The Namesake (1-71)

Summary
The book The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is an excellent book. There was a young man name Ashoke and he is on the train and he hears a sudden noise that sounds like a bomb. It hit the tracks and killed many people in their sleep. Him being in the seventh cart, his cart also flipped over. He could here the people asking if there is anyone alive. Ashoke tried, but to talk was just a gasp and he was hurt so much he couldn't move. The good thing is, is that he managed to move just enough so they can see him and they took him to the hospital. As years went by he got better. Then he goes to India and there is a tradition there where when your a girl our parents chose who you have to marry. A girl name Ashima was giving off to Ashoke and he would take her back to Boston and they would start a life there. At first Ashima was not used to the cold weather and being alone in the house by herself. A little later on she get pregnant. While she is in the bathroom she started having these pain and then Ashoke took her to the hospital. They told her she wasn't ready yet to have the baby, so they kept her in the hospital. Finally she has the baby. The doctors ask them what the name of their baby boy and Ashima refuses to name the baby until she gets a letter from her family. For them to go back to India they need a passport for the baby so they just decide to name him Gogol Ganguli. As they go back home Ashima is basically rasing Gogol on her own and she can't take it. She tells him she can't raise him alone and be by herself all the time. On the phone with her sister and her brother she was wondering why they called her when neither of her parents is home. He sister couldn't tell her that their father past away from a heart attack so Ashoke ends up telling her. She didn't want to go because she was so sad and didn't know how to handle it. Later on after Ashoke finishes his studies at MIT he is offer a professorship outside of Boston, so the family decides to move. In August Gogol turned five and later Ahsima finds out that she is pregnant again. It is time for Gogol to go to kindergarten and he doesn't want to. The name they call him is Nakhil because that is what Ahsoke wants them to call him. In May that is when there second child is born and it is a girl this time. To advoid what they went through with Gogol and school they decided to name her Sonali. But her American name is Sonia.


Quote
The quote i decided to pick was "Like a kiss or caress in a Hindi movie, a husband's name is something intimate and therefore unspoken, clearly patched over (Lahiri 2)." This quote stood out to me as I was reading. This quote reflected off of when Ashima was in pain and she knows her husband name but she chooses not to say it because she doesn't want to. So she says somthing else to get his attention.


Reaction
So far I am liking the book. By reading it you learn about many different things. Since this book is very culture you kind of get a background on how they do different things in India. The movie is different then the book. The book have mnay details and it is precise. Even though I saw the movie I can't wait to read more because I want to see how different it is compared to the movie.I wouldn't mind reading more of his readings.