Make it like poetry

I've finished both Sabriel (so enjoyable I just ordered the complete trilogy) and Interpreter of Maladies. I knew I would love Interpreter as 1. The Namesake has stuck with me and 2. the madre said no one Lahiri book is her favorite, they are all great.

At times, I toy with the idea of becoming a writer. I'm not afraid to say my vanity is stroked by each well wisher who assures me my words have substance. However, when in the presence of greatness, I humbly angle my head in recognition of a craftswoman.

Lahiri is a subtle and lyrical genius. Interpreter is an amalgam of different stories and yet at the end of the book you can feel them all washing over you, creating a sensation of knowing comfort.

I'll leave you with the closing paragraph of Interpreter. As you read, let the words wash over you and realize the magnitude of each of our existences:

"In my son's eyes I see the ambition that had first hurled me across the world. In a few years he will graduate and pave his way, alone and unprotected...Whenever he is discouraged, I tell him that if I can survive on three continents, then there is no obstacle he cannot conquer. While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."
Jhumpa Lahiri