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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

Hell-Heaven by Jhumpa Lahiri (Short Fiction Review)


I first read Jhumpa Lahiri years ago, when her Interpreter of Maladies was making a huge buzz. At the time, I didn't catch any of the buzz, but for some reason, when I saw the book on the shelf at the store I was browsing in, I felt it just might be a decent read. Funnily, I read the entire short story collection without complaining about it, but for some reason, I cannot read any collection anymore without agonizing over its disjoint nature.

I did enjoy Interpreter of Maladies, but I did get bothered by the thread of loneliness and infidelity and distrust that laced through the stories. For that reason, I have been reluctant to read Unaccustomed Earth. However, when I came across Hell-Heaven at the NewYorker - a free short story from her book, I decided to go ahead and read it. I can't resist the pull of stories set in India or featuring Indian characters, and it is that same aspect that hooked me throughout this story.


In Hell-Heaven, the narrator contemplates the relationship between her mother and a friend of her parents'. Pranab Chakraborty was a fellow Bengali who met the narrator's parents when he was a graduate student at MIT. The narrator's mother, Aparna, developed a soft corner for Pranab and would wait for those moments when he would visit them. (Her own husband had given himself completely over to work.) Over time, she began to feel a deep affection for him, but being a married woman, she drew the line there. Still, when Pranab falls in love with an American woman, Aparna reacts poorly, waiting for Pranab's girlfriend to leave him. Pranab and his girlfriend however get married, leaving Aparna to nurse some deep resentment for the couple.

Despite the unsaid and unacknowledged feelings that Aparna had for Pranab, there is nothing in the story to make one uncomfortable or judgmental. I found Hell-Heaven to be a nice character-focused story, with Aparna being the main focal point. There is not much in the way of a plot, but there is enough to move the story along and leave you feeling for the characters. I did however, feel that the story was a typical Jhumpa Lahiri fare. There are her usual elements of loss, love, yearning and family. I kind of knew where it was going, but I didn't mind the predictability because the lyrical prose held a lot of emotion. Is that emotional manipulation?

Still, I enjoyed the story because I could relate to the middle-class status of the family - their need to move away from orthodox customs and yet struggling to cut those threads away because what did they have if not those customs? And like other immigrants, their desire to be accepted is very palpable - they are treated as foreigners both in India and in the US - where then is home?


I read this book online on the NewYorker. Go ahead and read it.

Comments

bermudaonion (Kathy) said…
I've never tried Lahiri's work, but I want to.  Don't you think the desire to be accepted is universal to immigrants?  We felt the same way when we lived in France - we didn't fit in there, but didn't quite fit in here either when we visited.
Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com said…
I really really really need to try this author.
Amy Reads said…
I've not read anything by this author yet but am really hoping to this year. This sounds really interesting, I'm off to read the story now. Thanks!
Elisabeth said…
I am reading Unaccustomed Earth right now. I have been a fan of Lahiri for a long time. I enjoy her stories for the unique peek into Indian/ American culture.
Helen Murdoch said…
I often have a difficult time with short stories as well. I always want the story to continue rather than ending and giving me more and different characters. But, I did like this book and think she is a terrific writer
occasionallyzen said…
Love Jhumpa Lahiri and really enjoyed all of Unaccustomed Earth. Wonderful review, and so nice to be reminded of this lovely story.
JoV said…
Jhumpa Lahiri is my favourite writer. I say favourite because I generally do not like short stories. I hold dear to Unaccustomed Earth and it sits on my shelf, proudly.
Athira / Aths said…
Yes, it definitely is. My bad that I missed a clause in that sentence. I did mean to mention immigrants.
Athira / Aths said…
I will have to check out the collection at some point. Glad to hear that you enjoy Lahiri.
Athira / Aths said…
I usually have trouble with short stories when I read them out of a collection. Somehow, with a collection, I expect a single story, and not jumps from one story to another. I do enjoy Lahiri's stories though.
Athira / Aths said…
Great to hear that you love Lahiri. I enjoyed her Interpreter of Maladies!
Athira / Aths said…
That's wonderful to hear. I am hoping to read the rest of the collection some time.