#24: The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

I finished The Namesake yesterday, and all I can say is: thank god. I was sure this awful book and the slow march through its pages was totally going to derail my 30 books plan (which would really suck three years in a row, no?). I am absolutely shocked that Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies -- the stories within may be fantastic, but her writing is awful, and that doesn't change terribly much from book to book. (And isn't the Pulitzer a celebration of language, not a harbinger of its demise?)

But back to The Namesake...The story itself was cold; I didn't empathize with anyone, because Lahiri's characterizations were so stiff. It would be like feeling for cardboard. I feel like that part's not even worth discussing, it was so bland. The worst part of The Namesake was the grammar. An example from page 260:

"In the Xerox room, she makes a copy of the resume. She sticks it in the bottom of her bag. Then she types up a new envelope and puts the original in the professor's mailbox." From the syntax, she should be putting the original envelope back into the mailbox -- but no, it's the resume that the character has returned. That sort of bad grammar litters Lahiri's novel, and frankly, destroys it. (Seriously, a Pulitzer?) I had to hold myself back from writing a "Save Yourself While You Can" note in the front of the library book.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but surely that version of The Namesake must be better, right? I should also mention, I tried to read P.S. I Love You as a break a couple of days ago, and that one was even worse. I got to about page 12 before snapping it shut. It was aw-ful. Seriously horrific. Words cannot even describe. (The writer, Cecelia Ahern, is apparently the 20-some daughter of Ireland's former prime minister. Clearly daddy got his little girl a book deal. Though I am wondering if this is the same Cecelia Ahern who is the executive producer of Samantha Who? It's not the most common name, but still, I don't see how it could be possible...)

Every time I read (or attempt to read) books like this, I want to get back to work on my own -- because surely if there are books like this out there and published, mine has a decent shot. So it at least makes me feel better in one regard.

Anyway, so onto happier thoughts...I have six books left to read, and a little over four weeks to read them in. Not so bad. Still, I am torn. Do I read six books that I know will be quick in order to reach my goal, or do I read three to four longer, more complex books and just suck up a final tally in the high 20s? Time will tell, but competing for a spot...in one corner, we have The Golden Notebook and The World Without Us, in the other Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and Sue Grafton.