The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

[Drunk Monk]

This has been sitting on our bookshelf for sometime, so I took it down on a whim yesterday, wondering if Kumar could indeed play Gogol, and couldn't put it down. I'm not sure why I couldn't put it down exactly. It was fairly predictable. It didn't blow me away or anything. There were no fight scenes. Lahiri's style is solid and readable. She's got a good eye for character development and details. I may have been captivated moreso from my affection towards Indian culture, or perhaps the parallel with being an ABC/sansei to being an ABCD. Nevertheless, I found it quite entertaining and look forward to Nair's film, being a fan of her work in general. And I think Kumar will be perfect for the part.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Sounds like you got caught in a well-written book. I hate it when that happens. Please explain "Kumar" as it relates to Gogol.

[Drunk Monk]

The namesake is Gogol. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671980/

[Drunk Monk]

I like Mira Nair's work. She captures India well. It's loving and quiet, not overblown like Bollywood. Her Calcutta footage was spectacular, but she bit off too much trying to capture the Taj Mahal. You can only get Taj by standing before it and watching the light pass over. Its true power eludes film. The film honored the book, but moved at light speed to cover everything. What was lost in inner dialog from the book, was compensated for with a solid soundtrack and great atmospheric shots of Calcutta and America.

Could Kal Penn be the next Sean Penn? From Kumar to Gogol, Kal shows remarkable range and pulls of the role well. Of course, I had him in mind as I read it, so perhaps it was fated. Ironically, in his first scene, he's smoking a joint.

The big discovery for dm was Tabu, who was far too beautiful for the role. I envisioned Ashima as much more dumpy, but Tabu gave her a grace that reminded me of a young Ingrid Bergman.

All in all, a very satisfactory rendition of the book. Nair took a few liberties for cinematic foreshadowing, but got an excellent cast and captured the spirit of the novel overall. If you engage one and like it, you should definitely check out the other.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Don't forget his turn in 24 this season as the terrorist. And Sean Penn only did Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Kal has Harold and Kumar 1 & 2 and two Van Wilder films.

I was kind of surprised to see him on the "Namesake" poster.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I finally got around to seeing this on the television. It's a very quiet film. Although, I came in late, I'd kind of have to say the film centered more on Tabu than Mr. Penn. Or at least it was 50/50. It was very emotional when the father died and the family's reaction to it. I especially hated/liked/hated Gogol's distance from the parents (Oh, I'll call her back tomorrow)

Now I'm probably going to have to read the book. Which will really cut into the time I'm devoting to my 19th century novels.

[Drunk Monk]

So I was at SFO reading Sex and Sensibility and decided that it was informative but not written well and I needed something else for the long flight. I pondered trying some Evanovich since it's so well thought of here, but went for this book of shorts by Lahiri. I loved it. Not sure why. It works the same themes as Namesake: Bengali-American experiences, distance of immigrant children from traditional parents, well educated people going through life's hardships, settling for less than love, death in the family, suburban life. It's very existential. Lahiri has an amazing flair for secret feelings in mundane experiences - delicate stuff but very engaging. I was surprised how moving it all was.

Still no fight scenes.