Book Review #2

Book Review On "the namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

“My family comes first. Maybe that’s what makes me different from other guys.”

                                                                                                          -Bobby Darin

I chose this quote since it is precise enough to relate the message that the author is trying to convey in this novel. It also describes the importance of family. Contrariwise, the protagonist in this novel lacks the ability of prioritizing his own family. And, rather prioritizing his in laws and his own personal things. Thus, Gogol (protagonist) regrets not doing so. The author in this novel provides us with specific events in the story which  demonstrates the importance of family. The quote above is the perfect example in illustrating the significance of family. This novel has enhanced the way I used to take things for granted and not be appreciative about the things that my parents had provided. I have started to realize the importance of family and how much they mean to me. Also, I have come to realize that every single time spent with my family is precious and rare.

This novel is about how an traditional Indian family (Ganguli) from Calcutta transform into Americans. Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli gave birth to a boy, named Gogol after they moved to United States from India. Ashoke named his son after a Russian novelist who's book saved him in a train accident which he was reading while in the train. As time passed by, Gogol grew up and started to notice that he's name was very odd compared to others. He started to dislike the name that was given to him and wanted to change his name. In chapter 5, he gets influenced in changing his name after seeing that actors, writers, revolutionaries and even the European immigrants, have all changed their names. He names himself Nikhil before he attended college at Yale University. Unlike his parents, Gogol wants to live his life in a western style whereas his parents follow their own Bengali tradition and customs. He starts to neglect his own tradition and customs, and considers himself to be American. Besides, he also starts to look for girls with different backgrounds and not the same as him. According to their custom, they desire their sons and daughters to look for partners with similar backgrounds. Momentarily, Gogol starts to get into a relationship with an American based girl. Slowly, he loses all of his mind on this girl and starts to forget about his own family. Gogol is so focused with her family and spends so much more time with them that he ignores his own family. Unfortunately, he's father passes away and now he is guilty of all the things that he had done. As a result, he leaves his girlfriend and goes back to his family and spends more time with them because he has learned a big lesson about how precious it is to spend time with family.