The Namesake

paperback, 336 pages

Published June 4, 2019 by Mariner Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-358-06268-4

Gogol is named after his father's favourite author. But growing up in an Indian family in suburban America, the boy starts to hate the awkward name and itches to cast it off, along with the inherited values it represents. Determined to live a life far removed from that of his parents, Gogol sets off on his own path only to discover that the search for identity depends on much more than a name.

10 editions

kab reviewed The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

2 stars

In place of exploring identity and belonging, or the transformation of tradition, or class privilege, or a human voice, The Namesake is bogged with unremitting descriptions of everything in a room. Across generations the characterisation is flat and, like in Amy Tan's novels, the American generation is the dullest, and here, aspirationally white-adjacent.

I would have preferred reading a novel entirely about Moushumi, including her later ditching the teenager-grooming Dimitri.

In place of exploring identity and belonging, or the transformation of tradition, or class privilege, or a human voice, The Namesake is bogged with unremitting descriptions of everything in a room. Across generations the characterisation is flat and, like in Amy Tan's novels, the American generation is the dullest, and here, aspirationally white-adjacent.

I would have preferred reading a novel entirely about Moushumi, including her later ditching the teenager-grooming Dimitri.