【英語で読書感想文】Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri ジュンパ・ラヒリ『見知らぬ場所』

Title : Unaccustomed Earth
Author : Jhumpa Lahiri

I’ve followed Juhmpa Lahiri for many years, since I first read her debut collection of short-stories “Interpreter of Maladies”. She turned me from merely a book reader into an aspiring writer (who finally finished a creative writing course!). “Unaccustomed Earth” is her second short-story collection and I always pick this one up whenever I need to get inspired.

Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American whose parents are Indian immigrants. In many of her stories, she has addressed the struggle of immigrants, conflict of cultural identity, and complicated relationship between immigrant parents and their kids who grow up in the Western world. Nowadays I see many people talking about such issues here and there but more than 15 years ago, Lahiri’s stories were an eye-opening experience for me. Also I was impressed by how she conveys the complexity of human emotions and behaviors in a sophisticated way.

I devoured all of the stories in this book, but my favorite is “Hell-Heaven”. In it, a woman narrates a story about her mother who secretly fell in unrequited love with an Indian guy. The mother moved to the US to get married and became isolated in the different culture. The Indian guy became a precious friend to her but when he started to date a bright American woman, things became more complicated. I liked the way Lahiri illustrated of bitter relationship between mother and daughter, the mother’s loneliness, and the daughter’s dual life as an American with an Indian background. The ending line gave me goosebumps.

I also love her novels (“The Namesake” and “The Lowland”) but I would recommend her short story collections as the first pick for this phenomenal author!

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大好きな作家のひとりジュンパ・ラヒリ
そろそろイタリア語は関係ない以前みたいな作品を出してほしいというのが本音ですが、、、

元の投稿はコチラ↓です。

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