Interpreter of Maladies

I'm tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi, I've been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better; say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.

And like Mr. Kapasi, the improbable hero of this collection's title story, Ms. Lahiri merely gives an account of her characters' feelings and situation in life at one particular moment - she rarely judges them, nor does she strive to tell the entire story of their lives; even where, as in "The Third and Final Continent," the narrative covers several decades, it is truly only one brief but crucial period which is important. No sledgehammer is being wielded; Lahiri's tone is subtle, subdued - like any good interpreter, she talks in a low voice, just loud enough for her listener/reader to understand; and you have to want to listen to her. If you expect her to shout, to force her account on you in bullet points and bold strikes, you will miss the many finer nuances in between.

Jhumpa Lahiris heroes are Asian and American, they live in India, Pakistan, London and the U.S., and they eat (and painstakingly slowly prepare) delicious, spicy and flavorful food. Many of the stories deal with emotions and life situations which, although they happen to be experienced by Indians and Asian Americans here, are truly universal - the slow and unspoken death of a marriage ("A Temporary Matter"), prejudice against the unknown, particularly when it comes in the form of an illness ("The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"), the frustrations of a life of unfulfilled promises ("Interpreter of Maladies"), and the multilateral deceptions of marital infidelity ("Sexy"), blunted by the trappings of middle class materialism (again, the title story).

Most of Lahiri's Asian American protagonists belong to the "intellectual" upper middle class suburbian population of Boston and other East Coast cities. While on the one hand this is a plus, because that is the author's own background, too, and therefore a segment of society she can describe from personal experience - which also allows her to make these characters particularly accessible - it on the other hand provides for the story collection's one deficiency; in that it renders her portrayal of Asian Americans (whether recent immigrants or second- and third-generation U.S. citizens) unnecessarily unilateral, to the point of bordering on stereotype - more precisely, the Indian version of the stereotypes generally associated with this part of society. Nevertheless, most of Jhumpa Lahiri's often unlikely heroes are portrayed in great depth, and many of them with a lot of sympathy for their humanness and shortcomings. In the best sense of her adopted role as an interpreter of her protagonists' maladies, it is this delicate understanding and empathy which ultimately carries the tone in Lahiri's writing and which makes her reader want to listen, and to come up with his or her own interpretation of each of these stories.


The Triumph of Mediocrity   April 8, 2001
54 out of 75 found this review helpful

I'm glad that a number of South Asian reviewers had the same opinion of this book as I did, and gave me the names of better SA authors to pursue. The New York publishing cartel, the editors of the New Yorker magazine, and the Pulitzer Prize committee together run the risk of turning readers away from ethnic fiction if they continue to elevate unremarkable books like this above all others.

Where are the gatekeepers? There is absolutely nothing here that I haven't read before, in the eighties, by other trendy young women writers. They put an Indian stamp on it, and it's supposed to be profound? These stories had no ability to evoke character or emotion, the prose style was unremarkable, the structure color by numbers. There was not a surprise or a genuine moment anywhere. A real effort to pander to trendy tastes, though, with unconvincing depictions of adulterous affairs, and so forth. Nothing new here, except for the color of the characters' skins.

As I read these stories, I felt they were written by an author who was simply copying other fiction writers' work and depictions of emotions and situations, rather than had actually experienced anything herself. The view is surface, facile, and immature. You get the impression that the author is a very protected and cossetted young woman, with little experience of life, and no genuine imagination to draw form either.

I was left thinking she had been promoted and snatched up because she fit this year's ethnic category. Let's see, we've done the late blooming Irish hard luck story, a heavy historical novel or two, I think we've overdone the Holocost and slavery a little too much, don't you? How about something no one can object to -- a woman, an immigrant story, no fresh ideas or anything anyone can possibly take offense to. Well, as a lover or good literature, I've taken offense at this injustice.

I feel like the publishing industry is shoving mediocrity down our throats. I know there's passionate writing out there somewhere. But the industry has decided to play it safe by hailing generic fiction like this.


Story telling at its best...   June 26, 2000
Mekhala Vasthare (Ann Arbor, MI United States)
52 out of 57 found this review helpful

I loved reading Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Interpreter of Maladies'.

Being an Indian myself, I'm tired of reading books that package India's 'exoticism' to the West. Jhumpa Lahiri's stories do not revolve around the "Indianness" of the characters.India is always in the background, but the characters and their emotions are simply human.

In the 'Interpreter of Maladies', Ms. Lahiri's breathtakingly beautiful, yet simple style of storytelling tells you a story about people who just happen to be Indian.The narrative she employs is very humane, with a lot of attention to detail. The stories are strong and delicate at the same time.

I particularly enjoyed the title story 'Interpreter of Maladies' and the last story 'The Third and Final continent'.

Another aspect of her writing I particularly liked is that she doesn't drown the story in style. The narrative occupies centerstage and the story telling is natural, not contrived.

Looking forward to her next book

Mekhala Vasthare


I wanted to love it   August 25, 1999
49 out of 66 found this review helpful

I recently heard Ms. Lahiri read and I was so impressed with her that I went out and bought the book. The story she read riveted me but when I re read it (the title piece 'The Interpreter of Maladies') I found it was nowhere as enjoyable as it had been when delivered by Ms. Lahiri in person. I read a lot of current fiction and these stories fall squarely in the tradition of the new short story writing that is in such vogue. Like Nathan Englander's work they are tight, controlled pieces that evoke a somewhat "exotic" [to the average urban US reader] world and deliver a well-timed punch that is easy to understand. Ms. Lahiri guides her reader to the finish line showing you when and how to understand the plot. There is little complexity or subtlety to her characters or her plots. Like some of her other reviewers I agree that these are enjoyable stories, worth taking out from the library but they are not vital or original. Perhaps one day Ms. Lahiri will write something that will justify the hype but this collection hasn't quite done it.


Defining moments   November 20, 2003
S. Park (Palo Alto, CA USA)
42 out of 46 found this review helpful

Structure-wise the book is a showcase of point of views, which makes one feel as if the book was intended as a study on writing styles. Stories are written in the first person voice (as a Indian girl, as a just married Indian man), in third person voice, and as an intrusive author (in "the treatment of Bibi Haldar"). Events mostly take place in the greater Boston area (which may explain the book's popularity in New England) and Bengal, India. The WSJ review on the back cover is misleading in that not all stories concern immigrants (two short stories concern Indians living in India). However each story has at least one Indian protagonist.

The stories concern snapshots of lives, defining moments of characters. By "defining moments" I do not mean anything grand. These are moments that occur in everyday life, events so banal that they seem negligible at first sight. Yet those moments impact the protagonists in the way that life becomes no longer the same for them. By confessing that their miscarried baby was a boy over a forced (the electricity went out) candle-light dinner, a deteriorating marriage is salvaged (in "a temporary matter"); a seven year old boy's compliment "you are sexy" induces her relationship with a married man to end (upon hearing it she suddenly realizes she is not unique -- in "sexy").

Lahiri is a meticulous writer. You will almost be able to smell her egg curries and feel her bright colored saris. But it is really her quiet, suggestive prose that makes one want more.