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Usman Hickmath's Reviews > The Namesake
The Namesake
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“Being a foreigner, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy—a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been ordinary life, only to discover that that previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding. Like pregnancy, being a foreigner, is something that elicits the same curiosity from strangers, the same combination of pity and respect.”
Those lines vouch for how beautifully Jhumpa Lahiri has portrayed the struggle of emigrants’ life in West. Her depiction of conflict of cultures faced by the second generation emigrants is interesting.
But these MIT educated, middle class families’ struggles are completely different from what is being faced by the blue collar emigrant workers in Middle East and West. Would like to read a good work which represents them. Please recommend if you have read any on this area.
Those lines vouch for how beautifully Jhumpa Lahiri has portrayed the struggle of emigrants’ life in West. Her depiction of conflict of cultures faced by the second generation emigrants is interesting.
But these MIT educated, middle class families’ struggles are completely different from what is being faced by the blue collar emigrant workers in Middle East and West. Would like to read a good work which represents them. Please recommend if you have read any on this area.
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Finished Reading
March 28, 2017
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Jim
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rated it 5 stars
Sep 30, 2017 06:50AM
Hello Usman, yes I read her collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, and they are very much about upper-class immigrants. I have reviewed a few other books about blue collar immigrants that might be of interest. (You can see my reviews or those of others if they interest you.) Samba Dreamers by Kathleen de Azevedo is about a Brazilian guy who comes to the US, ends up in Hollywood driving a tour bus, and eventually goes back to Brazil. House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus is about an Iranian general who is obviously upper class but takes menial jobs picking up trash and working in a convenience store since they are all he can find. A Good Fall by Ha Jin is short stories about Chinese immigrants in occupations ranging from waitress to professor. Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa is about lower class Portuguese immigrants although it is set in Canada (Toronto).
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Jim wrote: "Hello Usman, yes I read her collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, and they are very much about upper-class immigrants. I have reviewed a few other books about blue collar immigrants that..."Hi Jim, Thanks very much for the recommendations. It is really amazing to see the range of books you have read. Will definitely go through the reviews.
Priyanka Sofia wrote: "Have you read Goat Days by Benyamin and Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan?"Wow. Thanks for the references. Haven't read them. Will have to look for these books.
