The Namesake (IR)

        Believe it or not, we're reading our last independent reading book for AP Lit. Crazy, I know. Well, for my last group book, I'm reading The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. If you remember correctly, Jhumpa Lahiri was also the author of Interpreter of Maladies. I love the style she writes with -- it's crisp, clear, descriptive, and easy to follow. The phrases flow very smoothly, unlike some books I've read this year (a.k.a. The Sound and the Fury and Heart of Darkness). The only problem I had with Interpreter of Maladies was that because it was made up of short stories, you couldn't get very attached to the characters or the events that occurred. The Namesake, however, makes it possible. It's a complete novel rather than another set of short stories. Therefore, it's easier to let myself relax into the story-line and let it all seep in gradually. It makes Lahiri's writing a whole lot more enjoyable.
        The Namesake is like taking one of Lahiri's short stories to the next level, lengthening it into a bigger picture. It follows a family from India as they grow accustomed to the ways of America. After the introduction of Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, new to America and trying their best to settle in, the story focuses in on the birth of their first child. The newly-fledged parents have difficulty thinking of a name to put on the boy's birth certificate, as it was custom in their culture for other family members to give the child a "good" or formal name, and then to give the child a more familiar second name -- a "pet" name -- that would be used with family only. Ashima and Ashoke, new to the identification system used throughout America, end up putting what would be the child's pet name on the birth certificate. And so, Gogol Ganguli is born.
        The main sense of conflict within the story so far is the prominent hardships that come with a shifting of cultures for the family. Here are just a few: Ashima has great homesickness for her old home in Calcutta, Ashoke must grow accustomed to the ways of America while at the same time raising a family, and Gogol and Sonia (Gogol's younger sister who is born a few years after him) grow up in a family with different customs than those that they learn in school. One of the recurring conflicting elements of the story is Gogol's name. He can't seem to find anyone in his country with the same name, nor can many pronounce it right. It doesn't bother him too much when he's little, but once he gets a bit older, he starts to see the downsides of his name. To make matters worse, he slowly learns the truth of his namesake (hence the title) Nikolai Gogol, a historic figure who wasn't quite as amazing a person as his parents had always made him out to be. All of these conflicts ebb within the pages, magnified slowly over time.
        Speaking of time, Lahiri uses many time jumps in the book. In my opinion, these are performed brilliantly, skipping a few years and picking up the story in a spot in the Ganguli's life that easily connects back to the past. There was one spot where I missed the transition into one of Ashoke's flashbacks and got slightly disoriented about time and location, but I was able to pick up the plot again quickly enough.
        The character development tops everything off. Lahiri has a way of sharing the thoughts of each of the individual characters rather than just one, making the story much more constructive. I really like how The Namesake is written. I'm not too far into it yet, but I feel like it's going to be a very good book. Onto the next chapter! :)