Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, a debut collection of short stories, is nothing less than a work of art. Ms. Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and other prizes as well, for good reason.
The cast of characters is interesting and quite far-ranging: a young American boy, a middle-aged man giving tours in India, a young American woman. All the stories involve Indian immigrants or their children and take place mostly in the U.S. — Boston is a favored locale — although some stories are also set in India, notably the title story, “Interpreter of Maladies.”
Ms. Lahiri is also a truth-teller and interpreter of maladies, those of immigrants to America from the Indian continent and their children, the first generation of Americans. Her characters feel completely real, and her prose is beautiful but not overwrought, being incredibly evocative without calling attention to itself. And her stories work in layers, just as the title of the book both comes from a story and tells us part of the author’s story. It is a clear-eyed portrayal of life as these people experience it. Although the characters always run into difficulty (where is the story if there is no conflict, after all?), the author is never melodramatic.
Interpreter of Maladies is a work to be admired, savored, and enjoyed, and should take its place among the best of American literature. It is an important to work have there, because it interprets for us the world of one of our latest immigrant populations.
Article comments
1 - LitPundit
Hrr... isn't that Pulitzer Prize, and not Nobel Prize!?
Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for Soul Mountain.
2 - Nancy
You are absolutely right. My apologies.
3 - Nancy
The review has now been corrected. Thanks, LitPundit, for letting me know about the mistake.
--Nancy
4 - Gautham
As an Indian-American, I would highly dispute your point that her stories showcase life "as these people experience it". Her stories are collections of cliches about the Indian Immigrant experience intended to evoke such a reaction from Westerners like yourself. they are hardly indicative of some larger, shared communal experience.
5 - Nancy
I'm sorry if I offended you. Do you have suggestions for fiction that more accurately reflects the immigrant experience?