Jhumpa Lahiri's - Unaccustomed Earth

Genre : Short Stories
Rating : 4.5 / 5

I was little disappointed with Interpreter of Maladies, however, had loved Jhumpa Lahiri’s style of writing, her way of describing the characters. After having read two of her books, I was not certainly expecting this book to be all-happy but without having any prejudices I picked it up. I must say, I liked it better than Interpreter of Maladies. The later falls in the same genus as 'Interpreter….'; similar short stories revolving round Bengali immigrants of men from academia, women as housewives and American born kids who are torn between the two worlds. Even this collection has the families staying in the north-east coast of U.S.A and kids attending Ivy League schools. But it is different in a way that it has less melancholic, less grieving scenes and the characters seem to have developed little positive attitude towards life. Thankfully the first and second generations appear to have understood each other to some extent. ;)

Collection has varied stories of unexpected endings. The most I liked is the first story – Unaccustomed Earth; about a daughter and her father. It is different from the usual lovey-dovey father and daughter stories. It doesn’t have any daddy’s-little-girl or my-daddy-is-the-best moments. They both have differences in their thinking and yet they respect each others decisions. Hell Heaven – is about a married women’s crush for a younger man. Her woe when he decides to marry an American is well portrayed. I did not quite understand A Choice of Accommodations. Only Goodness is about the sister-brother relationship where sister is her parents pride and brother turns out to be a black sheep of the family. Nobody’s Business – story about broken relationship. I had started developing a slight liking for this story but after a while it felt like a drag. Second part of the book is collection of 3 stories revolving round Hema and Kaushik. First story is Hema’s part of life, second Kaushik’s and third entwined. First two were quick reads. The third story, though ended well, at places, has completely gone off bounds.

In all her stories author has portrayed mundane activities with great precision. The few typical-desi moments do bring wisp of smile. The stories give good insight into minds of American born kids of Indian origin. I am pleased that Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters are breaking the shell of glumness that always seem to have covered their lives in her previous works. Overall, I liked this book.