The Unaccustomed Earth-Jhumpa Lahiri

What can I say? Much much more more of the same same. On the positive side of things, I will say that she is a conventionally good writer of prose. She is honest, with an eye for detail and a penchant for showing rather than telling. There is nothing larger than life about her style, no attempts at stretching the limits of the oxford dictionary like another Indian writer by the name of Upamanyu Chatterjee. Neither is there any attempt at toying with flamboyant yet massively ineffective and sometimes sickening metaphors a-la an obscure Indian writer based in Oxford University called Sunetra Gupta. She is earthy, facile and easy to read and her style is classically feminine, with delightfully inane descriptions of everyday things. However, there is not a natural edge in her writing, and in this collection, there is no edge in her stories as well if truth be told. The theme was interesting in her first book, was beginning to jade a bit in her second novel and in this one it begins to give you a headache. And this is the impact on someone like me who can very fully relate to the immigrant theme and the manically familiar vignettes that adorn her tales. The thing is, she is suffering from "the third coming" syndrome. This is a common enough predicament. You produce 2 items that have worked and are now faced with a key decision. Do you milk your success or try something different? and there is unfortunately no right answer. As far as a classic anatomy of the short story goes, one can try to do one of two things. Either create a pacy story with a clever twist, or merely a sketch that leaves a lasting impression, much like a good painting. This art strives to offer relatively instant gratification so there is not much intent for the reader to ponder more than is necessary. Unaccustomed Earth does not have any story that can make the cut on either of the above two themes. It does have its moments in the narrative but if truth be told, Lahiri needs more layers, more interactions, and a heavy dose of freshness.