Interpreter of Maladies Audiobook By Jhumpa Lahiri cover art

Interpreter of Maladies

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Interpreter of Maladies

By: Jhumpa Lahiri
Narrated by: Matilda Novak
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Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2000

With accomplished precision and gentle eloquence, Jhumpa Lahiri traces the crosscurrents set in motion when immigrants, expatriates, and their children arrive, quite literally, at a cultural divide. The nine stories in this stunning debut collection unerringly chart the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations.

A blackout forces a young Indian American couple to make confessions that unravel their tattered domestic peace. An Indian-American girl recognizes her cultural identity during a Halloween celebration while the Pakastani civil war rages on television in the background. A latchkey kid with a single working mother finds affinity with a woman from Calcutta. In the title story, an interpreter guides an American family through the India of their ancestors and hears an astonishing confession.

Imbued with the sensual details of Indian culture, these stories speak with passion and wisdom to everyone who has ever felt like a foreigner. Like the interpreter of the title story, Lahiri translates between the strict traditions of her ancestors and a baffling new world.

©2000 Jhumpa Lahiri (P)2000 HighBridge Company Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Contemporary Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Paranormal & Urban Pulitzer Prize Short Stories Heartfelt Feel-Good Indian Literature

Critic reviews

"Moving and authoritative pictures of culture shock and displaced identity." (Kirkus Reviews)
"The crystalline writing in the nine stories of this Pulitzer Prize-winning debut collection dazzles. These sensitive explorations of the lives of Indian immigrants and expatriates touch on universal themes, making them at once specific and broad in their appeal. Narrator Matilda Novak's light voice is fine for stories written by a young woman, and the hint of melody in her reading is typical of Indian voices." (AudioFile)

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Highly rated for:

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Jumpa Lahiri is a talented and sensitive author.
I loved this book. Each story is a gem.

Excellent book

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Lahiri's series of stories about Bengali immigrant life in America is touching and enjoyable. Novak's nicely read the book.

Enjoyable

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The story and performance were excellent. However, the audio mixing was weird/ confusing. The chapters were not each one story but rather randomly placed in the middle of stories with confusing guitar Interludes that didn’t seem to serve any function. That said the stories were very good as was the narrator.

Great stories. Great performance. Interesting audio mixing.

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Great writing but the tone of the narrator does not match the narrative. Will have to try in print.

Could not get through the narration

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The book is very good but the story is really lost in the very poor narration. Unfortunately, it really ruins the experience. I don’t recommend listening to this.

Great book, very bad narration

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Matilda Novak truly gave a life and personality to each of these characters. I felt emerssed in the world do to this attention to inflection and voice.

Excellent work by Matilda Novak

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the chapters are wrong. Often the music that marks the transition between stories enters the middle of dialogues and disturbs the hearing.

chapter division is wrong

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An amazing variety of stories. Best I have ever heard. Thank You. Will share. pre and post partition

enjoyyable,complex, India 🇮🇳

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God bless the bengalis!! She captured the immigrant hope so well. I loved all stories

Vivid storytelling I love Lahiri

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. Print or Kindle version --- not audio

Any additional comments?

I read the reviews - got the book thinking the bad production wouldn't bother me, because I liked the narrator. I was wrong, I will not finish it.

Bad Production

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