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 - Rich with detail and complexity, these short stories are novels that end too soonAs 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. Rating: - Emotions will linger long after you've finished the bookI 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. Rating: - A Perfect 10Jhumper 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. Rating: - Great storytellingI 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. Rating: - Great Stories...I don't know why but I found each story gripping...I was always disappointed when each story came to an end.
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