I'm definitely a Jhumpa Lahiri fan. I loved her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, which won a Pulitzer. I liked, but didn't love, her first novel, The Namesake; and liked the movie even less. Unaccustomed Earth is another collection of short stories, and a novella. Here, she shines!
The stories focus on Indian-American-British life in the US, in the UK, and in India, woven seamlessly across these disparate worlds. Old world, new world. Immigration. Culture shock and adaptation, or not. Intergenerational dynamics. Cross-cultural relationships. These themes are fraught with the nuance, complexity, and tension that I so appreciate, and Lahiri captures it acutely.
The stores are beautiful, but also dark...Toddlers being left in the bathtub while the uncle is passed out. A woman pinning her sari so when she ignites herself it will be harder to save her. A college student screaming insults at his prepubescent step sisters and storming away (when he's supposed to be babysitting them) knowing they'll be terrified. Lahiri acutely observes marriage in its most alienating and lonely form. She captures the heights, depths, and confusion of a new love affair.
At times, I would put down the book with an incredible empty emotional thud, but also richer for the complexity of our human experience. It is a lesson in empathy, and a keen character study. Desperate people do desperate things. At times, I was swept away in her prose - her beautiful word choice, her evocative descriptions. And I give her credit for writing about sex without being contrived in any way.
4 stars (of 4) - I love Jhumpa Lahiri's writing, her themes, her insights. The book was dark, desperate and depressing - but to be honest, it's that frilly shit that makes my stomach churn.
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