Ladies,

I'm leaving in 2mins for California and will be there till Wednesday next week. I tried to read everyone's but managed only 30 pgs of Lily's. I'll give her feedback from CA in the next following days beased on what I've read and complete my redaings later next week. Sorry for the rushiness of it all. ENjoy!!

Summer Reading

Hi All,Keep me updated if you read something great or even not so great. I'm half way through Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, my first desi writer in years. It's easy reading, very pat, not very daring, yet pleasing in a conventional kind of way. Lahiri is breaking the mold by showing characters that are assimilated and not struggling with it anymore. That is a step forward. Their struggles now are like that of any Tom, Dick, and Harry. The book is a compilation of short stories. They're all very detailed but leave me a little unsatisfied at the end. Like when you watch a cooking show all the way and you expect a great dish at the end, but end up with a nice dish just a little different from others of its kind. That's my take on it till now. But I'm still reading her, I guess I like it in a summer reading kind of way. Nothing challenging about it. Keep me posted about your reads too. So I finished Unaccustomed Earth. And I think I'll stick to my earlier opinion. Great buildup but falls short at the end. Climax too quick and comes too late, and the falling action takes a few sentences- end of story. But to her credit I read the stories eagerly and enjoyed the last three more than the rest because there was a hint of greater satisfaction. That didn't come though. Lahiri is a good writer, smooth, but unoriginal- a fatal flaw for a writer.