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JimZ's Reviews > Interpreter of Maladies
Interpreter of Maladies
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Just superlative. Her writing transported me immediately into whatever world she had created.
I was fully immersed with every story. Her writing is not flowery or verbose. At the end of each story, I “got it�. I understood the point she was making. I did not walk away from a story asking “what did I just read? I don’t understand the point of this story�. Some of the stories had sad endings, some had hopeful endings. But regardless of the tone of the ending, I felt satisfied—that I had read another good story.
I just finished a story a couple days ago that won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I could not understand why it merited such an award from that prestigious institution. Well, this collection won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000—I could fully understand the deserving recognition this author got. A superb job. I will want to read more of her. I just read a very nice book review by a GR reviewer, Glenn, of her collection of essays on book covers, The Clothing of Books (2016), so that will certainly be on my TBR list!
In looking at one of the reviews for this book, I couldn’t put it any better than they did: “Within a short number of pages, Lahiri successfully articulates characters that are multifaceted, dynamic and wholly original. Her prose in general is on point—simple yet rich.�
Stories in order of their appearance and where they were initially published (last story was apparently new for this collection) and my ratings:
� "A Temporary Matter" (previously published in The New Yorker) � 5 stars
� "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" (previously published in The Louisville Review) �4 stars
� "Interpreter of Maladies" (previously published in the Agni Review) � 10 stars if I could
� "A Real Durwan" (previously published in the Harvard Review) � 4 stars
� "Sexy" (previously published in The New Yorker) � 4 stars
� "Mrs. Sen's" (previously published in Salamander) � 3.5 stars
� "This Blessed House" (previously published in Epoch) � 5 stars
� "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" (previously published in Story Quarterly) � 3.5 stars
� "The Third and Final Continent" � 7 stars if I could
Reviews:
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I was fully immersed with every story. Her writing is not flowery or verbose. At the end of each story, I “got it�. I understood the point she was making. I did not walk away from a story asking “what did I just read? I don’t understand the point of this story�. Some of the stories had sad endings, some had hopeful endings. But regardless of the tone of the ending, I felt satisfied—that I had read another good story.
I just finished a story a couple days ago that won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I could not understand why it merited such an award from that prestigious institution. Well, this collection won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000—I could fully understand the deserving recognition this author got. A superb job. I will want to read more of her. I just read a very nice book review by a GR reviewer, Glenn, of her collection of essays on book covers, The Clothing of Books (2016), so that will certainly be on my TBR list!
In looking at one of the reviews for this book, I couldn’t put it any better than they did: “Within a short number of pages, Lahiri successfully articulates characters that are multifaceted, dynamic and wholly original. Her prose in general is on point—simple yet rich.�
Stories in order of their appearance and where they were initially published (last story was apparently new for this collection) and my ratings:
� "A Temporary Matter" (previously published in The New Yorker) � 5 stars
� "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" (previously published in The Louisville Review) �4 stars
� "Interpreter of Maladies" (previously published in the Agni Review) � 10 stars if I could
� "A Real Durwan" (previously published in the Harvard Review) � 4 stars
� "Sexy" (previously published in The New Yorker) � 4 stars
� "Mrs. Sen's" (previously published in Salamander) � 3.5 stars
� "This Blessed House" (previously published in Epoch) � 5 stars
� "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" (previously published in Story Quarterly) � 3.5 stars
� "The Third and Final Continent" � 7 stars if I could
Reviews:
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Reading Progress
May 9, 2021
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Started Reading
May 10, 2021
–
Finished Reading
May 11, 2021
– Shelved
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Blair
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May 11, 2021 05:08AM
Love your enthusiasm for this one Jim. I'll look forward to it
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I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jim. Great review!
Your review makes me want to re-read this one Jim, as I had it from many years ago (2014) in my pre-writing-a-review days, but I still gave it 5 stars even then. Worth a revisit based on your praise!
A mí me gustó mucho "Unaccustomed Earth", después me gustó menos "The Lowland", pero está claro que es una autora a tener en cuenta. Celebro cuánto lo has disfrutado.
Great review, Jim! I'm a huge fan of Lahiri's writing :)
Such a high praise, Jim! :)) Grand review!
Glad to know this was a most satisfying read for you, Jim. I echo Beata - 'high praise' for this work.
Laysee wrote: "Glad to know this was a most satisfying read for you, Jim. I echo Beata - 'high praise' for this work."I need to read more of her, that is for sure!
Connie wrote: "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jim. Great review!"Thanks Connie!
Guille wrote: "A mí me gustó mucho "Unaccustomed Earth", después me gustó menos "The Lowland", pero está claro que es una autora a tener en cuenta. Celebro cuánto lo has disfrutado."Thank you Guille!
Jim, Terrific review - you make me want to re-read these stories.
One of these days I'm going to dust this one off and read it!
Nice review Jim! I might read this book someday.
Oooh I see you've read this! I like your taste in books so I've decided to read this one as well! YAY!
