Phrynne's Reviews > The Namesake

This book tells a story which must be familiar to anyone who has migrated to another country - the fact that having made the transition to a new culture you are left missing the old and never quite achieving full admittance into the new. In fact a feeling of never quite belonging to either.
This is the experience for Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli and it is probably made worse by the fact that India and America have such totally different cultures. The story follows their lives for 32 years from when Ashima is pregnant and facing delivering her first child the American way without the comfort of her extended Indian family and all their social customs to help her.
Lahiri writes beautifully and the book is a pleasure to read. She also sees right to the heart of the issues of migrant families, from the mother who never adapts fully to the children who try to cast off their roots but find it very difficult to do.
My only issue was with the way the narrative rambles on, often about very insignificant issues yet passing too quickly over more important events. It was very well written rambling of course but my mind did occasionally wander away from the book.
Despite this, this is a beautiful book which tells a very important story and is well worth reading.