Eduardo Santiago reviewed Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Review of 'Interpreter of Maladies' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
ah, look at all the lonely people! If Eleanor Rigby leaves you hungry for more stories of wretched isolation, this is a book for you.
(Not entirely fair. The last story, #9 of 9, actually has characters who interact with and learn to see each other. It felt out of place, in a welcome way). The other eight are brutal, in a slow-motion molasses-spilling-on-your-breakfast sort of way. Mildly tragic but beautiful... compelling. Reading one story a night was my limit, but then I kept coming back for more. And thinking back on that, I've just changed my rating from three to four stars. Making this a book I may even pick up again in a few years.
Lahiri has a discerning eye and lovely voice. We recognize her characters: they're people we've seen and known but never really known, never paid much attention to or cared about... and that …
ah, look at all the lonely people! If Eleanor Rigby leaves you hungry for more stories of wretched isolation, this is a book for you.
(Not entirely fair. The last story, #9 of 9, actually has characters who interact with and learn to see each other. It felt out of place, in a welcome way). The other eight are brutal, in a slow-motion molasses-spilling-on-your-breakfast sort of way. Mildly tragic but beautiful... compelling. Reading one story a night was my limit, but then I kept coming back for more. And thinking back on that, I've just changed my rating from three to four stars. Making this a book I may even pick up again in a few years.
Lahiri has a discerning eye and lovely voice. We recognize her characters: they're people we've seen and known but never really known, never paid much attention to or cared about... and that now makes me sad. I see the self-perpetuating loneliness they're stuck in. And I wonder if these glimpses will change me, if they'll help me be kinder in the future? Ask me some day.
