Unaccustomed Earth (Vintage Contemporaries)
Registered by aussieangel2 of Dayton, Western Australia Australia on 9/24/2016
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by aussieangel2 from Dayton, Western Australia Australia on Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Journal Entry 2 by aussieangel2 at by mail, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, July 8, 2017
Released 6 yrs ago (7/8/2017 UTC) at by mail, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Selected from ozvbb by tantan and posted today.
I received this a long time ago, but apparently forgot to journal - sorry about that!
I read this book over quite a few months in 2019, dipping into it one story at a time.
I came to this book of short stories expecting to really love it. I had heard great things about Jhumpa Lahiri as an author, and I enjoy short stories when I have smaller bursts of reading time. To me, travel and making a home in a new place is a time for exploration and broadening horizons. This is the feeling that I expected to get from these stories, based on the quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne (from 'The Custom-House') that opens the book:
"Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."
However, I found the stories that followed this opening quote quite depressing. Almost without exception, the characters seemed unable to find contentment or fulfillment in their new homes. I fully acknowledge that there are many challenges associated with making a home in a new country - I live in a different country to the one in which I was born and raised, so I believe that I'm not completely naive on this point. I also fully appreciate that life is not an endless stream of positivity - we all face challenges and battles in our lives. There just seemed to be no joy or happiness in any of these stories, and I found there to be a somewhat unrelenting sadness that permeated the book.
Lahiri is so highly praised that I will no doubt try another of her books. I suspect I have missed the message in this collection of stories, and I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy them - maybe I would do better to try one of her novels.
I came to this book of short stories expecting to really love it. I had heard great things about Jhumpa Lahiri as an author, and I enjoy short stories when I have smaller bursts of reading time. To me, travel and making a home in a new place is a time for exploration and broadening horizons. This is the feeling that I expected to get from these stories, based on the quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne (from 'The Custom-House') that opens the book:
"Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."
However, I found the stories that followed this opening quote quite depressing. Almost without exception, the characters seemed unable to find contentment or fulfillment in their new homes. I fully acknowledge that there are many challenges associated with making a home in a new country - I live in a different country to the one in which I was born and raised, so I believe that I'm not completely naive on this point. I also fully appreciate that life is not an endless stream of positivity - we all face challenges and battles in our lives. There just seemed to be no joy or happiness in any of these stories, and I found there to be a somewhat unrelenting sadness that permeated the book.
Lahiri is so highly praised that I will no doubt try another of her books. I suspect I have missed the message in this collection of stories, and I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy them - maybe I would do better to try one of her novels.
Requested on BookMooch - happy reading!
