By and large I found this collection overrated. Which is not to say that I didn't find some of the stories fantastic, the title story for example, as well as the 2nd story in the book. And nothing was really bad here, but seldom did any of these stories strike me as anything as phenomenal as Ms. Lahiri's novel The Namesake.

The collection can be sorted into two main types of stories, those in the East, and those in the West. In both cases, what separates most of these stories from the tale of The Namesake is that they simply reproduce all the stereotypes and tropes of Indian-Bengali culture, whereas the novel actually took the time to explore the realities of such cultural norms. And maybe The Namesake could take that time BECAUSE it was a novel. But for a book to receive as much praise as Interpreter of Maladies, I was hoping for similar insights, merely compressed and distilled into short stories, but no such luck. Instead I found most of the stories repeating the same-old learning to love (or not love) the person with whom your marriage has been arranged (the American stories) and a couple commentaries about the persistence of the caste system (the Bengali stories). The characters do not challenge the culture (which I admit is a very Western expectation), but they didn't even add any nuances to the day-to-day of arranged marriage.

Lahiri is a good writer, as a few of these stories and her novel indicate. But high expectations can only hinder you with this collection. Read The Namesake instead, and watch it succeed despite the dominance of exposition over scene!

Jhumpa Lahiri (n. 1967)

Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri nasceu a 11 de Julho de 1967 em Londres, Reino Unido, filha de pais indianos, que emigraram de Calcutá, no estado de Bengala Ocidental. Dois anos depois a sua família mudou-se para Kingston, Rhode Island, nos Estados Unidos da América.
”Jhumpa” foi o diminutivo que a sua educadora de infância lhe deu para “evitar” pronunciar Nilanjana Sudeshna.
Em 1999 publica o seu primeiro livro, um conjunto de nove contos, ”intérprete de enfermidades” que venceu em 2000 o Prémio Pulitzer para Ficção e o PEN/Hemingway Award.
Em 2001, casou-se com Alberto Lahiri Vourvoulias-Bush, um jornalista.
Jhumpa Lahiri vive actualmente em Roma, Itália, com o seu marido e os dois filhos.

“intérprete de enfermidades” é uma excelente colectânea de contos, com uma temática comum, a imigração indiana para os Estados Unidos da América; homens, mulheres e crianças que enfrentam inúmeros desafios, numa perspectiva social e económica, procurando oportunidades para a melhoria das condições de vida.
A narrativa de Jhumpa Lahiri é admirável, construindo histórias que se podem “interligar”, num processo de transição e de assimilação, que vão criando vários comportamentos e várias expectativas, umas que se concretizam e outras que nunca se vão concretizar, existindo alguns factores culturais e sociais, que no início estão fortemente enraizados e que progressivamente se vão diluindo.
A temática do amor e do casamento – a felicidade conjugal - domina alguns dos contos, cristalizando atitudes por vezes díspares, feitas de segredos, silêncios e mistérios. Nessa vivência diária nem sempre a comunicação entre o casal é integralmente compartilhada, as diferentes perspectivas sobre a vida podem, nalguns casos, fomentar a discórdia e o conflito.
As relações entre pais e filhos estão, normalmente, associadas à evolução na integração social e cultural, acabando, invariavelmente, por se revelarem na manutenção das tradições e dos costumes religiosos, conservando ou não, algumas das rotinas diárias que tinham na Índia, acentuadas, quase sempre, pela diferença geracional.
Acontecimentos históricos, eventos que acontecem na Índia, Paquistão e nos Estados Unidos da América; as questões ambientais e a preservação do ambiente são igualmente abordadas.
Depois há o passado e o presente, memórias traumáticas, que desencandeiam comportamentos divergentes, porque existem desafios, como, a língua, o modo de vestir, a culinária e muitos outros, que nem sempre são susceptíveis de serem superados.
A escrita de Jhumpa Lahiri é metódica e imaginativa, muito bem estruturada, num estilo minimalista – estamos a ler contos – e que se revela numa surpreendente leitura.
Os melhores contos (5 Estrelas) de “intérprete de enfermidades” são: “Um Problema Temporário”, “Intérprete de Enfermidades” e “Esta Abençoada Casa”.


1 – “Um Problema Temporário” - 5 Estrelas: um jovem casal Indo-Americano que vive num bairro de Boston, recebe um aviso, informando-os que “durante cinco dias, ser-lhes-ia cortada a electricidade durante uma hora, tendo este corte início às oito da noite”, para substituir um poste eléctrico que tinha caído na sua rua, durante a última tempestade de neve.
Um acontecimento trágico, ocorrido seis meses antes, alterou dramaticamente a vivência e o relacionamento diário e afectivo de Shukumar e Shoba, marido e mulher,  o seu bebé nasceu morto, as rotinas diárias desorganizaram-se profundamente e o diálogo deixou de “existir” entre os dois.
Durante o período sem luz “tinham que dizer qualquer coisa”: ”Qualquer coisa um ao outro, às escuras.”… “E que tal dizermos um ao outro qualquer coisa que nunca dissemos antes.” (Pág. 27)
Na primeira noite e nas noites seguintes… ”Alguma coisa acontecia quando a casa estava às escuras. Eram capazes de dialogar um com o outro.” Na terceira noite, começaram a beijar-se, na quarta noite, ”… fizeram amor com um desespero ultimamente desconhecido.” (Pág. 33)
Inesperadamente, “Na manhã da quinta noite, Shukumar encontrou outro aviso da companhia de electricidade… O cabo tinha sido reparado mais rapidamente que inicialmente previsto… (Pág. 34)
Mas, o jovem casal, decide ”… manter as luzes apagadas…”, afirmando Shoba gentilmente, que ”Quero ver o teu rosto quando te disser o que tenho a dizer”. (Pág. 34)
Jhumpa Lahiri vai descrevendo admiravelmente as alterações físicas e emocionais de Shukumar e Shoba, as suas memórias e as sua lembranças, por vezes, insignificantes, num distanciamento dominado pela rotina, pelo desespero e pela incompreensão, onde os eventos não são narrados sequencialmente, mas de uma forma aleatória, mas sempre de um modo realista – entre a morte de uma criança e o fim de um casamento.
“Um Problema Temporário” é um excelente conto, em que a “escuridão” funciona como uma metáfora no relacionamento do casal; numa narrativa intensa, sobre a tristeza e os segredos de Shukumar e Shoba, permitindo efectuar uma profunda reflexão sobre a dor e a perda…

2 – “Quando o Senhor Pirzada Vinha Para Jantar” - 4 Estrelas: Outono de 1971, o senhor Pirzada, é um assistente da cadeira de Botânica na Universidade de Dacca, na época, parte do Paquistão, que recebera uma bolsa de estudo do governo paquistanês para estudar o tipo de folhagem das árvores da Nova Inglaterra, numa Universidade a norte de Boston.
Os pais de Lilia, uma menina com dez anos, oriundos da Índia, convidaram o senhor Pizarda para jantar, um “ritual” que se começou a repetir diariamente, e que servia para atenuar as saudades que sentia da sua mulher e das suas sete filhas, com idade compreendidas entre os seis e os dezasseis anos, cujos nomes começavam todos pela letra “A”.
Com o deflagrar da guerra entre a Índia e o Paquistão, associada à Guerra da Independência do Bangladesh, fez com que Dacca (Paquistão Oriental) fosse invadida pelo exército paquistanês, com o massacre de milhares de pessoas mortas, provocando a angústia do senhor Pizarda que fica sem notícias da sua família.
O fascínio de Lilia pelo visitante “indiano”, está associado a um presente, uns pequenos doces que Pizarda lhe oferece, e que armazena numa caixa de madeira; esse encantamento motiva a jovem menina, para procurar informação história sobre a Índia e o Paquistão e a rezar pela protecção da família de Pizarda.
Jhumpa Lahiri constrói a narrativa na perspectiva de Lilia, uma criança, que não entende o significado do conflito, nem o hábito que o seu pai e o senhor Pizarda têm para verem o noticiário; mas que percebe as diferenças e os contrastes entre a sua situação na América e as filhas do senhor Pizarda em Dacca.
“Quando o Senhor Pirzada Vinha Para Jantar” permite uma excelente análise sobre a assimilação cultural americana pelos imigrantes “indianos” e pelos seus filhos (primeira geração), já nascidos na América, onde impera o desconhecimento e o desinteresse histórico, por factos e acontecimentos que extravasam as fronteiras americanas.

3 – “Intérprete de Enfermidades” - 5 Estrelas: o senhor e a senhora Das, são um casal Indo-Americanos, nascidos na América, com três filhos, Ronny, Bobby e Tina, que estão a visitar a Índia, uma vez que os seus pais já estão reformados e vivem em Asansol.
Esta família está a iniciar uma viagem ao “Templo do Sol” num táxi, sem ar condicionado, conduzido por Kapasi, um indiano que trabalha à sexta-feira e ao sábado como guia turístico, e os restantes dias como intérprete de “gujarate”, uma língua indo-ariana, num consultório médico, “um intérprete de enfermidades”; um trabalho de “enorme responsabilidade” que deixa a senhora Das absolutamente deslumbrada.
Kapasi começa a desenvolver um interesse romântico pela senhora Das, num relacionamento correspondido; e nesse sentido, Mina Das faz-lhe uma revelação absolutamente surpreendente: ela cometeu o adultério, uma única vez, com um amigo do seu marido e desse “acto” nasceu Bobby. Mina explica que decidiu contar-lhe este segredo a Kapasi por causa da sua profissão, porque espera que ele possa interpretar os seus sentimentos e aconselhá-la.
Em “Intérprete de Enfermidades”, Jhumpa Lahiri, relata de uma forma extraordinária as diferentes perspectivas que duas personagens podem ter para com o casamento, a felicidade, a solidão e o fracasso.

4 – “Um Verdadeiro Durwan” - 3 Estrelas: Boomi Ma, com sessenta e quatro anos, é uma pobre varredoura de escadas, uma porteira, uma “durwan”, num prédio antigo de apartamentos de Calcutá, que gosta de fabular, contando histórias sobre o seu passado. No prédio ninguém se preocupa, são todos amáveis, porque Boomi Ma relata acontecimentos interessantes e sedutores, e mantém as escadas do prédio, velho e decrépito, impecáveis. Um dia, um dos inquilinos, o senhor Dalal, decide instalar um lavatório na escada do prédio, no patamar do primeiro andar.
De repente tudo muda… alguém roubou o lavatório. E os inquilinos culpam Boomi Ma de informar os ladrões e negligenciar o seu trabalho.
Quem é que pode acreditar no que diz Boomi Ma?


Mapparium - Boston - EUA

5 – “Sexy” - 4 Estrelas: Miranda, tem vinte e dois anos, é uma mulher solitária, que trabalha em Boston, numa estação pública de rádio, no departamento de angariação de fundos, passando o dia ao telefone solicitando angariações monetárias.
Um dia tudo muda… Miranda envolve-se com um homem casado, Dev, um “macho” indiano, ficando fascinada pelo seu charme e pelo tom da sua pele, era bengali. Numa visita ao seu local preferido, o “Mapparium” no Centro de Ciência Cristã, em Boston, Dev, sussurra-lhe: “Tu és muito sexy”. (Pág. 113)
Dev aproveita a ausência da sua mulher, que está de viagem à Índia, durante umas semanas, para manter com Miranda, encontros românticos, numa rotina condicionada pela diferença horária.
“Tu és muito sexy”…
E de repente o filho da prima da sua amiga indiana Laxmi, Robin, de sete anos, diz-lhe: “Tu és sexy”…

6 – “A Senhora Sen” - 4 Estrelas: desde o início do ano escolar que Eliot, com onze anos de idade, fica com a senhora Sen, depois de acabar as aulas; a sua mãe trabalha e tem receio de deixar o seu filho sozinho em casa. A senhora Sen é uma mulher indiana, originária de Calcutá, que veste o “sari” e “pinta” o cabelo, e que está a aprender a conduzir. Em vez de usar uma faca, a senhora Sen utiliza uma lâmina curva, trazida da Índia, para cortar os legumes em segundos. Há duas coisas que fazem a senhora Sen feliz: uma carta da família e peixe fresco inteiro.
””Tem a certeza de que o peixe que me vende é fresco?”
“Um pouco mais fresco e eram eles a responder-lhe.”
…
“A senhora quer que eu lhe arranje o peixe, senhora Sen?”
Ela assentiu com a cabeça. “Deixe as cabeças.”
“Tem gatos em casa?”
“Não, gatos não. Só tenho o marido.”” (Pág. 151)
O ritual de comprar o peixe mantém-se; umas vezes é o senhor Sen que o vai buscar, outras vezes a senhora Sen vai de autocarro; até que um dia, a senhora Sen decide levar o automóvel da família, na companhia do Eliot, sem ter a carta de condução.
Ao contrário do senhor Sen, que é professor de matemática numa Universidade americana, o processo de assimilação é particularmente difícil para a senhora Sen…

7 – “Esta Abençoada Casa” - 5 Estrelas: após quatro meses de namoro, Sanjeev e Twinkle, casaram-se. Na vivenda que adquiriram em Hartford, no Connecticut, começam a encontrar uma enorme parafernália de ícones de índole cristã, inúmeras estatuetas e quadros com a imagem de Cristo e de outros Santos, revelando o sentido religioso e devoto dos anteriores proprietários. O casal professava o hinduísmo, não eram cristãos. Só que Twinlke fica fascinada com aquelas relíquias cristãs, rejeitando deitá-lhas fora, começando-as a expor por todo a casa. E eis que surge um conflito com Sanjeev, acentuando as diferenças de personalidade. Para atenuar esse confronto Jhumpa Lahiri introduz um interlúdio musical: a 5ª Sinfonia de Mahler, que acentua os elementos de tragédia e adversidade, numa música composta para celebrar o amor e a felicidade.
No final Sanjeev aceita a sua esposa, com as suas idiossincrasias, os seus desejos e as suas excentricidades…
”Vá lá, tens que admitir. Esta casa está abençoada.” (Pág. 171)

8 – “O Tratamento de Bibi Haldar” - 3 Estrelas: Bibi Haldar, com vinte e nove anos, tem uma maleita, uma doença inconsolável, com um único diagnóstico – precisa de um homem, precisa de se casar…
A “doença” que afecta Bibi Haldar pode ter muitas interpretações possíveis. Parece ser epilepsia, mas também pode ser apenas histeria feminina, uma “espécie” de desequilíbrio emocional, que necessita de um estimulante sexual.
”… Haldar (o seu pai) colocou um anúncio de uma linha no jornal local, solicitando um noivo, com o seguinte texto:”MENINA, INSTÁVEL, ALTURA 152 CENTÍMETROS, PROCURA MARIDO.” (Pág. 194)
”Passados dois meses sem que tivesse havido uma única resposta ao anúncio Haldar e a sua mulher (a madrasta de Bibi, uma vez que a sua mãe tinha morrido durante o parto) sentiram-se vingados. "Agora já estão convencidos de que ela não tem qualidades para casar? “Que homem no seu perfeito juízo é que lhe ia pegar?” (Pág. 195)  
Mais tarde Bibi Haldar é abandonada pelo seu pai e pela madrasta…
E de repente, Bibi Haldar apareceu grávida. ”Ela disse que não se lembrava do que tinha acontecido. E não havia processo de a levar a dizer-nos quem era o homem que a tinha posto naquele estado.” (Pág. 201)
No final: ”Ela estava, tanto quanto podíamos perceber, curada.” (Pág. 202)

9 – “O Terceiro e Último Continente” - 4 Estrelas: um homem indiano, bengali, deixa a Índia em 1964 a bordo do navio SS Roma, vai para o Norte de Londres e começa a estudar no Instituto de Ciências Económicas e Financeiras. ”Em 1969 quando eu tinha trinta e seis anos de idade, o meu próprio casamento foi negociado. Por volta desta altura, foi-me oferecido um emprego na América, no departamento de processamento de uma livraria no Instituto de Tecnologia de Massachusetts (MIT).
”Primeiramente, viajei para Calcutá, para celebrar o meu casamento e, uma semana depois, apanhei uma avião para Boston, para começar a trabalhar.” (Pág. 206)
Ficou alojado no albergue da juventude na Praça Central, em Cambridge, à espera que a sua mulher, Mala, obtivesse a carta verde e o passaporte; alugando, mais tarde, um quarto na casa da senhora Croft, que tinha mais de cem anos de idade; mantendo uma autonomia na sua vida diária, quase incompreensível para o narrador.
Após a chegada de Mala à América, mudam-se para Boston, e fazem uma visita à senhora Croft que afirma: ”Ela é uma mulher perfeita.”
“Eu gostaria de poder pensar que aquele momento na sala da senhora Croft foi o momento em que a distância entre mim e Mala começou a decrescer. Embora ainda não estivéssemos completamente apaixonados, acho que os meses que se seguiram foram uma espécie de lua-de-mel. (Pág. 227)

4.5 stars

Several months later, yaaayy I finally picked this book up and finished it!! We read 3 of these short stories last semester in my Indian/African literature class, and since this entire collection won the Pulitzer, I just wanted to go ahead and finish the entire thing. I enjoyed the ones we read for class, and I continued to love the rest of them! Lahiri has an amazing writing style with such great references to immigration and relationships and they're stories that you can reread over and over and locate something new in. I've heard her other short story collection is good, but her novel is not as amazing, but I definitely have my eye on her!

In this stirring collection of short stories, Jhumpa Lahiri displays the diasporic struggle of men, assailed by nightmares of home, over the dilemma of assimilating into the new world or holding on to the past culture.

The author exhibits her majestic power of story telling with such grace and allure that the most wonderful thing happened to me today. I seemed to have lost the sense of 'time' while reading this splendid depiction of the plight of the homeless. This doesn't happen often.

I was put into a trance by Lahiri's portrayal of the bereaved couple lamenting the death of their unborn child and confiding their frightful secrets in the dark during an electrical outrage. When Mr. Pirzada came to dine, I as well prayed for the conflicts to come to an end and for the rightful birth of my country. When Miranda wronged a stranger, the vermillion, promising marital bliss threatened me too. Along with the girl once gripped by a mysterious ailment, I was cured. Like the interpreter of maladies, I have dreamt of settling disputes of which I alone can understand. After all, home has beckoned us all.

My thoughts have been vigorously rejigged. Lahiri's steadfast curiosity about human valor and her beautiful drawing of human spirit have left me stunned.

Pulitzer Prize Winner 2000

You might not believe it but I know some other Portuguese immigrants whom have been in the UK for more than ten years but still don’t know how to put more than two words together. Most of them actually avoid any contact with English people and can go as far as to say they don’t like them because they eat sausages and beans for breakfast (Ahah).

I also know now that an English person living abroad is not an immigrant but an expatriate. Apparently there’s a difference there. (Ahah)

I don’t get this kind of mentality. I seriously don’t.

Now, let me get to the exact point; this book and its nine haunting little stories; this book and its gentle but effective prose; this book, simply wonderful.

Unforgettable characters, quirky situations and clever twists. All this in less than 200 pages. I loved it.

Apart from what I’ve learnt about their culture I didn’t see much difference between me and these people. I actually thought we were quite similar.

And I would love to try putting two words together in their language.

نمی دونستم ایتالیا ایتالیا رو از داستان کوتاه لاهیری ساختند!
آروم آروم دارم به نثر لاهیری علاقه مند میشم :)

2024: Reading leads to rereading leads to writing. Anna Quindlen notes this in one of her essay collections that I have read multiple times- I will have to check my reviews and notes to verify which specific book. Each year thousands of books get published, each attempting to stand out from its peers. As a moderator in multiple group, I am always on the lookout for new books that I think the members of these groups will enjoy. As a reader, I rarely read new publications; at times ten or more years might elapse before I get to what was once a can’t miss novel. My 2024 reading theme has been reading upper echelon authors who are considered the masters of their craft. Unlike other years where I piece together new to me books for an enriching reading year, my 2024 includes a number of rereads of favorites across many genres. October was supposed to have been my challenge to read spooky books, but the best laid plans often fall short. This has been a month of family time and a lot of rereads, which have been both comforting and enriching. One author who inspires me as she has crafted an award winning career writing in multiple languages and genres is the esteemed Jhumpa Lahiri. Her first Pulitzer winning book sits on my shelf urging me to read it. After eight long years, I picked up her short story collection and savored every word, thinking how can she be a debut author. After following Lahiri’s distinguished career and returning to this first book, I see how Interpreter of Maladies was just the start; each book stood out more for its depth of language usage. These nine stories put Lahiri on the literary fiction map, and I enjoyed them more a second time around.

Standout stories:
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine: The protagonist is a ten year old, first generation American born girl. Her parents were among the first wave of Indian immigrants, the father clinging to his native culture, the mother attempting to assimilate. Lilia is among the only non white children in her school. She learns American history and takes yearly field trips to Plymouth Rock, but these forays do not teach her about her own culture. Until Mr Pirzada joined her family for dinner, Lilia knew nothing about the India-Pakistaní war over a disputed region that the English neglected. Mr Pirzada fretted over the fate of his wife and seven daughters left behind in Dacca. Her brought Lilia nightly gifts, and she prayed for the well being of his family. He action comes to a climax on Halloween, when Lilia narrates words that are wise beyond her years. I picture Lilia as a young Lahiri because this along with the other stories occur in New England, mirroring Lahiri’s upbringing near Providence, Rhode Island. One could see that these stories fostered a kernel that became The Namesake, a full length novel discussing the Indian immigrant experience, a novel I now long to revisit.

Sexy features Miranda who engages in an affair with Dev. While the affair takes place, Miranda’s coworker Laxmi soothes her cousin, whose husband is concurrently engaging in an affair. Miranda listens to Laxmi’s phone conversations and questions her own doings and how they affect Dev’s wife. The events expose Miranda to immigrant culture, whereas before before meeting both Laxmi and Dev, she stuck to her own kind. And surprisingly, Miranda found herself enjoying aspects of other cultures, even stopping by an Indian grocery store after work a few times. It is Miranda rather than Dev who shows empathy and wonders if the affair is morally right. She sees what happens to Laxmi’s cousin and her son, both spiraling into depression. Gradually, she decides that her affair with Dev could ruin lives and slowly ends things, revealing both introspection and empathy of the human mind.

The Blessed House stood out the first time for its humor, and it touched me this second time in a similar manner. Mrs Sen’s reveals the difficulties faced by first wave immigrants who generally joined their spouses on college campuses. Mrs Sen was isolated from everyone she knew in a remote college campus, her entire family back in Calcutta. She could not drive and had no desire to do so whereas her husband was at wit’s end with what to do with her. In an isolated area with little public transportation and few Indians to befriend, Mrs Sen’s entire world was preparing supper in her university issued apartment. It made me wonder if Lahiri’s parents experienced similar early years in the United States and how they eventually adapted to life in a new county. Mrs Sen’s experience contrasts with that of the narrator and his wife in The Third and Final Continent. They arrive in Boston just as man arrives on the moon for the first time. Although they prefer tea to coffee and other reminders of Indian, this new couple makes the best of their life in America, eventually moving to the suburbs and having a son who enrolls in Harvard. This family does not forget where they came from but both work hard to achieve the American dream.

Lahiri’s work contrasts Indians in both India and the United States and how one’s origins effect their experience. This first book of hers was considered unique because in the late 1990s, the first wave of first generation Indian Americans born in the United States began to come of age. Lahiri’s family arrived earlier than most, and, through her writing, exposed other groups of Americans to the Indian American immigrant experience. Many immigrant groups experience similar feelings as they arrive in the melting pot that is the United States. The generation gap felt by Indians is hardly unique; what stands out for me in all of Lahiri’s work is the depth of her writing. These stories range from fifteen to thirty pages in length. The characters are well crafted and could easily develop into a full length novel. One could see how Lahiri ideas for the stories that became both The Namesake and The Lowland began here. It takes a special writer to craft short stories that engage the reader as well as a full length novel. Lahiri is one of the best. She is now focusing on translation of works in three languages and shorter nonfiction pieces involving these said languages. Although I am more drawn to nonfiction, she is one writer who I will stop everything for when she publishes new fiction. Her writing makes me smarter, so hopefully it will not take eight years to revisit this story collection that marked her as one of the best authors alive today, in any language.

2016: In 2000 Jhumpa Lahiri became the first Indian American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies. In these nine poignant stories, Lahiri relates the Indian immigrant experience, connecting the tales and creating one voice for them. The stories shared a sadness of being separated from one's family by thousands of miles, yet also offered a glimmer of hope for their lives in India or the United States.

Not generally a reader of short stories, this year I read two powerful novels, Homegoing and The Book of Unknown Americans, which told one story in vignettes. Unlike these two books, however, Maladies is nine separate stories which share one overarching theme. The characters never meet even if they came from the same city in India to the same city in America, craving the company and friendship of other Indian Americans. Lahiri does a masterful job of giving purpose to her protagonists even if in some cases we only get to know them for fifteen short pages. As each story begins in a negative light and ends positively, the reader looks forward to each successive story in the collection.

Even though each story is brilliant in its own right, three stand out in creating an upbeat environment upon conclusion: the keynote story The Interpreter of Maladies where Mrs. Das comes to terms with herself as the story ends; The Story of Bibi Haldar where the title character is ostracized and desires to marry above all else; and the ending story The Third and Final Continent with an unnamed protagonist who looks back on his first days in America thirty years later. All share the theme of Indians who find it easier to hang on their customs than assimilate, creating people proud of their culture yet longing for their old country. This did not seem all too different to me than immigrants from other ethnicities and Lahiri does a superb job of making the Indian experience stand alone.

Lahiri was raised in suburban Boston in Rhode Island and appears to create her characters from childhood memories. Whether it was two Indian girls going trick or treating or a newlywed couple grappling with whether to observe Hinduism or Christianity, the stories are written in a labor of love. Each story is penned with the details of the color and texture of the women's saris to the brand of tea that the characters drank. From reading the stories of of these immigrants, I felt empathy with their lives as second half twentieth century arrivals to America.

Jhumpa Lahiri has weaved together stories of sadness yet has her readers leave feeling positive about her characters. Although short in length, each story is powerful from start to finish and has the readers desiring to know more about the characters' lives. A collection worthy of the Pulitzer, I look forward to reading more of Lahiri's work. Interpreter of Maladies rates 5 bright stars.

There are certain things in life that bewilder and baffle us with their staggering normality. Things so simple yet unmistakably captivating, common-place yet elegant, subtle yet profound. Jumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize winning collection of short stories is one of those things. She writes with a grace and an elegance that transforms her simple stories into a delicate myriad of words and feelings. Each story transforming you into a singularity bound to its harmonious beauty. The different stories somehow seem to be explicitly woven together to make a sari of the most beautiful kind. I felt this cumulative effect of an interconnection between all these produced feelings. This delicious melancholy that only the deepest parts of our soul can feel.

“She watched his lips forming the words, at the same time she heard them under her skin, under her winter coat, so near and full of warmth that she felt herself go hot.”

“It was only then, raising my water glass in his name, that I knew what it meant to miss someone who was so many miles and hours away, just as he had missed his wife and daughters for so many months.”

Her stories transcend the cultural & ethnic aspect of things, any person can relate to all these experiences. For me, Interpreter of Maladies is a humanistic book that highlights the common experiences of all people, not just the Indians, while at the same time show-casing a rich culture that some people are not familiar with. She made me feel attached and connected to these characters that had few similarities with me. She made me feel the bond with these people, their experiences, their sadness, their joys, their pain. She made me understand. She made me long for home. She made me feel human.

“Eventually I took a square of white chocolate out of the box, and unwrapped it, and then I did something I had never done before. I put the chocolate in my mouth, letting it soften until the last possible moment, and then as I chewed it slowly, I prayed that Mr. Pirzada’s family was safe and sound. I had never prayed for anything before, had never been taught or told to, but I decided, given the circumstances, that it was something I should do. That night when I went to the bathroom I only pretended to brush my teeth, for I feared that I would somehow rinse the prayer out as well. I wet the brush and rearranged the tube of paste to prevent my parents from asking any questions, and fell asleep with sugar on my tongue.”

This book shines a light into the dark recesses of our lives. Into those places where we keep our darkest secrets, those places that even we may not be aware of. It shines a light, not a glaring white light from a bulb or a fluorescent, but rather a small light. A light from a candle that illuminates only the most necessary of things. Those things we often neglect when the bright light showcases everything around us. The weak candle-light casts a melancholy feeling only to these important things. But really, maybe that melancholy light is all we need to notice things that really matter.

"In the dimness, he knew how she sat, a bit forward in her chair, ankles crossed against the lowest rung, left elbow on the table."
"They each took a candle and sat down on the steps."
"Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again."
"Once it was dark and he began kissing her awkwardly on her forehead and her face, and though it was dark he closed his eyes, and he knew that she did too."
"As he watched the couple, the room went dark and he spun around. Shoba turned the lights off. She came back to the table and sat down, and after a moment Shukumar joined her. They wept together, for the things they now knew."

As I end, let me borrow from the book's goodreads summary. I do believe that this paragraph captures that very essence of Ms. Lahiri's beautiful craftsmanship.

"There are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept." In that single line Jhumpa Lahiri sums up a universal experience, one that applies to all who have grown up, left home, fallen in or out of love, and, above all, experienced what it means to be a foreigner, even within one's own family.

"As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."

“He learned not to mind the silences.”
― Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies



Some of the stories were brilliant, some were very good and only a couple were meh. This novel captures for me the right tension between foreignness and loneliness and those small wires, crumbs of connection that bridge people and cultures. Yeah, I dug it.

Personally, I don't care about awards (See William H. Gass). And I really don't care that she's a woman (other than the fact that I'm trying to read more women this year) or that she's Indian American (although both are a significant part of this collection).

I don't believe she was subsidized for either being a woman or being Indian, of if she was I really don't care. Everybody is subsidized by something. White men get the white men subsidy. The rich get the rich subsidy. The educated get the educated subsidy. The poor and broken get the helluva life story subsidy. If I could sum it up, I'd guess that this book probably won the writer lottery: the right good book gets published at the perfect momemnt.

The stories themselves gave me the same temperate, nuanced, soft vibe I get when I read Kazuo Ishiguro or Julian Barnes. So, at least in my mind, she fits/resonnates more into/with the: über-educated, upper-middle, British/East Coast US, 'outsider now inside' club(s) more than the female writer or even Indian American clubs. But then again, I could be wrong.

Anyway, I don't have to say that this was her first published book and she still ended up writing (from what I've heard) solid, serious fiction. So that.

Brilliant stories:

A Temporary Matter
Interpreter of Maladies
Mrs Sen's
This Blessed House

Good stories:

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
Sexy
The Third and Final Continent

Meh stories:

A Real Durwan
The Treatment of Bibi Haldar

Updated Review after a re-read in 2023

3.8 Stars

The book has a collection of short stories with underlying themes of family, relationships, loneliness, pain, loss, self-discovery, etc.

All stories are bittersweet, some more than the others. The endings aren’t rounded or neatly tied. These are slice-of-life stories, starting somewhere and ending elsewhere, sharing snippets of the people involved for a brief time.

Most stories are set in the US, dealing with the Diaspora from the subcontinent. Three are set in India, with two in Calcutta (not Kolkata, based on the stories’ timelines). Though I read the book years ago, I’m in a much better position to understand them now. The sense of longing for human connection and the yearning to avoid isolation are strong in every story.

Here’s a list of the stories in the book:

•tA Temporary Matter – marriage, tragedy, trauma, distance, decisions
•tWhen Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine – Bangladesh war, immigrant life, friendships
•tThe Interpreter of Maladies – tourists, interpreter, secret, dysfunctional family, unhappy marriage
•tA Real Durwan – old woman, refugee, changes, realities, loss, accusations
•tSexy – affair, infidelity, third-party, parallels, choices, and decisions
•tMrs. Sen – homesickness, connected with food, alone, lonely, adjustments, yearning
•tThis Blessed House – finding J items, jealousy, disconnect, new marriage with no love
•tThe Treatment of Bibi Haldar – strange malady, when the community tries to step in and help, the need to be needed
•tThe Third and Final Continent – moving to another country, new life, learning, Ms. Croft and her influence, life

One thing I appreciate today is how the author doesn’t resort to stereotyping her characters despite using all the standard stereotypes. She makes them much more than these elements and adds a vital emotion to make them multidimensional (even if some are very much 2D).

However, this isn’t a book you read for fun. There’s nothing lighthearted about it. It will fill you with melancholy that’s hard to get rid of. Pick it up only if you are ready for this.

*******

Recording this year's re-read for a reading challenge prompt. Review to follow.

This collection of stories by Jhumpa Lahiri is like a treasure chest of individual jewels, each one precious in its own right. Her writing is simple yet elegant, and her characters are drawn with a refined sensitivity to psychological nuance. My only (slight) criticism is that a few of the stories do not end as well as they could. But this is a minor qualm. The stories in this collection exemplify how even the shortest of stories can open up an entire world to the reader. Few writers can achieve that, and Jhumpa Lahiri is indeed one of them.

این کتاب،مجموعه داستان هست و بیشتر داستان‌هاش مربوط به خانواده و مسائل حول و حوش اونه از ازدواج گرفته تا خیانت و عشق و دوران کهنسالی و ...فضای داستان‌ها خیلی به کشور خودمون نزدیک بود.البته فعلا کتاب رو تموم نکردم و تا الان پنج تا داستانش رو خوندم و خوشم اومد