I have this fear that used bookstores will cease to exist in the near future. They exist in spite of reality now. What on earth could be the return on investment (ROI) of a used bookstore?

As any connoisseur of used books will tell you, a used book has a much different smell than a new book. Indeed, used books have a variety of smells depending on how old and what kind of paper they are printed on.


Used book stores offer the opportunity to find things--not just books, but the marginal notes of other readers. Used books have history, character.


In the future, we'll still have libraries, but how will we get a book for a dollar we can take into the bath with us? Where will we get books for two dollars we can leave on planes and buses for others to find?


As a library book, I would never have picked up Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies for the second time. It doesn't even crack my top 50 books I have to read in the next year and a half. But as a book found in a Japanese use book store for 115 yen (about 1 US dollar), now I could reread the stories and write my own marginal notes. This book won't be a sentimental object; instead, it will be the object of my marginal notes. Who knows how many pencil marks the triumph of "A Temporary Matter" will get? Who knows how many pencil marks and comments the less-than-triumphant "Sexy" will get? Who knows who will pick up the book next somewhere down the line?


What is the ROI of a used book store? Someone finding the exact same book I did some five years later, slightly more worn, smelling a little differently--a treasure to behold.

A wonderful collection of short stories revolving around people with Indian background living in the U.S or in India. The stories explore themes about culture, family, duty, and the immigration experience.

Some stories are funny, some sad, some left me pensive, I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

9 povestiri splendide!

"She was like that, excited and delighted by little things, crossing her fingers before any remotely unpredictable event, like tasting a new flavor of ice cream, or dropping a letter in a mailbox."

I began reading this title at a random book café just so I could sit down and kill some time. When I came to, I was reminded by the proprietors that it was time for closing up; been at it for four hours.

Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer-winning debut is a collection of short-stories, each story with a distinct flavor of its own. Even though India is a constant theme in all the stories, the stories explore a diversity of themes in varying environments: failing marriages, budding relationships, illicit extra-marital trysts, travelling students, shunned and cursed women and many more.

Some of the stories are really charming. I can recall a few that have stayed with me. However, the quality of the writing felt somewhat inconsistent. That said, I'm definitely intrigued enough to explore further into Lahiri's bibliography.

I enjoy short stories. Short but full of love, information, redemption! Jhumpa does it well. A couple stories were heartbreaking but that didn’t stop this reader.

This author, her prose and imagination are stunning. Attempting these stories most of her characters live in the world of exiles. They are trying to live their hope of making a livelihood in the west by being strong enough to leave India.

I can only finally say that I loved this book of short stories and this author’s beautiful poetry.

This lady can write!!! 5 Stars!

You know a book's good when someone asks you for a synopsis, or snippet, or impression, and all you can do is smile there, enveloped in some subtle magic that only you know about, & kinda forget what it, the book, was all about altogether. This happened with "Interpreter of Maladies", a perfectly-titled collection of short stories about Indian Americans in India or in the U.S. Their ages & experiences range from children to marrieds to 103 year-olds, from tourism in the old world to the natural assimilation to a new one.

The first story makes me shiver just thinking about it--I made my students read it as an example of the perfect short story. & the last one encapsulates the author's overall thesis perfectly. It's all a masterpiece. A privilege to read.

Utter Sadness, minus one.

A collection of short stories by renowned Jhumpa Lahiri. Eight incredibly sad and nostalgic stories, with morsels of indian american culture. In a certain way this reminded me of Gabriel García Márquez, with that tragic mysticism that he used to imprint every single one of his tales. But the stories and novels of García Márquez, although mostly sad, are memorable, and impactful; they have closure, and overall end “well”, with a sort of tragic beauty. The stories of Jhumpa Lahiri are just tragic and mundanely depressing, leaving me only a feeling of profound sadness, and bitterness; minus one outstanding exception. Márquez I carry in my heart, and Lahiri, far from it. However, if you wish like feeling very depressed this is probably a perfect ten!

Go for the Best, consider the Good, whatever the Meh.

n   The Best n:
★★★★★ "The Third and Final Continent."  <-- This one is truly “Splendid!”

n   The Good n:
★★★☆☆ "Interpreter of Maladies." [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine." [2.5]

n   The Meh n:
★★☆☆☆ "A Real Durwan."
★★☆☆☆ "This Blessed House."
★★☆☆☆ "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar." [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "A Temporary Matter." [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Sexy." [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Mrs. Sen's."

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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1999] [198p] [Collection] [Not Recommendable] [Outlier]
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★★★★★  The Third and Final Continent
★★☆☆☆  Interpreter of Maladies
★★★☆☆  Unaccustomed Earth

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Completa Tristeza, excepto uno.

Colección de cuentos cortos de la renombrada Jhumpa Lahiri. Ocho cuentos terriblemente tristes y nostálgicos, con bocaditos de cultura india americana. En cierto modo me hizo recordar a Gabriel García Márquez, con ese misticismo trágico que solía imprimirle a cada uno de sus relatos. Pero los cuentos y novelas de García Márquez, aunque trágicos, son memorables, e impactan; tienen cierre, y dentro de todo terminaban “bien”, con una especie de belleza trágica. Los cuentos de Jhumpa Lahiri son sólo trágicos y mundanamente deprimentes, dejándome sólo una sensación de profunda tristeza, y amargura; menos una única sobresaliente excepción. A Márquez lo llevo en el corazón, y a Lahiri, lejos de ahí. Sin embargo, ¡si tenés ganas de deprimirte mucho esto es probablemente un perfecto diez!

Ir por lo Mejor, considerar lo Bueno, loquesea lo Meh.

n   Lo Mejor n:
★★★★★ "El Tercer y Ultimo Continente." <-- Este es verdaderamente “¡Espléndido!”

n   Lo Bueno n:
★★★☆☆ "El Intérprete del Dolor." [2.5]
★★★☆☆ "Cuando el Señor Pirzada Venía a Cenar." [2.5]

n   Lo Meh n:
★★☆☆☆ "Un Durwan de Verdad."
★★☆☆☆ "Esta Bendita Casa."
★★☆☆☆ "El Tratamiento de Bibi Haldar." [1.5]
★★☆☆☆ "Una Anomalía Temporal." [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Sexy." [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "En Casa de la Señora Sen."

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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1999] [198p] [Colección] [No Recomendable] [Minoría]
-----------------------------------------------

How’s this for blurbs: when the female author published this collection of short stories at age 32 in 1999, she won the Pulitzer Prize, the Pen/Hemingway Award and the New Yorker’s Debut Book of the Year.

Like the author’s other collection of shorts that I have reviewed (Unaccustomed Earth, 2008) these stories are about Bengali immigrants in the US from the Bengal area of India, around Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). There are about 250 million Bengalis in the subcontinent, about 2/3 making up the Muslim nation of Bangladesh and about 1/3, mostly Hindus, in West Bengal, a state in India.



But, with the exception of two stories, these folks are not urban slum dogs --they are upper-income folks with PhD’s and MD’s who grew up speaking English in India and who came to the USA to be doctors, professors and engineers in the high-tech beltway bandit firms around Boston. They live in Boston townhouses and upscale suburbs. And there’s a twist to saying these stories are about “immigrants” because most folks in these stories were fully assimilated into the global upper class before they even arrived in the USA.

Here’s a sample of what the nine stories are about:

In the title story, a man who is an interpreter of native Indian languages for a doctor is also a tour guide for visitors to India. He tells this to a Bengali couple, with their kids, visiting from the states. The wife, desperate for someone to confide in, thinks he is like a psychological counselor and pours out her secrets, shocking the tour guide.

In “Mrs. Sen’s,” an eleven-year old boy learns the depth of the loneliness of a Bengali woman in Boston who desperately misses her native country and her large extended family back in India.

“A Real Durwan” is one of two stories set back in India, not in the USA. A poverty-stricken old woman, bent with age, has a job sweeping the stairwell in an apartment building. She sleeps on a pile of rags below the mailboxes. As improvements are made to the building the tenants decide they want a real concierge and toss her onto the street.

In “Sexy,” a young woman listens every day to her co-worker aghast at the infidelity of her cousin’s husband who has left his wife for a younger unmarried woman. Although she and the co-worker are best of friends, the woman can’t tell her that she herself is having an affair with a married Bengali man.

In “This Blessed House,” a young Bengali couple has just moved into a new home and they keep finding posters of Jesus behind closet doors, crosses, statues of Mary in the bushes and nativity scenes in nooks and corner. Over her husband’s objections, the wife collects these and displays them on the mantle. “ ‘We’re not Christian,’ Sanjeev said. Lately he had begun noticing the need to state the obvious to Twinkle.” Sanjeev is an introverted engineer. And it could just be that life-of-the-party Twinkle, despite her poor housekeeping skills, could just be the complementary partner Sanjeev needs if he has sense to hold on to her.

The stories in the author’s collection, Unaccustomed Earth, were very good but Maladies is excellent. No wonder it won so many awards.

Map from portcities.org.uk

This is an excellent book of short stories. I won't forget the first story "A Temporary Matter", it is heartbreaking.

کتاب مترجم دردها نوشته جومپا لاهیری، مجموعه‌ای از نه داستان کوتاه است که تجربیات زندگی هندی‌ها و هندی-آمریکایی‌ها را بیان کرده و چالش‌های هویتی و فرهنگی آن‌ها را به تصویر می‌کشد .
داستان‌های کتاب دارای ویژگی‌ها و خصوصیاتی هستند که نه تنها زیبایی ادبی آن‌ها را برجسته کرده، بلکه به عمق و غنای آن نیز افزوده.
شخصیت‌های داستان‌ها معمولاً بین دو فرهنگ متضاد شرقی و غربی گرفتار هستند و این تنش‌های فرهنگی بر شکل‌گیری هویت آن‌ها اثر گذاشته و چالش‌های متعددی را ایجاد می‌کند. لاهیری با خلق این شخصیت‌ها نشان می‌دهد که چگونه مهاجران تلاش می‌کنند در دنیای جدید خود جا بیفتند و هویت خود را حفظ کنند . لاهیری به خوبی توانسته تنهایی، عشق، سردرگمی و ناامیدی را در میان شخصیت‌های داستان نمایش دهد.
موضوعات داستان‌ها معمولاً عمومی هستند، مانند جستجوی هویت، چالش‌های خانوادگی، تلاطم‌های عاطفی و تمایلات انسانی. این موضوعات تنها به زندگی شخصیت‌های داستان‌ها و یا ملیت خاصی محدود نمی‌شوند، بلکه می‌توانند برای هر فردی و هر فرهنگی مرتبط و قابل درک باشند.
داستان‌های کتاب به‌خوبی تضادهای موجود در زندگی را نشان می‌دهند. این تضادها شامل تضاد میان نسل‌ها، فشارهای اجتماعی، و انتظارات فرهنگی است که شخصیت‌های داستان در تلاش برای سازگاری با آن‌ها هستند. لاهیری به احساسات و تجربیات درونی شخصیت‌ها پرداخته و تلاش کرده تا تنهایی، پریشانی ، خستگی عاطفی ، سردرگمی و ناامیدی را در میان شخصیت‌هایش نشان دهد .
نویسنده با انتخاب واژگان مناسب و جملات مؤثر، فضای احساسی داستان و احساسات شخصیت ها را به مخاطب منتقل می‌کند. توصیف‌های دقیق او از محیط و جزئیات زندگی روزمره، به متن زیبایی بخشیده و فرهنگ غنی و سنت های پیچیده هندی ها رابه خاطر خواننده می آورد .
داستان‌های کتاب مترجم دردها را می‌توان دلنشین و تأثیرگذار توصیف کرد. این داستان‌ها با روایتی جذاب، تجربه‌های انسانی را به‌ زیبایی به تصویر می‌کشند . لاهیری با مهارت در انتقال احساسات و دغدغه‌های شخصیت‌ها، داستان‌هایی آفریده که نه‌تنها خواندنی و گیرا هستند، بلکه موجب تفکر و تأمل در مورد هویت، فرهنگ و روابط انسانی نیز می‌شوند.

I have always felt that many of the diaspora writers exploit India rather than bring out the realistic aspect of it. A writer will go on to mention about spices, the brown people and the garlic curry we eat--as if this is the end of Indian people and nothing else defines them.

But not with Jhumpa Lahiri. It is not that Lahiri does not mention curries or spices or the brown people--but her writing is not just limited to these things. She has that perfect sense of storytelling that many native language writers in India have with a touch of subtlety, humour and emotions while never being an active participant in the story. This is what makes this collection remarkable. I found all of the stories pretty effective on an emotional level and if one or two different stories didn't particularly touch me or I found unrealistic (like the titular story), I admired the amazing writing style of Lahiri that keeps you hooked. In fact, it is hard to pick the best one and a single theme of isolation and longing runs through every story.

"Sexy" was well written and reminded of the Nina Simone's song "The Other Woman" about a mistress.

"A Real Durwan" and "The Treatment of Bibi Halder" brought out the lives of people living in the same building and their ways of coping with each other.

"Mrs Sen's", "The Third and The Final Continent" explored themes of adjusting in a new land.

Overall this is a must read collection from a remarkable writer which explores the depth of immigration among other sensitive issues.

This was the first thing I read from Jhumpa Lahiri way back in the late 2000s, and unfortunately, I'm a little less enthused the second time around. Just a tad. Still, out of the 9 stories here, there are about 4 that are truly fabulous, and I would still recommend the whole thing to anyone interested in her work or interested in reading short stories.
The best one here is the first story, “A Temporary Matter” about a married couple who receive a notice from their electric company that their power will be disconnected for five days from 8:00-9:00 P.M. in order to repair a power line damaged in a snowstorm, and is the one that I see myself coming back to, above all the others, in the future.