The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri is a poignant and sweeping tale that follows the lives of two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, born and raised in Calcutta during turbulent times. The story moves between India and Rhode Island, exploring themes of family ties, political unrest, and the immigrant experience. Lahiri's writing effortlessly weaves together historical events, personal struggles, and emotional depth, creating a narrative that spans generations and continents.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The novel includes themes of violence, death, political repression, and emotional trauma, making it suitable for readers who are prepared for these subjects.
From The Publisher:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2013
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2014
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2013
From Subhash's earliest memories, at every point, his brother was there. In the suburban streets of Calcutta where they wandered before dusk and in the hyacinth-strewn ponds where they played for hours on end, Udayan was always in his older brother's sight. So close in age, they were inseparable in childhood and yet, as the years pass - as U.S tanks roll into Vietnam and riots sweep across India - their brotherly bond can do nothing to forestall the tragedy that will upend their lives. Udayan - charismatic and impulsive - finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, a rebellion waged to eradicate inequity and poverty. He will give everything, risk all, for what he believes, and in doing so will transform the futures of those dearest to him.
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2 comment(s)
Subhash and Udayan, two brothers born fifteen months apart in Calcutta, grow up during a period of extreme social unrest in India. As children they are nearly inseparable, but Udayan becomes more and more political as they grow older. Eventually Subhash moves to American to pursue a degree in oceanography, while Udayan stays home, gets married, and becomes more and more involved in dangerous revolutionary politics.
Udayan's eventual capture and murder by the police leaves his wife, Gauri, an unwanted pregnant widow in the family home. Subhash returns to India after his brother's death and sees how his parents are shunning Gauri. He offers to marry her, bring her to America, and raise her child as his own.
Though Udayan only survives the first third of the book, these three adults form a triangular relationship of love, lust, disappointment, resentment, regret, and anger. He is constantly present, especially in Bela, the daughter Gauri eventually bears.
Lahiri's writing is clear and luminous, like gazing into a perfectly clean, still pond at the sandy bottom. There is something between you and the experience of the characters, but you can't see it while in the experience of reading. She marries the personal and the political seamlessly and never beats you over the head with anything. I couldn't even take a guess at where she stands on any of the issues raised by the book, and it doesn't matter.
The Lowland is more than the sum of its parts, full of rich metaphor and masterful use of tense.
I grabbed this book as soon as i could.
A very soul touching story of two brothers who are born and grown in Calcutta. Both have their own views and both choose different ways in their life.
One dead and the other trying to fix the family.
The relationships however strong or old, are very tender and can be broken easily. They can be mended but not to the full extent.. beautifully written...
What can you read after
The Lowland?
About the Author:
JHUMPA LAHIRI is the author of Interpreter of Maladies, awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award; The Namesake; and Unaccustomed Earth, a #1 New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2012. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and 2 children.
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