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Mr. Kapasi, the protagonist of Jhumpa Lahiri's title story, would certainly have his work cut out for him if he were forced to interpret the maladies of all the characters in this eloquent debut collection. Take, for example, Shoba and Shukumar, the young couple in "A Temporary Matter" whose marriage is crumbling in the wake of a stillborn child. Or Miranda in "Sexy," who is involved in a hopeless affair with a married man. But Mr. Kapasi has problems enough of his own; in addition to his regular job working as an interpreter for a doctor who does not speak his patients' language, he also drives tourists to local sites of interest. His fare on this particular day is Mr. and Mrs. Das--first-generation Americans of Indian descent--and their children. During the course of the afternoon, Mr. Kapasi becomes enamored of Mrs. Das and then becomes her unwilling confidant when she reads too much into his profession. "I told you because of your talents," she informs him after divulging a startling secret.
I'm tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi, I've been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better; say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.
Of course, Mr. Kapasi has no cure for what ails Mrs. Das--or himself. Lahiri's subtle, bittersweet ending is characteristic of the collection as a whole. Some of these nine tales are set in India, others in the United States, and most concern characters of Indian heritage. Yet the situations Lahiri's people face, from unhappy marriages to civil war, transcend ethnicity. As the narrator of the last story, "The Third and Final Continent," comments: "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.--Alix Wilber
firm and heartfelt The manner in which Jumpha Lahiri pens her nine tales is sure charming. All her characters are delineated in such a way that it makes every reader feel that the tale is set in the neighborhood. Her power of observation is astonishing, her choice of the subject is commendable; and most of all, her approach is firm and heartfelt and that's what makes the book excellent.
Great Read . . . Loved Every Story I generally don't like short stories but each story in this collection is truly a gift to the reader. Each has just enough detail to get you involved and interested in the lives of the characters. Wonderful!Fantastic Interpretation This stunning debut collection of nine stories, by a young Indian writer, is a fantastic trip through the worlds of cultural adaptation. Portraying a broad range of characters - from new immigrants, to an Indian tour guide looking for love, to a young woman suffering seizures from lack of sexual contact, to a bedraggled apartment cleaner, all the characters have one characteristic in common - a search for love.
All the stories but one were previously published and almost all of them are marked by elegant prose and a deep, moving humanity that crashes through the pages. This is one of those rare finds that cause a reader to set the book down in a state of awe.
