I came to Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake by watching the movie first and then having the book be my only available reading material when I had to stay in the car while the baby sleeps.* Now that I’ve finished it, I wish I’d read it much earlier.
*He wakes up when we take him out of the car seat. Is much better on everyone to let a sleeping baby lie.
It’s somewhat rare for me to read a book where I find myself really identifying with elements of the story. In this case, there were large portions of the book which I could relate to. Only with an unexpected twist. Rather than relating to the protagonists, I found myself relating to the white/educated establishment that Gogol and his family find themselves interacting with. And I found myself seeing elements of my in-laws in Gogol’s family.
My wife agrees with my reaction. As a result, we’ve had many interesting conversations about the way families change through the generations. She found herself relating a lot to Gogol and his place in life at the end of the book. I found myself thinking about the future and how the next generation will be.
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