The Book
Jhumpa Lahiri’s critically acclaimed first novel, The Namesake, illuminates her signature themes, first explored in her Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures and the tangled ties between generations.
The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged marriage, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Mass., where Ashoke does his best to adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him reveals the troublesome results of bringing old ways to the new world.
Gogol suffers with a name that is neither Indian nor American and grows up with the burden of his heritage as well as his odd name. He stumbles along the second-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours and wrenching love affairs.
Edited from material provided by Houghton Mifflin Company
“This poignant treatment of the immigrant experience is a rich, stimulating fusion of authentic emotion, ironic observation, and revealing details.”
--Library Journal
Discussion Questions about The Namesake
Copies of The Namesake
- Can be borrowed from the Danbury Library; books are available in English, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish; also available on compact disc and DVD
- Can be purchased from Barnes & Noble and Borders Books & Music
At Western Connecticut State University
- Freshmen students can obtain free copies at the Midtown campus bookstore
- Copies can be borrowed from Haas Library
- Copies can be purchased at the university bookstore
- Alternative formats of The Namesake are available for eligible WCSU students who are registered with WCSU AccessAbility Services.
Please contact AccessAbility Services for alternative formats:
Phone: (203) 837-8225
Email: cohende@wcsu.edu