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Friday, April 10, 2015

The Americans by Chitra Viraraghavan




My internet is dicey in Rozella (this is the place I've moved to from a suburb in Colombo). I am not very sure whether I can do a blog post from here but am willing to try.

This was a wonderful book and depicted I think very well the life of immigrants in a foreign land. There are those who try to blend and fit in. There are those who have to live duplicate lives - one in this case American and on the other Indian. You don't want to stand out as being completely Americanized to your fellow countrymen and you certainly don't want to look like a "native" ignoramus to your fellow Americans. This dilemma faces most immigrants. Then you get the second generation. Born and educated in the West, they assimilate education and culture from their environment. They come home to a place where older, more conservative values preside. They find it difficult and sometimes impossible to follow rules and regulations which seem arcane to them.

The author handles all the characters brilliantly, highlighting so very real aspects of immigrant life that it is almost factual.

I read this in one go. Couldn't put it down. The book was a download from Edelweiss.

2 comments:

  1. Since I was an expat for a few years, I'm always intrigued by immigrant stories. This sounds like a winner.

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  2. Mystica, this sounds like a good read about the Indian diaspora. These books seem to be doing quite well.

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