The Namesake
First edition cover
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| Author | Jhumpa Lahiri |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Philippe Lardy |
| Country | India United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | September 2003 Houghton Mifflin |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) and audio-CD |
| Pages | 291 (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 51728729 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3562.A316 N36 2003 |
| Preceded by | Interpreter of Maladies |
| Followed by | Unaccustomed Earth |
The Namesake (2003) is the first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. It was originally a novella published in The New Yorker and was later expanded to a full-length novel. It explores many of the same emotional and cultural themes as her Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection Interpreter of Maladies. Moving between events in Calcutta, Boston, and New York City, the novel examines the nuances involved with being caught between two conflicting cultures with highly distinct religious, social, and ideological differences.
The novel describes the struggles and hardships of a Bengali couple who immigrate to the United States to form a life outside of everything they are accustomed to.
The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima leave Calcutta, India and settle in Central Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Through a series of events, Gogol becomes the main character's official birth name, an event that will shape many aspects of his life in years to come. Throughout the story, Gogol fights an internal battle to find himself. He struggles trying to balance between American versus Indian culture and appreciating friendship more than family. Continuously in the novel, the author, Lahiri, uses different appeals of argument to show the reader that family should always be valued and help the reader connect with the story. Pathos in particular forces the reader to connect emotionally with the story, specifically of how Gogol's name came about and Ashoke's tragic accident.
Ashima Ganguli is a young bride about to deliver her first child in a hospital in Massachusetts. It is 1968, and her husband, Ashoke, is an engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). New to America, Ashima struggles through language and cultural barriers as well as her own fears as she delivers her first child alone. Had the delivery taken place in Calcutta, she would have had her baby at home, surrounded by family. The delivery is successful, and the new parents are prepared to take their son home when they learn they cannot leave the hospital before giving their son a legal name.
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