Namesake

ByJhumpa Lahiri

This book is about a young man whose parents have immigrated to the U.S. from India. The parents were married in an arranged marriage.  When they come to the U.S. the husband is busy with his career. His wife however is very unhappy.  She misses the comraderie and support of family in India.  When their son is born they are asked for his name but are waiting for a grandmother to send a letter with the formal name.  When pressured they give the name Gogol in tribute to the father's favourite author, Nikoai Gogol .

The father was almost killed in a train crash as a young.  A fellow passenger who was killed in the crash was reading a Gogal book.  The young man waved a page of the book and that is how rescuers spotted him.  They don't explain the reason for his name to the boy.   When the boy goes to start school the parents decide he should be called by a formal name not the friendly family name.  They say his name is Nikhil.  The boy is upset at the thought of having to take on a new name.  He resists this and the Principal goes against the wishes of the parents and lets him use the name Gogol.   In high school Gogol learns of the sad life of his namesake.

His family may be separated from their family in India but they develop connections with other Indian immigrants in the city.  The boy and his family have a circle of friends almost exclusively limited to Indian immigrants.

His father eventually tells him how he came to be called Gogol.  The boy is very angry that he was not told sooner.

When it comes time to attend university he chooses one away from his parents so he can escape his culture.  He also assumes the name Nikhil to start his new life.  He studies toi be an architect and has several romantic liaisons.   While he is on a holiday with a girlfriend he learns his father has died from a heart attack while tezahing in a distant city.  He, his mother and sister are devastated.  His despair at his father`s death  causes his relationship to collapse.  He mopes for a while and then pressured by his mother dates a girl from a family that was friends with his parents. Both he and the girl do this because of stress from their families and to their surprise they like each other and marry.  It seems things are going well but then he finds out his wife is having an affair.   As the book ends his moither is selling the family hime and plans to spend part of her year in India and part with her children and family friends.  Gogol hopes that he will meet someone and maybe even have children.  As Gogol comes to help his mother pack and leave for India he finds a copy of a book of Gogol short stories that his father gave him years before. 

This book presents an interesting picture of the life of a new immigrant and the way the children tend to draw away from the traditional practices and become part of their new country.  I read the author's most recent book The Lowland, earlier this year.  The book the Namesake was  praised by many as the better book.  While I had some trouble with some of the story elements in the Lowland I personally think it was a more powerful and interesting story.    With this story, the Namesake,  I have to ask...  What's in a name, why did the name Gogol make a difference?  Does a famous name affect our fate?  With this book I have to ask so what.... I can't see that Gogol grew or changed in the book.