Unaccustomed Earth

Stories

De: Jhumpa Lahiri

Narrado por: Sarita Choudhury, Ajay Naidu

From the internationally bestselling, Pulitzer Prize—winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand.

In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,” a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked stories–a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate–we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.©2008 Jhumpa Lahiri; (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Great read!

The book is a few short stories of second generation Bengalis in the US. Good storytelling that makes the mundane interesting.

Real characters + truth in relationships.

Real characters & truth in relationships connect us all. Beautifully written.
For once, a cast of decent readers! This is a beautiful book and I only wished each character would tell me more.

Lahiri is Austen

Larhiri is India's Jane Austen, and if read with that in mind you'll love these short stories. They are not to be read for a moral or social tidbit but for the dialogue. Her wordplay between family, friends and neighbors paint a beautiful tapestry. Pay attention to what is said and not said. If you do then you'll start to playback your own conversations between family, friends, and neighbors and be better for it.
My only critique is similar to my critique of Austen - conversation is important but constant chitchat never goes anywhere leaving you feeling like somebody gave you a $1 hamburger instead of the $10 one you ordered.
I'd say more but I'll reserve it for another conversation.

Excellent

I really enjoyed the stories in this book. The characters spring to life with strong human emotion.

You feel like you know her characters

I love the way Lahiri draws you into the characters' stories and creates tension without excessive drama.