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"Impact" was what I felt when I finished this book. A month has passed and I finally feel like writing about it.
This was my second book from Lahiri. I started with the Interpreter of Maladies, and now I'm hungry for more.
Lahiri is a woman of stories. She is immensely talented on writing. She takes steps as she writes, you can hear soft tuds of a pair of elegant feet as you read her sentences. She never changes. Never gets angry, never gets joyful. As if a holy character, her writing is like still water. Peacefully mesmerizing. I can guarantee reading till your eyes turn into a pair of blood filled tubes.
I would say Lahiri's strongest suit is her symbolism. Even the tiniest details show us how a character thinks and how lives are webbed to each other. Every single thing means something. I think this is a trademark of all writers on the east side of the world; how our lives come to be. The story of it, the impact, the sheer joy of watching it happen and pure consent of giving into fate.
I loved reading Gogol. I loved how he was a little boy and he had his moments with his father and the rest of the days with his Mother- like we all had. I loved watching him grow up. I loved seeing him fighting for his identity, and like most humans, finally learning when to stop fighting. That's when we grow up.
In this book, you see an Indian families' identity crysis. like all the best chaoses, it's subtle yet affects their whole lives. The name they grew up with could never be uttered in their adult life, and yet this is so natural, you can feel it's also bringing something broken with it.
In this book you see a man named Ashoke. you read him fathering Gogol, never truly showing his colours, he does everything for Gogol, to make him a better man. Yet Ashoke is never just a father. with his limping leg, Ashoke is a character not to be forgotten.
After all the things that made me fall for this book, I now have to disclaim what Lahiri lacked: plot. she writes like a river, neverending. but a reader wants to see the foundations, the plot twists, the big waves... none of these happen. It's Just a beautiful life story.
I'm glad I read this.