
The Namesake
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Narrated by:
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Sarita Choudhury
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By:
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Jhumpa Lahiri
About this listen
Soon after they arrive in Cambridge, their first child is born, a boy. According to Indian custom, the child will be given two names: an official name, to be bestowed by the great-grandmother, and a pet name to be used only by family. But the letter from India with the child's official name never arrives, and so the baby's parents decide on a pet name to use for the time being. Ashoke chooses a name that has particular significance for him: on a train trip back in India several years earlier, he had been reading a short story collection by one of his most beloved Russian writers, Nikolai Gogol, when the train derailed in the middle of the night, killing almost all the sleeping passengers onboard. Ashoke had stayed awake to read his Gogol, and he believes the book saved his life. His child will be known, then, as Gogol.
Lahiri brings her enormous powers of description to her first novel, infusing scene after scene with profound emotional depth. Condensed and controlled, The Namesake covers three decades and crosses continents, all the while zooming in at very precise moments on telling detail, sensory richness, and fine nuances of character.
©2003 Jhumpa Lahiri (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a Division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"This poignant treatment of the immigrant experience is a rich, stimulating fusion of authentic emotion, ironic observation, and revealing details." ( Library Journal)
"This is a fine novel from a superb writer." ( The Washington Post)
"An effortless and self-assured bildungsroman that more than delivers on the promise of... Interpreter of Maladies." ( Book Magazine)
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Story
1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life - someone who will help her to heal....
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worst protagonist ever
- By Danica on 12-19-14
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The God of Small Things
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Likened to the works of Faulkner and Dickens when it was first published 20 years ago, this extraordinarily accomplished debut novel is a brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family.
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Worthy Booker winner!
- By Saman on 08-10-17
By: Arundhati Roy
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The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
- A Novel
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrated by: Arundhati Roy
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ministry of Utmost Happiness transports us across a subcontinent on a journey of many years. It takes us deep into the lives of its gloriously rendered characters, each of them in search of a place of safety - in search of meaning and of love.
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Author narration does not work for me
- By Amazon Customer on 06-18-17
By: Arundhati Roy
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Blow
- How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All
- By: Bruce Porter
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Blow is the unlikely story of George Jung's roller-coaster ride from middle-class high school football hero to the heart of Pablo Escobar's Medellín cartel - the largest importer of the United States cocaine supply in the 1980s. Jung's early business of flying marijuana into the United States from the mountains of Mexico took a dramatic turn when he met Carlos Lehder, a young Colombian car thief with connections to the then newly-born cocaine operation in his native land. Together they created a new model for selling cocaine.
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Head shaking story!
- By Anonymous User on 09-06-18
By: Bruce Porter
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America Is in the Heart
- By: Carlos Bulosan, Elaine Castillo - foreword, E. San Juan Jr. - introduction, and others
- Narrated by: Ramon de Ocampo
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Poet, essayist, novelist, fiction writer, and labor organizer, Carlos Bulosan (1911-1956) wrote one of the most influential working class literary classics about the US pre-World War II, a period and setting similar to that of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row. Bulosan's semi-autobiographical novel America Is in the Heart begins with the narrator's rural childhood in the Philippines and the struggles of land-poor peasant families affected by US imperialism after the Spanish-American War of the late 1890s.
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Pointless, wandering narrative poorly performed
- By B. Bartok on 08-15-20
By: Carlos Bulosan, and others
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We Need to Talk About Kevin
- A Novel
- By: Lionel Shriver
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of a boy who ends up murdering seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his 16th birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin’s horrific rampage, in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin.
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A smart, chilling story. Told in a very unique way
- By aaron on 01-09-12
By: Lionel Shriver
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Open City
- A Novel
- By: Teju Cole
- Narrated by: Teju Cole
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Along the streets of Manhattan, a young Nigerian doctor doing his residency wanders aimlessly. The walks meet a need for Julius: They are a release from the tightly regulated mental environment of work, and they give him the opportunity to process his relationships, his recent breakup with his girlfriend, his present, his past. Though he is navigating the busy parts of town, the impression of countless faces does nothing to assuage his feelings of isolation.
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Author’s narration is special.
- By Bruce on 02-11-24
By: Teju Cole
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Caramelo
- By: Sandra Cisneros
- Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Lala Reyes’ grandmother is descended from a family of renowned rebozo, or shawl-makers. The striped (caramelo) is the most beautiful of all, and the one that makes its way, like the family history it has come to represent, into Lala’s possession. The novel opens with the Reyes’ annual car trip - a caravan overflowing with children, laughter, and quarrels - from Chicago to “the other side”, Mexico City. It is there, each year, that Lala hears her family’s stories, separating the truth from the “healthy lies” that have ricocheted from one generation to the next.
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Love, family, history, and fantasy, Caramelo
- By Michele on 08-07-20
By: Sandra Cisneros
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Honor
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past.
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Wow.
- By Robert Bryant on 01-19-22
By: Thrity Umrigar
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The Space Between Us
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Thrity Umrigar won the Nieman Fellowship and earned a finalist spot for the PEN/Beyond Margins award with The Space Between Us. Set in modern-day India, this evocative novel follows upper-middle-class Parsi housewife Sera Dubash and 65-year-old illiterate household worker Bhima as they make their way through life. Though separated by their stations in life, the two women share bonds of womanhood that prove far stronger than the divisions of class or culture.
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A Story that stays with you
- By gardener97 on 04-25-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
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Translating Myself and Others
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Translating Myself and Others is a collection of candid and disarmingly personal essays by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, who reflects on her emerging identity as a translator as well as a writer in two languages. With subtlety and emotional immediacy, Lahiri draws on Ovid's myth of Echo and Narcissus to explore the distinction between writing and translating, and provides a close reading of passages from Aristotle's Poetics to talk more broadly about writing, desire, and freedom.
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Not just for translators
- By Mariano Desmaras on 07-06-23
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
What listeners say about The Namesake
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Overall
- Andrew
- 11-10-03
Good... but not great.
Being a non-resident Indian myself lots of the content and description in this book really struck a familiar cord with me. The author did a good job of portraying the trials, tribulations, joys, and sorrows of an Indian family that moved to "Umrica." A good first effort (this is her first book right?). But she could have done more with the story -- with the plot. Without giving it all away it's basically just about an Indian couple that moves to the U.S. in their 20's, has two kids here, and then it follows through with the life of the first born -- a boy named Gogol -- till his 30's or so. Overall it was good but lacked a zeal that I felt when reading the books of two other favorite Indian authors of mine -- Manil Suri and Abraham Verghese -- now they are experts... really great story-tellers. All in all The Namesake is a good book -- I'll be on the lookout for an improved follow-up title by this author down the road.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Prince
- 07-02-10
Lacked depth
It is as if the story teller related the events to an encyclopedia writer. The facts are there, but I felt that the writing style lacked color and depth. There was so little detail, that much of the book felt like it was a plot summary of another book. Most conversations and events were boiled down to a couple of sentences about the topic, with few literary embellishments. This style covered the material efficiently which does allow the reader to "get it over with" quickly, which is a benefit if your only goal is to read this book as a school requirement. If you are reading for enjoyment though, a little more descriptivness might improve the story. There were some descriptions of cultural tensions, but on the whole, the lives of the characters were unremarkable with the normal ups and down of a lifetime of relationships.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-25-21
Wonderfully written
Truly immersed myself in the story and felt the difference in cultural identities from immigrant generation to first generation.
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- M. Seda
- 04-12-19
Incredible writing, storytelling, great narration
This was such a great listen. Lahiri's storytelling style is incredible! she has a way of drawing you into each character or event (whether significant or not) and giving it nuance to make it all remarkable in some way. The narration is perfection - the best I've ever listened to.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-22-17
Great book
A story I'll never forget. Definitely a must read for anyone in their early years of life.
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Overall
- Lisa
- 03-07-07
Can't wait for the movie!
I loved the reader and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Indian culture and families. The story follows the life of the main character, Goggle (?) from childhood to adulthood, and his day to day struggles, which, although not terribly exciting, were terribly real. I can't wait for the movie.
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- Nitin
- 03-08-04
Every ABCD Should Listen to This
I feel I have a greater understanding of my parents from reading this book and also myself. I found parts of my own life described in such great detail that it was almost scary. The details of my parents get-togethers at the Nights of Columbus, to our drives to Logan for our flights back to India, to sneaking into MIT parties as a high-school student...
It took me a while to listen to the second half after relating to the main character so closely throughout the first half . The turning point in the book occurred at a point in the character's life that I am at right now and prospect of dealing with what he had to is ... I really don't know how to express it.
After finishing this book I almost felt angry at Lahiri for leaving it at that. But I don't think this book was as much about closure as it was about understanding. This book is all to real to be considered fiction.
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- Penny
- 11-07-03
A
This was a great book--deserving of a "5". I reserve my "5" ratings only for the special book that comes along rarely! Beautifully written and read.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Suzanne H
- 02-26-07
Beautiful
Beautifully written and beautifully read. I loved this book. I initially thought I had nothing in common with main character (which is fine, it is not something I look for in a book either way), but as the story unfolded I felt a real connection to him. I understood how he felt about things. All the characters were very real, very human. For me, it is a story about life in America, about family, about relationships, and about understanding the importance of one's roots.
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1 person found this helpful
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- G
- 02-27-19
Truthful storytelling
A compelling and truthful look at the complicated relationship inside an immigrant and first generation American family. What each member gains or loses when they done this identity and how they chose to navigate over the decades. Very touching.
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