Rereading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Interpreter of Maladies

by Jhumpa Lahiri, narrated by Matilda Novak

Highbridge Audio, 2007

6 hours and 15 minutes

I tend not to be a big rereader, but this is my second (of three) rereads just this summer. A podcast episode prompted this one. I was listening to From the Front Porch's last installment of their Backlist Book Club, now rebranded Bookmarked with Annie & Hunter. Interpreter of Maladies was the title they discussed... and I was surprised to find a few of the stories had stayed with me all these years. That made me curious about the others.

Interpreter of Maladies, originally published in 1999, won the Pulitzer Prize 2000. I listened to it in 2009. At the time, I was a new to short stories, but a frequent participant in the old "Short Story Monday" weekly blogging linkup where I primarily posted about classic short stories. This was likely one of the first contemporary collections I'd ever read. 

The stories that stayed with me were "A Temporary Matter,"  "Interpreter of Maladies," and "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine." 

I've gone on to read Lahiri's other story collection, Unaccustomed Earth, and a couple of her novels. Rereading an early work, even a Pulitzer Prize winning early work, emphasized just how much Lahiri has grown as a writer over the years. Looking over her backlist, I never read The Lowland  novel. Maybe I'll pick it up while waiting for her new collection, Roman Stories, coming in October. 

Have you read Jhumpa Lahiri?

Thoughts on TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett

 

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Harper, 2023

320 pages

audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep
HarperAudio

11 hours and 22 minutes

My one-sentence review:

This may just be the perfect novel... I loved every sentence!

A bit more:

Tom Lake, my most anticipated release of 2023, was every bit as good as I'd hoped. It's billed as Patchett's pandemic novel, though the pandemic isn't central to the story. Instead it serves as a mechanism to bring adult children home to their family's Michigan cherry orchard for an extended period of time. Telling stories becomes their preferred form of entertainment... in particular, one about a long ago summer theater run when their mother, a budding actress, and a soon-to-be-hugely-famous movie star are involved in a brief, but significant relationship.

Everything else - characters, writing, setting, atmosphere - really is perfection. This book made me feel all of it, and I did not want it to end.

Tom Lake  was a read/listen combination for me. The audio version is truly something special... Meryl Streep's narration is exquisite. In my twenty-plus years of listening to audiobooks, this is one of the very best. 

One final note:

 I strongly recommend reading the classic play Our Town  by Thornton Wilder prior to Tom Lake, especially if you've not read it before. It figures prominently into the story, so being familiar with the characters and plot will add to your overall understanding and appreciation. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov has also been suggested as a prerequisite but, for me, it didn't add to my reading experience.

My rating:

Tom Lake will surely be one of my favorite books of 2023.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's Tom Lake Weekend!

Hello, friends, and happy Sunday. We are finishing up a wonderfully quiet week at home - no travel, no visitors, mostly good weather, and plenty of sunshine. We enjoyed a lovely dinner by the shore with friends, explored a nearby coastal town, and ate lobster rolls for lunch.

And now, it's Tom Lake weekend! I have been eagerly anticipating Ann Patchett's new novel and set aside some time this weekend to just read. Patchett is one of my favorite authors and I'm pretty sure I've read all of her books. My daughter and I have tickets to see her next month at Symphony Space in NYC. I can't wait!

Recent Reading//

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

This is another classic play, first published in 1903, that may be tangentially related to Tom Lake. An old Russian family, hopelessly in debt, is "urged to cut down their beautiful cherry orchard and sell the land for holiday cottages - they struggle to act decisively." After Our Town last month, I enjoyed reading another play... though this one reminded me how much I struggle with Russian names. It seems like everyone has at least three! I'm not sure how it might enhance my reading of Tom Lake, yet.

Edited:  I just got to the part where the parallel is obvious!

On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood 

by Irmgard A. Hunt

I saw this book mentioned on Susan's blog last month and thought it would be a good follow-up to The Postcard  by Anne Berest... and it was! This was a read/listen combination for me (the ebook and audio are both available on hoopla) and it was fascinating. A memoir from the German perspective is well worth reading and, at times, quite unsettling. Written in 2005, before our current political woes, I noted several chilling parallels to today.  Head over to Susan's blog for a more complete review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current reading//

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

I am halfway through this novel and loving every sentence! I purchased a print copy and later learned that Meryl Streep narrates the audio version. Yes, I ended up using an audible credit, too. I've been listening to audiobooks for over twenty years and this is one of the best performances ever!

On the blog//

Book Brief: BANYAN MOON by Thao Thai

The week ahead//

Both NYC daughters, their fiancés, and Winnie the Whippet all arrive in a few days for an extra-long weekend. The "kids" will all be working remotely for a day or two, but we'll still have plenty of time to enjoy summer near the shore. Fingers crossed the weather cooperates!

What's new with you this week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

Book Brief: Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

 

Banyan Moon 

by Thao Thai

Mariner Books, June 2023

336 pages

Audio edition

Narrated by Cindy Kay, Catherine Ho, Elyse Dinh

Harper Audio, June 2023

12 hours and 24 minutes

Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.

My thoughts:

This was my third Modern Mrs. Darcy book club selection and, though it wasn't what I expected, was another winner! The debut novel is a family story focusing on three generations of women and their fraught mother-daughter relationships. Those relationships are messy, complicated, and yet life-sustaining. Generational trauma plays a role as Minh, the grandmother/matriarch, lived her early life in Vietnam before immigrating to the US with her young children. 

Banyan Moon  opens as Minh's granddaughter, Ann Tran, attends a party with her longterm boyfriend at the home of his wealthy white parents. Soon the story  shifts to Florida and the Banyan House, where Ann spent her childhood with her mother, Huong, and grandmother. Chapters alternate between Ann, Huong, and Mihn's perspectives.

Thao Thai's writing is beautiful and the book pulled me in right away... it kept me turning the pages, too.  I was expecting historical fiction and thought I'd learn more about life in Vietnam. While there is enough historical detail for the reader to understand the older generations, I would definitely classify the novel as a family drama rather than historical fiction.  

Shortly after I began reading, my audiobook hold arrived and it became a read/listen combination. The audio version was excellent! I love multi-narrator productions and this one certainly enhanced my overall reading experience.

MMD hosts a virtual author talk for each selection. It's always interesting to hear the author speak, but yesterday's chat with Thao Thai was especially memorable. It added to my understanding and appreciation of Banyan Moon. I'm already looking forward to her next novel.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

  

A July Reading Wrap-Up and a Look Into August

Hello, friends. August is here and though there is plenty of summer left, I'm already starting to think about fall. July turned out to be an unusual month. It was unbelievably hot, humid, and rainy for the first several weeks, but ended with perfect summer weather. We spent time with both NYC daughters, visited my parents... and had covid. Thankfully, our cases were mild cases and we are now recovered. We quarantined to avoid spreading it to others, and felt well enough to read during all but the first day or two of that period. As a result, July turned out be a very good reading month for me.

BOOKS READ IN JULY 

The Postcard by Anne Berest 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐   

fiction/historical fiction

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  

historical fiction, western, classic

Our Town by Thornton Wilder 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 play, classic

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 

 literary fiction

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai 

⭐⭐⭐⭐  

literary fiction

In other reading news, I got a new kindle for my birthday. I've been happy with my paperwhite for years, but have also wished for page-turning buttons... and now my kindle oasis has them. It also has a slightly larger screen and a lighting control for warmth in addition to brightness. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and LOVE it! 

AUGUST READING POSSIBILITIES

On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood 

by Irmgard A. Hunt

(current reading) nonfiction/memoir, interesting follow-up to The Postcard

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

(current reading) another classic play to read prior to Tom Lake

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

a new novel from a favorite author

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

a possibility for Women in Translation Month

A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio

a shorter possibility for Women in Translation Month

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

new novel from a favorite author

True Biz by Sara Nović

 September main selection for MMD book club

 Have you read any of these books? There is no way I will get to them all, but it's nice to have options. What was your favorite July read?