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The Namesake

A Novel

By Jhumpa Lahiri

(123)

| Hardcover | 9780395927212

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Book Description

Expanding on her signature themes of the immigrant experience, the clash of culture, and the tangled ties of generations, Lahiri brings to her terrifically poignant first novel the remarkable powers of emotion and insight that have drawn more than half a million readers to her debut story collectionContinue

Critics

What's in a name?

The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri 304pp, Flamingo, £15.99 Take a boy, born in the late 1960s to Indian parents living in the American suburbs, far from their native Calcutta. Chart his progress from babyhood to confused, faintly rebellious teenage years ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Kindred spirits

The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Flamingo, £15.99, pp304 The Gangster We Are All Looking For Le Thi Diem Thuy Picador, £12.99, pp200 Old School Tobias Wolff Bloomsbury £12.99, pp320 Wish I May Justine Picardie Picador £15.99, pp356 Jhumpa Lahiri's gracious ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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11 Reviews

4 people find this helpful

Do we really depends on our name? It really afflicts our life, or things just happen, whatever you're called?
I loved this book... the incapacity of Gogol's parents to leave their roots, the search of the latter of trying to take distance from a world he doesn't recognize. And then, things just ... (continue)

Do we really depends on our name? It really afflicts our life, or things just happen, whatever you're called?
I loved this book... the incapacity of Gogol's parents to leave their roots, the search of the latter of trying to take distance from a world he doesn't recognize. And then, things just change, and you find yourself thinking about your life, deciding what to do, wondering if it's right or not.
It's somehow a sad book, but so deep that I couldn't help going on reading. Great!

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Lizzyblack said on Mar 1, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

The story gives an insight into the obstacles and adjustments that have to be made by immigrants and it's somehow a sad book, but I enjoyed it immensely.
Lahiri writes with great empathy and a beautiful lyrical style, small details illuminate every page of the book.
Though the main character, Gogo ... (continue)

The story gives an insight into the obstacles and adjustments that have to be made by immigrants and it's somehow a sad book, but I enjoyed it immensely.
Lahiri writes with great empathy and a beautiful lyrical style, small details illuminate every page of the book.
Though the main character, Gogol-Nikhil Ganguli, is the centre of the narrative, his mother Ashima won my sympathy and affection. I felt very close to her.
“For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy – a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been an ordinary life, only to discover that the previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding. Like pregnancy, being a foreigner, Ashima believes, is something that elicits the same curiosity from strangers, the same combination of pity and respect.”

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momiji1020 said on May 28, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Ms. Lahiri is a wonderful writer. The story is told with great empathy; her style is crystal-clear.

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Dalia said on Jan 19, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

An easy to read excellent moving and realistic account of the immigrant experience of a Bengali family. I really enjoyed this book and learnt about a culture I am not familiar with at the same time.
I will be mailing The Namesake to its next location in Greece in the next day or so and will loo ... (continue)

An easy to read excellent moving and realistic account of the immigrant experience of a Bengali family. I really enjoyed this book and learnt about a culture I am not familiar with at the same time.
I will be mailing The Namesake to its next location in Greece in the next day or so and will look forward to reading the reviews as it continues on its travels.

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Lindyloumac said on Dec 4, 2009 | Add your feedback

the ultimate double culture novel

reread this year and what a pleasure - like finding old friends - so interesting to compare Gogel's and his families conflicts/comprehension of living with two cultures, and still advancing in one but eventually coming back to the other.

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Gail Paris said on Mar 2, 2009 | Add your feedback

The book was about the generation gap between Gogol and his parents. how he try to escape from his name and culture, and how he finally realize and accept it in the end.

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Ringo Kam said on Oct 17, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback