Unaccustomed Earth

Unaccustomed Earth is Jhumpa Lahiri's latest collection of short stories, lent to me by Sayers. (I write about Lahiri's novel, The Namesake, here.) The collection begins with a quotation from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Custom-House": "

"Human nature will not flourish, anymore than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."

I get the impression when reading Lahiri that she personally experienced the cultural and generational conflicts, and that she's writing about those conflicts from both the side of the parents and from the side of the child in order to understand both. It's as if she's looking for catharsis and clarity through writing. I think it's a clever tactic--there's no way to better have sympathy than to portray the other side in the best possible light. Lahiri is very persuasive at conveying not only the confusion of second-generation American children, but she is also incredibly persuasive at conveying the difficulties faced by first-generation immigrants.

She deals in these stories with death, with alcoholism, and with old love.

The pieces I like best are the three at the end, all dealing with a boy and girl who meet when they're very young and reconnect in their late 30s. The first two are addressed by each to the other, using "you," talking about where they first met. I love this. The third is written from a combination of their perspectives when they meet again. All three are melancholy, sympathetic, and practical. They are perfect.


(picture, picture)