The Namesake: A Novel
2 journalers for this copy...
Better World Books had a sale in October and I couldn't resist the prices and free shipping so I ordered this book and 4 others.
There is something about Indian family sagas that makes for great literature. Rohinton Mistry has written some great ones. I guess it is the dynamics of the close family ties that we Westerners admire but we also know that we would never want that for ourselves. Lahiri has evoked the life of a Bengali family in America masterfully in this novel.
Gogol Ganguli was born in Boston to Ashima and Ashoke, immigrants from Calcutta who moved to the United States so Ashoke could further his studies in electrical engineering. Their marriage was arranged and they hardly knew each other when they started living together in Boston. Ashima was particularly lonesome so far from home and her family. When she became pregnant they agreed that her grandmother would pick a name for the child. The grandmother sent off her choice in a letter but the letter never arrived. Told by the hospital officials that they had to pick a name to put on the birth certificate before they left the hospital, Ashoke chose Gogol after his favourite Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. Actually Ashoke had an even more important reason for choosing the name but Gogol was a grown-up before his father told him that reason. When Gogol started kindergarten his parents registered him as Nikhil Ganguli. In India most people have a pet name and a good name. Your family and close friends call you by your pet name but everyone else uses your good name. Ashoke and Ashima thought that their son should have a good name that was not quite as unusual as Gogol. However, when Gogol started kindergarten he would not respond to Nikhil and told the principal that his name was Gogol. Consequently, Gogol was how he was known until he went to university. By then he had come to despise the name Gogol and he decided to change his name to Nikhil. Gogol rejected his parents’ lifestyle in other ways. He decided to become an architect instead of a doctor or engineer as most young Bengali men did. He drank whereas his parents never had any liquor. His first serious love affair was with an American woman who introduced him to plays and art and food that he had never encountered before. As he got older, though, he started to understand his parents and to follow their advice. He was convinced by his mother to date the daughter of a friend, someone who had often been to parties where Gogol was in attendance. They got married but the marriage ended when Gogol found out his wife was having an affair. Gogol would have to find his own path in life, treading between Bengali and American culture.
I recommend this book highly but I have one piece of advice: don’t read this book on an empty stomach. The description of Indian food had me salivating and wishing I could whip up a batch of curry. However we are camping and I don’t have any of my curry spices with me. Maybe somewhere on the road we will run across an Indian restaurant.
Gogol Ganguli was born in Boston to Ashima and Ashoke, immigrants from Calcutta who moved to the United States so Ashoke could further his studies in electrical engineering. Their marriage was arranged and they hardly knew each other when they started living together in Boston. Ashima was particularly lonesome so far from home and her family. When she became pregnant they agreed that her grandmother would pick a name for the child. The grandmother sent off her choice in a letter but the letter never arrived. Told by the hospital officials that they had to pick a name to put on the birth certificate before they left the hospital, Ashoke chose Gogol after his favourite Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. Actually Ashoke had an even more important reason for choosing the name but Gogol was a grown-up before his father told him that reason. When Gogol started kindergarten his parents registered him as Nikhil Ganguli. In India most people have a pet name and a good name. Your family and close friends call you by your pet name but everyone else uses your good name. Ashoke and Ashima thought that their son should have a good name that was not quite as unusual as Gogol. However, when Gogol started kindergarten he would not respond to Nikhil and told the principal that his name was Gogol. Consequently, Gogol was how he was known until he went to university. By then he had come to despise the name Gogol and he decided to change his name to Nikhil. Gogol rejected his parents’ lifestyle in other ways. He decided to become an architect instead of a doctor or engineer as most young Bengali men did. He drank whereas his parents never had any liquor. His first serious love affair was with an American woman who introduced him to plays and art and food that he had never encountered before. As he got older, though, he started to understand his parents and to follow their advice. He was convinced by his mother to date the daughter of a friend, someone who had often been to parties where Gogol was in attendance. They got married but the marriage ended when Gogol found out his wife was having an affair. Gogol would have to find his own path in life, treading between Bengali and American culture.
I recommend this book highly but I have one piece of advice: don’t read this book on an empty stomach. The description of Indian food had me salivating and wishing I could whip up a batch of curry. However we are camping and I don’t have any of my curry spices with me. Maybe somewhere on the road we will run across an Indian restaurant.
Journal Entry 3 by gypsysmom at Red Rock Canyon in Waterton, Alberta Canada on Friday, September 2, 2016
I left this book on a rather battered bench on the far side of the lower bridge from the parking lot. (Hope Parks Canada has plans to replace it before the 150th birthday!) This release is for the 2016 52 Towns in 52 Weeks release challenge - Town #26.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
I mostly enjoyed it
