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The Namesake
- Narrated by: Sarita Choudhury
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's summary
Soon after they arrive in Cambridge, their first child is born, a boy. According to Indian custom, the child will be given two names: an official name, to be bestowed by the great-grandmother, and a pet name to be used only by family. But the letter from India with the child's official name never arrives, and so the baby's parents decide on a pet name to use for the time being. Ashoke chooses a name that has particular significance for him: on a train trip back in India several years earlier, he had been reading a short story collection by one of his most beloved Russian writers, Nikolai Gogol, when the train derailed in the middle of the night, killing almost all the sleeping passengers onboard. Ashoke had stayed awake to read his Gogol, and he believes the book saved his life. His child will be known, then, as Gogol.
Lahiri brings her enormous powers of description to her first novel, infusing scene after scene with profound emotional depth. Condensed and controlled, The Namesake covers three decades and crosses continents, all the while zooming in at very precise moments on telling detail, sensory richness, and fine nuances of character.
Critic reviews
"This poignant treatment of the immigrant experience is a rich, stimulating fusion of authentic emotion, ironic observation, and revealing details." ( Library Journal)
"This is a fine novel from a superb writer." ( The Washington Post)
"An effortless and self-assured bildungsroman that more than delivers on the promise of... Interpreter of Maladies." ( Book Magazine)
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Everything is baroque-en
- By Eric on 12-14-06
By: Mary Gaitskill
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I, The Divine
- A Novel in First Chapters
- By: Rabih Alameddine
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps.
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Excellent if you forgive pronunciation
- By Anne on 06-05-18
By: Rabih Alameddine
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The Russian Debutante’s Handbook
- By: Gary Shteyngart
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Gary Shteyngart’s exquisite fiction is met with a level of critical acclaim reserved for the very best in the field. In this startlingly provocative work, Russian immigrant Vladimir Girshkin searches for love and self-identity while interacting with a quirky set of acquaintances.
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Don't Let the Title Fool You
- By Loretta R. Cooper on 01-24-14
By: Gary Shteyngart
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Dogeaters
- By: Jessica Hagedorn
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo, Mia Katigbak, Rona Figueroa, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Dogeaters follows a diverse set of characters through Manila, each exemplifying the country’s sharp distinctions between social classes. Celebrated novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn effortlessly shifts from the capital’s elite to the poorest of the poor. From the country’s president and first lady to an idealist reformer, from actors and radio DJs to prostitutes, seemingly unrelated lives become intertwined.
By: Jessica Hagedorn
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The Clothing of Books
- An Essay
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Length: 1 hr and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In this deeply personal reflection, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri explores the art of the book jacket from the perspectives of both reader and writer. Probing the complex relationships between text and image, author and designer, and art and commerce, Lahiri delves into the role of the uniform; explains what book jackets and design have come to mean to her; and how, sometimes, "the covers become a part of me".
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Where's the Italian version?
- By Blind Boy on 04-10-18
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
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Caramelo
- By: Sandra Cisneros
- Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Lala Reyes’ grandmother is descended from a family of renowned rebozo, or shawl-makers. The striped (caramelo) is the most beautiful of all, and the one that makes its way, like the family history it has come to represent, into Lala’s possession. The novel opens with the Reyes’ annual car trip - a caravan overflowing with children, laughter, and quarrels - from Chicago to “the other side”, Mexico City. It is there, each year, that Lala hears her family’s stories, separating the truth from the “healthy lies” that have ricocheted from one generation to the next.
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Love, family, history, and fantasy, Caramelo
- By Michele on 08-07-20
By: Sandra Cisneros
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So Far from God
- By: Ana Castillo
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In Tome, a small, seemingly sleepy New Mexico hamlet, Sofia and her four fated daughters reveal a world of marvels where the comic and horrific, past and present, real and fantastic coexist and collide. Over two crowded decades, Sofia tries to hold things together following the disappearance of her husband, Domingo, he of the Clark Gable mustache and the uncontrollable gambling habit. Adventurous Esperanza, Chicana campus radical turned television news reporter, travels farthest from home only to be reeled back in spirit.
By: Ana Castillo
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Family Life
- A Novel
- By: Akhil Sharma
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In his highly anticipated second novel, Family Life, he delivers a story of astonishing intensity and emotional precision. We meet the Mishra family in Delhi in 1978, where eight-year-old Ajay and his older brother Birju play cricket in the streets, waiting for the day when their plane tickets will arrive and they and their mother can fly across the world and join their father in America. America to the Mishras is, indeed, everything they could have imagined and more: When automatic glass doors open before them, they feel that surely they must have been mistaken for somebody important.
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A Moving Family Drama
- By The Reading Date on 05-31-14
By: Akhil Sharma
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I Hotel
- By: Karen Tei Yamashita
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Ramon De Ocampo, Jenny Ikeda, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Karen Tei Yamashita has been honored with the American Book Award and Janet Heidinger Kafka Award. A stunning portrait of Asian Americans in 1960s and ’70s San Francisco, I Hotel is a remarkable collection of 10 related novellas. Touching on such topics as Japanese internment camps and the Marcos dictatorship, the book presents readers with characters of rich design.
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Expansive and Breath Taking
- By Elana on 01-15-12
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Nevada
- A Novel
- By: Imogen Binnie
- Narrated by: Imogen Binnie
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria onto a cross-country trek. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self.
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Soooo Good!!
- By storm baughman on 01-06-23
By: Imogen Binnie
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The God of Small Things
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Likened to the works of Faulkner and Dickens when it was first published 20 years ago, this extraordinarily accomplished debut novel is a brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family.
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Worthy Booker winner!
- By Saman on 08-10-17
By: Arundhati Roy
What listeners say about The Namesake
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Andrew
- 11-10-03
Good... but not great.
Being a non-resident Indian myself lots of the content and description in this book really struck a familiar cord with me. The author did a good job of portraying the trials, tribulations, joys, and sorrows of an Indian family that moved to "Umrica." A good first effort (this is her first book right?). But she could have done more with the story -- with the plot. Without giving it all away it's basically just about an Indian couple that moves to the U.S. in their 20's, has two kids here, and then it follows through with the life of the first born -- a boy named Gogol -- till his 30's or so. Overall it was good but lacked a zeal that I felt when reading the books of two other favorite Indian authors of mine -- Manil Suri and Abraham Verghese -- now they are experts... really great story-tellers. All in all The Namesake is a good book -- I'll be on the lookout for an improved follow-up title by this author down the road.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Prince
- 07-02-10
Lacked depth
It is as if the story teller related the events to an encyclopedia writer. The facts are there, but I felt that the writing style lacked color and depth. There was so little detail, that much of the book felt like it was a plot summary of another book. Most conversations and events were boiled down to a couple of sentences about the topic, with few literary embellishments. This style covered the material efficiently which does allow the reader to "get it over with" quickly, which is a benefit if your only goal is to read this book as a school requirement. If you are reading for enjoyment though, a little more descriptivness might improve the story. There were some descriptions of cultural tensions, but on the whole, the lives of the characters were unremarkable with the normal ups and down of a lifetime of relationships.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-25-21
Wonderfully written
Truly immersed myself in the story and felt the difference in cultural identities from immigrant generation to first generation.
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- M. Seda
- 04-12-19
Incredible writing, storytelling, great narration
This was such a great listen. Lahiri's storytelling style is incredible! she has a way of drawing you into each character or event (whether significant or not) and giving it nuance to make it all remarkable in some way. The narration is perfection - the best I've ever listened to.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-22-17
Great book
A story I'll never forget. Definitely a must read for anyone in their early years of life.
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Overall
- Lisa
- 03-07-07
Can't wait for the movie!
I loved the reader and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Indian culture and families. The story follows the life of the main character, Goggle (?) from childhood to adulthood, and his day to day struggles, which, although not terribly exciting, were terribly real. I can't wait for the movie.
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- Nitin
- 03-08-04
Every ABCD Should Listen to This
I feel I have a greater understanding of my parents from reading this book and also myself. I found parts of my own life described in such great detail that it was almost scary. The details of my parents get-togethers at the Nights of Columbus, to our drives to Logan for our flights back to India, to sneaking into MIT parties as a high-school student...
It took me a while to listen to the second half after relating to the main character so closely throughout the first half . The turning point in the book occurred at a point in the character's life that I am at right now and prospect of dealing with what he had to is ... I really don't know how to express it.
After finishing this book I almost felt angry at Lahiri for leaving it at that. But I don't think this book was as much about closure as it was about understanding. This book is all to real to be considered fiction.
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- Penny
- 11-07-03
A
This was a great book--deserving of a "5". I reserve my "5" ratings only for the special book that comes along rarely! Beautifully written and read.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Lua Wilkinson
- 07-13-15
Ok on a roadtrip
Any additional comments?
Not the best, not the worst. Like her short stories, but this novel was a little taxing for me. I am still not quite sure what the underlying thesis of the book is.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Suzanne H
- 02-26-07
Beautiful
Beautifully written and beautifully read. I loved this book. I initially thought I had nothing in common with main character (which is fine, it is not something I look for in a book either way), but as the story unfolded I felt a real connection to him. I understood how he felt about things. All the characters were very real, very human. For me, it is a story about life in America, about family, about relationships, and about understanding the importance of one's roots.
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1 person found this helpful