Watch over

Yes, it is about the immigrant's life. And mostly they are Bengalis settled in the United States, who had initially migrated due to academic reasons. That was how the first book was. And the second. And the third. Of course the situations are mostly domestic, and characters don't really escape clichéd cycles mostly because they aren't exposed to unusual or adverse circumstances. Some of the situations, challenges and drama ensue from social interaction, which are what they are, mildly mindless. Even the language isn't inventive, it stays firmly within limits, a bit too firmly perhaps. I have a feeling, the writing in a way is restrained and Jhumpa Lahiri chooses not to be experimental or try something different, or perhaps be a bit more incisive. More often than not, it is a flat narrative.

For a reader who turns to literature for its beauty, for the beauty of language, for the beauty of attempting to delineate characters, situations, feelings for which language is inadequate, that which expands thought by opening up new worlds, Unaccustomed Earth is not the book. Perhaps if one seeks the familiar, coziness I suppose, then one can turn to it. I had gift coupons for a bookshop, a good one, which, on the day I visited it, had a very poor collection. I had no option but to get this.