Jhumpa Lahiri's - The Namesake

Genre - Fiction / Drama
Rating - 4.5/5

Entertaining and enjoyable read if you like to spend some time reading fiction. This is a story of immigrants from Calcutta, India to the land of opportunities, America. It appealed to me more because of the similarity between the experiences Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli faced and those I had in my early days in US. The blend of loneliness and excitement, hope and pathos can be clearly felt through the words. This debut novel by Jhumpa Lahiri centers on Ashima and Ashoke's son Gogol, who is THE NAMESAKE of a Russian author, Nikolai Gogol, whose short stories saved Ashoke's life in a train accident. Each and every detail of Gogol's life is described with extreme subtlness. Story starts with the birth of our hero and in between hopscotches to his parents' pre-nuptial life in India. Author takes us on a very loving ride into Gogol's world right from his childhood to his school years, from his college career to his job as an architect, from his succinct flings to his divorce. Gogol, I would say, is the best exemplar of the clan of 'ABCD' (American Born Confused Desi) . Torn between the American culture and Indian heritage, Gogol tries to find his individuality in his name - Gogol - which is neither American nor Indian. His love for his name as a toddler and loathness towards the same as he grows are tailored perfectly.

Story is very crystal clear, sans intrigues or fights or scandals. Each incident penned in the book can be related to lives of people especially like me who crossed half of the globe and made this alien place a home. It gives a good insight into the life of children born in this country to Indian parents. Before reading this book, I never gave a thought on how these kids try to balance themselves on the thin rope which separates Indian ethics from American etiquettes.

The beauty of Lahiri's work lies in the unadorned yet apt words she has used in this book which makes it more like a granny-narrated story. I wish there were a sequel to this book!

P. G. Wodehouse's - The Inimitable Jeeves

Genre - Humor
Rating - 4/5

** Genre and Rating added on Sachin's suggestion. Thanks dude! **

After getting all goody-goody reviews about P. G. Wodehouse's series from my friends, I finally laid my hands on this one. Needless to say that I liked it.

This collection of tales is about Bertie Wooster and his butler - Jeeves. Though Bertie is Oxford- graduate, he is reffered as dimwitted many a times for his inability to solve the problems he created for himself. Jeeves on the other hand is very unfaltering and kinda know-all guy who incessantly hauls his master from the soup. He is more than like a source of solace to Bertie. I was overwhelmed to see the contacts Jeeves has in every corner of the world. His friend's net is spread so well that he is well advanced equipped with the information that his master wishes to tell him.

Bertie' s world is full of eccentric poeple and in the efforts to help these people Bertie slips into the pit of hilarious troubles. U are bound to get sporadic fits of laughter while reading this book. Bertie's problems are depicted well enough to make them appear real. Unlike other humorous novel, I found this one to be less exaggerated.

About the author, I can say that he knows his readers well... and 'The Inimitable Jeeves" was great introduction to the Wodehouse series. I look forward to read more !!