Where are the gatekeepers? There is absolutely nothing here that I haven't read before, in the eighties, by other trendy young women writers. They put an Indian stamp on it, and it's supposed to be profound? These stories had no ability to evoke character or emotion, the prose style was unremarkable, the structure color by numbers. There was not a surprise or a genuine moment anywhere. A real effort to pander to trendy tastes, though, with unconvincing depictions of adulterous affairs, and so forth. Nothing new here, except for the color of the characters' skins.

As I read these stories, I felt they were written by an author who was simply copying other fiction writers' work and depictions of emotions and situations, rather than had actually experienced anything herself. The view is surface, facile, and immature. You get the impression that the author is a very protected and cossetted young woman, with little experience of life, and no genuine imagination to draw form either.

I was left thinking she had been promoted and snatched up because she fit this year's ethnic category. Let's see, we've done the late blooming Irish hard luck story, a heavy historical novel or two, I think we've overdone the Holocost and slavery a little too much, don't you? How about something no one can object to -- a woman, an immigrant story, no fresh ideas or anything anyone can possibly take offense to. Well, as a lover or good literature, I've taken offense at this injustice.

I feel like the publishing industry is shoving mediocrity down our throats. I know there's passionate writing out there somewhere. But the industry has decided to play it safe by hailing generic fiction like this.


Story telling at its best...   June 26, 2000
 53 out of 56 found this review helpful

I loved reading Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies'.

Being an Indian myself, I'm tired of reading books that package India's 'exoticism' to the West. Jhumpa Lahiri's stories do not revolve around the "Indianness" of the characters.India is always in the background, but the characters and their emotions are simply human.

In the 'Interpreter of Maladies', Ms. Lahiri's breathtakingly beautiful, yet simple style of storytelling tells you a story about people who just happen to be Indian.The narrative she employs is very humane, with a lot of attention to detail. The stories are strong and delicate at the same time.

I particularly enjoyed the title story 'Interpreter of Maladies' and the last story 'The Third and Final continent'.

Another aspect of her writing I particularly liked is that she doesn't drown the story in style. The narrative occupies centerstage and the story telling is natural, not contrived.

Looking forward to her next book

Mekhala Vasthare


I wanted to love it   August 25, 1999
 47 out of 62 found this review helpful

I recently heard Ms. Lahiri read and I was so impressed with her that I went out and bought the book. The story she read riveted me but when I re read it (the title piece 'The Interpreter of Maladies') I found it was nowhere as enjoyable as it had been when delivered by Ms. Lahiri in person. I read a lot of current fiction and these stories fall squarely in the tradition of the new short story writing that is in such vogue. Like Nathan Englander's work they are tight, controlled pieces that evoke a somewhat "exotic" [to the average urban US reader] world and deliver a well-timed punch that is easy to understand. Ms. Lahiri guides her reader to the finish line showing you when and how to understand the plot. There is little complexity or subtlety to her characters or her plots. Like some of her other reviewers I agree that these are enjoyable stories, worth taking out from the library but they are not vital or original. Perhaps one day Ms. Lahiri will write something that will justify the hype but this collection hasn't quite done it.


Defining moments   November 20, 2003
 41 out of 46 found this review helpful

Structure-wise the book is a showcase of point of views, which makes one feel as if the book was intended as a study on writing styles. Stories are written in the first person voice (as a Indian girl, as a just married Indian man), in third person voice, and as an intrusive author (in "the treatment of Bibi Haldar"). Events mostly take place in the greater Boston area (which may explain the book's popularity in New England) and Bengal, India. The WSJ review on the back cover is misleading in that not all stories concern immigrants (two short stories concern Indians living in India). However each story has at least one Indian protagonist.

The stories concern snapshots of lives, defining moments of characters. By "defining moments" I do not mean anything grand. These are moments that occur in everyday life, events so banal that they seem negligible at first sight. Yet those moments impact the protagonists in the way that life becomes no longer the same for them. By confessing that their miscarried baby was a boy over a forced (the electricity went out) candle-light dinner, a deteriorating marriage is salvaged (in "a temporary matter"); a seven year old boy's compliment "you are sexy" induces her relationship with a married man to end (upon hearing it she suddenly realizes she is not unique -- in "sexy").

Lahiri is a meticulous writer. You will almost be able to smell her egg curries and feel her bright colored saris. But it is really her quiet, suggestive prose that makes one want more.