I finished The Namesake a few days ago and I really enjoyed the read. I really got into quickly and it was a nice flowing read. It is about a Bengali family and their life. The parents were born and raised in Calcutta and moved to the USA after their arranged marriage. The two children were born in the U.S. and work to balance the clashing cultures and values of society and their family. It is interesting to read about the adjustment for the parents into the American way of life and the children as they try and live the American lifestyle outside of the home and the traditional Indian lifestyle in the home. The characters are interesting and well developed. I found myself very fond of all of the characters and was able to relate to each person differently. Many times I find myself "rooting" for a specific character and their wants and desires but it in this book I found myself equally interested and curious about all the characters. I would thoroughly enjoyed this book and would high recommend it!
After looking at another review Google has a more enticing way of describing the book so here is the Amazon.com description:
The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates
this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of
cultures, the tangled ties between generations.
The Namesake takes the
Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught
transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged wedding, Ashoke and
Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ashoke does his best to
adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of
naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we
watch as Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting
loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.
With empathy and
penetrating insight, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our
parents and the means by which we come to define who we are.
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