Interpreter of Maladies: Book Review by Asha Seth

Interpreter of Maladies that won the Pulitzer Award is deeply enthralling with simple but intensely emotional short stories that change your perspective of a lot of matters.

The book is not a novel but a collection of nine short stories.

1. A Temporary Matter
2. When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
3. Interpreter of Maladies
4. A Real Durwan
5. Sexy
6. Mrs. Sen’s
7. This Blessed House
8. The Treatment of Bibi Haldar
9. The Third and Final Continent

What I felt

Each story tends to leave a mark in your memory with an insightful message to learn from. This piece specifically is beautifully sad, sentimentally intense and one that makes you stop and read again.

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. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.

Jhumpa’s exquisite writing manages to run through you as though you were one of the characters of the story. She intricately defines how the characters struggle to maintain a balance between their culture and their newly adopted lifestyles in foreign countries. Places, names, food, religion, and everything from Indian origin are beautifully described in her books that give the reader a first-hand knowledge about Indian culture and traditions that make Jhumpa one of the most sought-after authors.

The back of the book said, “Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say, ‘Read this’.” I am sure each one of you who have read and traveled through the myriad of experiences of this book, will agree to it just like I do.

If you happen to read ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ or have already read it, do share your thoughts below.

©The Musing Quill

P.S.: I haven’t walked past the details of each story. You may find them here.