The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake is a pretty awesome book. I'm about three quarters through and I'm really enjoying every word.

This is a quiet book and not much happens although it does trace a man's life from birth until at least his 27th birthday (where I am now in the story). I assume it'll continue through his entire life.

The central characters are a Bengali couple who move to the U.S. shortly after their marriage and their two children who are born in America. Their oldest son, Gogol, is "the namesake" and he is really the main character. It's a really interesting look into the clash of Indian and American culture and how it's hard for Gogol's parents, especially his mother, to function in the U.S. especially when their children are totally American.

It's really interesting to me to see the perspective of the parents who never quite feel at home in the U.S. and how puzzled they are by their children and vice versa. It's cool to see their side of it when most of what I'm exposed to is the Americanized kids version of things.

This will sound strange, I think, but I find that Lahiri's style of writing is particularly soothing. Her words have a very quiet tone and they seem to just wrap you into the cocoon of a world she's creating in her novel.

I can't wait to finish this and I've also checked out her book of short stories: The Interpreter of Maladies which won some awards a few years ago.