author recommendation

I recently finished reading Jhumpa Lahiri's recent novel, Unaccustomed Earth, which was incredibly beautiful, as her writing generally is. I was first introduced to Lahiri through her first book, Interpreter of Maladies. I picked it up after hearing a lot about it, and because it was to be a phenomenal collection of short stories. I wanted to read more short stories since it's a type of writing I'd really like to work on.

But back to the purpose of this post. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri returns to the short story and her writing is poetry. It flows and, at least from what I recall, there wasn't a single unnecessary word. And I particularly liked the last section where the first stories are told from first person, and then the next, told in third, really joins the two characters and becomes their story, and not just hers or his. I think that was a really neat tool to use.

I know, but as I'm writing this, I can't come up with a better word than "neat." I'll have to come back and edit, but I'm writing this as I go, with whatever comes to mind.

With some of the stories, and her previous works, at first glimpse it may not seem like I can relate to her characters. I don't have that cultural struggle that comes from being an Indian set into a different culture either here, in the US or in England. But she really illustrates that, without "telling" us it was difficult or awkward. That awkwardness comes through the writing and the reader feels it. And I would imagine that might hard to do.

But the cultural background, while a large part, is only part of the story. The characters themselves are multi-faceted and their stories can happen to anyone, and do I'm sure.

Lahiri is a wonderfully gifted story-teller, and whenever I read her books shortly after their release, I just really, really look forward to the next one. But as I know, writing is a process. A long one. So it'll take some time but the wait is worth it. Thinking more on it now too, I'd have to describe her writing as calm. It was like...the pace of what I'd imagine a bard telling the story to be like. Slow and melodic, and engaging. Very, very engaging.

I highly recommend Lahiri's works. All of them are equally poignant, so start from the beginning, the end or pick up The Namesake, the novel in the middle of the two short story collections. Just enjoy on a lazy afternoon or maybe as the sun sets at the end of a long day. And I, for one, will be waiting for her fourth book.