The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. It’s a collection of 9 short stories shedding light on what it is like to be an outsider. Several of the stories feature newly immigrated people from India trying to adapt to American life. Before I read this book, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go to a new country, where everything is different, and try to assimilate with the culture. Lahiri offers a glimpse into the emotional upheaval and confusion that accompanies individuals in this situation.
Of the 9 stories, my favorites are two contrasting stories that share the overall theme of being an outsider. The story titled “Sexy” cuts into the life of a single woman involved with a married man and her day of babysitting a child who opens her mind and her heart to other possibilities. “Mrs. Sen’s” features a woman who followed her husband to America for a job and ends up babysitting a young boy for a neighbor. The story is told from the young boy’s perspective and how he gradually sees how unhappy Mrs. Sen is in her new circumstances.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to like a collection of short stories instead of an actual novel. There were stories that left me wishing for more, but overall each story offered a different sense of enlightenment.
Book Rating: * * *
