My least favorite of all her work.

What did you like best about The Lowland? What did you like least?

Maybe because I'm such a fan of her other work, I am more critical, but I thought this book was a bust.

I thought the characters were really dull and not fleshed out well. I certainly didn't sympathize with them, nor did I care what happened to them. I didn't get a good sense of their motivation for the choices they made- and overall it was just dull. That's the best I can say.

If you want to read Lahiri, I suggest starting with something else- if I had read this first, I wouldn't have gone back for any more.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jhumpa Lahiri again?

Sure- The Namesake is a masterpiece and 10x better.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Sunil Malhotra?

Yes, I thought he did a nice job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Nope.

Any additional comments?

There was a moment where a character goes through a big shift (sorry I don't want to write out a big spoiler, but it's about 3/4 way through and you'll know it when you hear it), and it was just so out of left field and silly, all I could do was roll my eyes. Usually Jhumpa Lahiri's characters are so complex, and through her writing you really understand them- good and bad. But here- it was like reading about a family of paper dolls. Flat and dimension-less.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Distractingly Poor Performance

Any additional comments?

I usually don't think too hard about the narration. I think the best narration should recede into the background and allow you to enjoy the story. But Sunil Malhotra had an irritatingly morose delivery at all times. This is not the world's most cheerful book, but he read the entire thing as if he were speaking at a funeral, even at the book's happy moments. He also paused at weird times in the text. I found myself thinking more about the narration than about the book itself. Not a good experience.

8 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Disappointing

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I wouldn't recommend this book. I usually love her writing. The characters in this book were not particularly interesting. The characters all seemed one dimensional, never developed or surprising in any way. The story was a multi-generational study of an Indian family in Calcutta and the United States. It includes discussion of political unrest in India and how it affects the family.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was the most interesting part of the book.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was ok.

Was The Lowland worth the listening time?

One of my favorite authors but not one of my favorite books.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Most beautiful book I have read in a long time.

What did you love best about The Lowland?

The language is overwhelming. It is like poetry. That, along with an excellent narrator made this book unforgettable and immensely pleasurable to read. It had a good story, gave good depth to the characters providing their many perspectives and left you constantly considering their motives and desires.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character had infinite capacity for caring for his child and redefined the word father for me. Still , he was credible while constantly striving to do the right thing.

What about Sunil Malhotra’s performance did you like?

He did all of the different voices well, men, women and especially children! He had excellent material to work with but made the reading seamless. The wonderful language and descriptions in the book are particularly poignant when read by this excellent narrator. I usually listen at a speed of 1.25 but this book I set at 1 so I could really savor the reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending, gives us hope as a main character lets go of a lifetime of resentment, demonstrating the largeness of human nature and it's capability for forgiveness.

Any additional comments?

This was the best book I have read in many years. It is a saga with great characters, again demonstrating the immigrant experience, but more importantly showing the wonderful side of human behavior. The language is a delight to listen to, describing both physical characteristics as well as human. Jumpa Lahiri is one of the truly great writers of our time. This is a book to be savored.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Deeply felt, beautifully written

This is a lovely and intense book about (among other things) the consequences of our actions for those we love . . . the two brothers at the center of the book have profound effects on each others' lives, and, rippling outward, on the lives of their parents, spouses, children. Jhumpa Lahiri does a beautiful job of drawing us into the relationship between the brothers and then into the lives of their families.

The narrator is generally excellent; I gave him four stars rather than five because I felt his women sounded a little insipid, but this is a quibble. I will keep an eye out for more of his narration; it was moving without being overbearing.

Highly recommended!

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Disappointing and Dull

Would you try another book from Jhumpa Lahiri and/or Sunil Malhotra?

I think Lahiri is a spectacular short story writer, but I've been disappointed by her novels, this one most of all. I won't try another novel from her.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jhumpa Lahiri again?

A short story collection, perhaps.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator had a tough task--bringing to life a book with so little action and vigor. The book's greatest lack was dialogue: There was almost none of it, and when it did appear, it was trite and uninteresting. Unfortunately, even when he did get some dialogue to read, he tended to drone.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Lowland?

Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance" is one of the finest books I've ever read--a story of India, told through characters that are beautifully rendered and heartbreaking. Lahiri's book needed to follow that lead: The history needed to matter because the characters mattered, and vice versa. In this book, the history felt leaden and burdensome. The story was dull and flabby and predictable; so was the language. And the characters were stereotypes, always doing something you could foresee 100 pages before.

Any additional comments?

I used this book to help me fall asleep at night. It was that boring.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Pulls at your heart

Wow! What a story. I am really glad that I listened to this book. It really helped to hear the pronunciations of the characters' names and places. Jumps Lahiri writes another powerful book!

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Politics, Love and Sorrow, a 3.5

Two brothers born 15 months apart, inseparable boys growing up in Naxalbari, a half submerged swamp besotted with refuse and water hyacinths. The beauty and the wasteland feel of the swampy area echos the essence and the life choices of the two brothers. One brother is involved in the underground of the Naxalite movement of West Bengal in the late 1960s. The other brother is headed off to teach college in Rhode Island.
The two brothers share their lives in a unique fashion, more than either expected.
This author has a creative voice and although not exactly the happy ending feel good book so many prefer, overall the book held my interest and was worthwhile.
.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Engaging; enlightening

Lahiri is a born storyteller. This was one of those books/recordings I picked by chance when in need of a good story and was so grateful for. After listeniing to the first chapter I thought, "Yay! Someone still knows how to create characters with an authentic and riveting story to tell." It's also enjoyable because although the themes are timeless (love, commitment, patriotism, parenting) this story is about an East Asian Indian family, so I learned something about a different culture. Lastly, Lahiri can put believable language into the mouths of her characters, so the recorded version was a pleasure.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Excellent story and writing.

Loved the story. So rich and well written. Sad but very interesting. One never forgets home.

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