented minds. Like generic Chinese take out food with kikoman sauce, vinegar and soy sauce in every entree, each and every story in this book has the same flavor. They are all depressing, unhappy and the subjects are always Bong Ivy Leaguers. What a waste of talent!

There are three more factors that contribute to their generic taste. Although the stories are set in America, they clearly lack in energy, dynamism and speed; qualities that are characteristic of life in America. Secondly, most of them have no sense of time. Its hard to figure out if they are set in the Lyndon Johnson era or the Obama era. In short they are devoid of what is happening in America, outside the sleepy suburb. Third factor is their shocking portrayal of Bong women in America. They are either like 'Chokher Balis' or seem to belong to 'Sex and the City'.

Now for a technical assessment of their length. A short story is defined as having a maximum word length of anywhere from 7000 to 9000 words. Ms. Lahiri has created her own standard by breaking all records. The stories run into sheafs of pages e.g. the first story is 57 pages long, which is over 16,000 words! Halfway through the story, one starts wondering if its a novel! Now for the gist of the stories. The first story has the same title as the book and is about a father who visits his daughter Ruma, who is pregnant with her second child. After spending almost a week with her, he cannot tell her the fact that he has a girl friend after spending 40 years with Ruma's mother, who is dead now. The silent emotional turmoil is well presented.

'Hell-Heaven', the second story is about how a married woman (Chokher Bali kind)trapped in an arranged marriage to a man nine years older than her, falls in love with a Bong student, three years younger than her. She is emotionally devastated when the young lover marries an American girl only to dump her after twenty years of marriage with two daughters. After all this he marries another Chokher Bali! Seems like a day time soap opera!

'Only Goodness' is a sitcom about a S.I.T.C.O.M. (i.e. single income two children oppressive mortgage!). 'A Choice of Accomodations' (44 pages!) and 'Nobody's Business' (49 pages!) are two pointless stories that meander aimlessly through many pages, only to culminate in a wimpy climax. They both could have been easily edited to half their length without loosing the crux!

It is said that an education prepares you for a better tomorrow. If this is the kind of misery an Ivy League education creates, then it just goes to show how poor Ms.Lahiri's understanding is, of the real potential of such education. After reading these five stories I became nauseous with their content and claustrophobic with their miseries. I couldn't read it any more. I closed it and looked up at the sky above, that offered more drama, beauty and dynamism as it changed appearance from afternoon to evening. As for the book, like stale Chinese food gone bad, I returned it to the library before time. James Allen in his book 'As A Man Thinketh' writes:

"A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind."

Keeping these words of wisdom in mind, publishers and literary agents have a responsibility of planting good books in the market that don't become weeds in the human mind. I suspect this book got published because Ms.Lahiri is a well-established writer and India is in vogue. The need of the hour is to find new Indian writers who are fresh with talent, creativity, diversity (not just Bong stories !!) and imagination. So if you are a publisher or a literary agent, then look no further, there is one such writer with her book, waiting to be discovered!(Check out my blog).
Ratna

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I admit that interpreter of maladies and Namesake were good, but this book tries too hard to appeal to critics who tend to like overtly sad and needlessly morose stories with a cast of stupid characters that deal with their subdued anger and hatred towards pretty much everything (parents, partners and themselves).

Lahiri gets a free pass for having a Pulitzer and for being Indian-American. I find her writing altogether prosaic, with not a single paragraph worth lingering over. To be sure this is a biased opinion. On the other hand, I am surprised that nobody has noticed the lapses in grammar, syntax, idiom and vocabulary, and instances of plain silliness, that occur so frequently in her work as to nullify any credit she deserves for her narratives. Apparently Lahiri thinks little of the process of revision, a major preoccupation with good writers; certainly, she doesn't have an conscientious editor.
Here are things I found irksome in her first story :
P3 : Eurorail ; pensions
P4 : receive mail on his end
P5 : In a few months ... the trips would diminish.
P6 : waiting for the time to pass
P10 : nurtured inside of her
P23 : never one to be conversant during meals
P28 : In spite of his jet lag he had trouble falling asleep
P32 : opened up the cupboard
P33 : spouses dying within two years of one another
P37 : part time litigation ; the parking lot where the swimming pool was ; she told her father to wait on the benches.
P43 : It would be another four weeks until the amnio, allowing them to learn the sex.
P44 : buried things into the soil
P45 : While her father was in the shower, she made tea ; and the house was filled with silence.
P51 : the day before her father was scheduled to leave ; Saturday morning, ..., the garden was finished.
P55 : everything he'd purchased
P57 : to put a bill into the mail
This is poor writing indeed, by my standards. As for her literary skills, Lahiri writes like an author of non-fiction, telling us story and background without accepting the challenge of showing these.
Judging from the high praise in this forum, winning a Pulitzer has elevated Lahiri to being the spokesperson of the Indian-American experience and ethos. But for the accident of her birth, I find her to be neither particularly Indian nor particularly Bengali. With a few culinary adjustments, she could be writing about Turkish or Malaysian immigrants.