Is it worth it to read ?....
Is it deserves the title "The New York Time Bestseller"?
We will find out here in this blog.
The novel opens up by introducing a pregnant Ashima Ganguli, and her husband Ashoke. Ashoke is an MIT Electrical Engineering Ph. a student while Ashima is a homemaker. Throughout a flashback that Ashima has, we come to know that they were both initially from Calcutta, India and they had an arranged marriage. During their first meeting in India before they get married, we realize that Ashima tries on Ashoke’s shoes. Back in The USA, we realize that Ashima is not accustomed to the American lifestyle because she struggles with the short gown which only goes down to her knees at the hospital. Ashoke is also nervous about his wife’s pregnancy. He also goes into a flashback about a train wreck back in Calcutta, which changed his life, which, to this day causes him to have a limp. We come to know that while he was on that train, he met a man named "Ghosh" who inspired Ashoke to study abroad. After the train wreck, however, Ashoke was severely injured for a long time, but eventually got better and made it to America. The quick decision made in this time could foreshadow larger decisions that might have to be made by Gogol in the future. After Gogol is brought home and settled in, we come to hear about the death of Ashima’s father, which Ashima’s brother doesn’t directly reveal to Ashima over the phone. In Chapter 3, Gogol is beginning kindergarten. Although his pet name is Gogol, his official name is "Nikhil". His dad forces him to be called Nikhil, but the teachers stick to Gogol. This allowed Gogol to realize that the name you have is a legacy that you’ll carry on even after your death. In Chapter 4 Gogol is a teenager and is growing up like a typical American teenager. The classes which he is taking in highschool reflect on his parent's high expectations, which is common amongst parents from South Asia. Although he isn’t aware of why his parents named him “Gogol” the traumatic life of the author made him upset. During the family’s visit to Calcutta, I noticed that Gogol felt "culturally trapped". Gogol and his sister were not as attached to their relatives as much as Ashima and Ashoke were. Finally, near the end of the chapter, his distance from females again shows his strict Indian culture at play. “Gogol does not date anyone in high school.” However, we come to know that he is still living like a typical American teenager when it stays that he’s used pot when he was with friends without his parent's knowledge. Coming from a South- Asian background similar to Gogol, I can say that although I was born here, I try my very hardest to keep the good morals and values which my culture teaches. My name is much longer and harder to pronounce than Gogol’s but, in all honesty, I can live with it. On the contrary, I am used to striving to get high marks like Gogol, due to the influence of my parents. “Assured by his grades and his apparent indifference to girls, his parents don’t suspect Gogol of being, in his fumbling was, an American teenager”.Thoughts about the book
Throughout the whole book, I wake up many special feelings around the theme statement that this book shows up to me. Unfortunately, I didn't live those difficult and hard situations that Ashoke and Ashima go through, but at least a dark part of my life showed up when I was reading. The oppressive situation to leave your native home, the new culture that you need to get used to, the relationship problems that kiddos life, and of course the identity lost. On the other hand, not all changes are bad such as the name. It's hard to get used but at least it's good in a part, and when you realized it, you will be part of the new society that you came to it.
Chapters 5-7
When Gogol said what he said, it made me realize that he wasn't truly upset his name was Gogol, but more at the lack of meaning the name possesses. I realized then that he simply hadn't been explained why he was named Gogol. I believe once Gogol truly takes the name for what it symbolizes, then he will begin to understand why he was named Gogol and begin to accept his name for what it is. As the novel continues to develop, you learn of Ruth, Gogol's first serious relationship.
The relationship lasts a while until around Thanksgiving of Gogol's senior year where you learn they have split up, mainly due to the distance between them. A small tragedy then ensues, a suicide occurs on the tracks of the very train Gogol is talking home to visit his family. Ashoke is waiting for Gogol at the railway station and Gogol apologizes for not being able to warn him. It is when Ashoke learns of this that he decides to tell Gogol why his name is Gogol.
Maxine appeared to be more like Gogol. Gogol notices the difference in public affection and how they serve their food. In Chapter 7, we hear the unfortunate news of Ashoke’s death after suffering chronic stomach trouble. Ashoke’s death really brings Gogol back to reality, realizing that he hasn’t had the chance to fully appreciate his father for everything that he has done for him throughout his lifetime. When Maxine asks Gogol to come to New Hampshire with her after Christmas to get Gogol’s mind off of his father, Gogol replies “I don’t want to get away” (182). Gogol is still mourning and wants to spend his time with his family after being away for so long. My father’s dad (my grandfather) passed away in Colombia the last year. My father and I felt devastated and heartbroken because we were the only ones that kept in touch all the time with him. Besides, my father felt as if he wasn’t given enough time to be with my grandfather.
“To us,
family means putting your arms around each other and being there” (Barbara
Bush).
When Maxine asks Gogol to come to New Hampshire with her after Christmas to get Gogol’s mind off of his father, Gogol replies "I don’t want to get away". Gogol is still mourning and wants to spend his time with his family after being away for so long. Gogol starts to realize that his family should always come first. Ultimately, at the very end of Chapter 7, Gogol remembers moments of his life where he and his father connected on a mutual level.
Ashoke tells Gogol, "remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go". This particular quote has a very significant meaning behind it, as it signifies how hard Ashoke had to work to make a living in the United States as well as the struggle of raising a child. Moreover, this is one of the few moments in which Gogol shared a deep connection with his father. I feel that as Gogol grows older and learns more about his family, he wishes that he could have spent more time with them and was more open.
Just like Gogol, I tried to hide certain aspects of my life from my parents as a kid, but as I grew older, I realized that they will always have my back and support me in my decisions.
Chapters 8-12
Gogol and Maxine naturally broke things off. There was too much tension between Gogol and Maxine after Ashoke’s death which really took its toll on their relationship. Ashima reconnects Gogol to his old family friend, Moushumi. She was mentioned previously in the book as the girl his age who was always reading her book at Bengali parties (low-key, she reminds me of myself at that age). They meet at a bar, sharing familiarity in their past yet still meeting for the first time as strangers. This happened to me where I knew some people who went to the same high school as me, but I never talked to them because we had only one class that stayed together mostly every week so it was harder to speak with them. Later on, I faintly remember people but realize that we’re still technically strangers.
We learn about how Moushumi moved to Paris to start a new identity, much like how Gogol changed identities in university. The rest of her past was rather shocking and for good reason. She battles with a fear of her own identity as well. She even said herself that she was afraid that after marrying a Bengali that her parents introduced her to, she would revert back to her old, bookish self.
And they get married...
Who saw that coming? It all seems so perfect, doesn't it? Honestly, I think only one year of dating is much too soon - four to five years is good. Who knows if they can stay faithful to each other (Hint hint.)? Whatever the case, perfect relationships don’t exist and people are riddled with insecurities. Their relationship gets a little rocky when Gogol notices remnants from her past with Graham. He also feels envious that she knows Paris so well and he doesn’t know anything about her second identity there. Next, they visit her friends in Brooklyn. He senses that Moushumi feels unsatisfied with her life with him compared to what her friends have, and he also feels uncomfortable that they are a link between her and Graham. When she blurts out that Nikhil changed his name, he wishes that he never told her!
Ouch….But I know how he feels and I would also be scared that she might blurt out other personal details like the story of his father’s accident. These conflicts foreshadow…
After Moushumi sees the resume of a man named Dimitri at her university, they met when she was a senior in high school and he was 27. She was an innocent girl who desired his affection when he showed interest in her. As a teenager, she was taking risks and lied to her mother about going to the protest in Washington. I feel like this was the beginning of her wanting to reinvent herself as the promiscuous girl in Paris.
Okay here was a “WOAH”
Moushumi meets with Dimitri and cheats on Nikhil. First two days a week, then three.
Doing a 180, I felt like laughing at the part when Gogol learns about Moushumi’s affair with Dimitri, and it says “And for the first time in his life, another man’s name upset Gogol more than his own” (283). The reason I find this so comedic is that after going through a death, a marriage, and now finding out that his wife is unfaithful to him, the idea that he still feels like his name is upsetting is hilarious. This ended with a divorce and as second-generations, the idea of divorce is far more accepted being an American thing and all, then it was for their parents’ generation who believed in settling for less happiness than they want for the sake of staying in the marriage.“In so many ways, his family’s life feels like a string of accidents, unforeseen, unintended, one incident begetting another. […] They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend” (286-7).
He understands how much he doesn’t want to be away from his mother by analyzing his past actions, saying that although he moved to New York, he could have never travelled to Paris like Moushumi, or to California as Sonia did, always staying a 3-4 hour train ride away from home. I can relate to this because the thought of being so far from my parents makes me feel very nervous. For instance, the double degree that I’m doing it.
He comes to the conclusion that his name Gogol may be gone forever, without the ties to his mother. “Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist”.
I think that the book will finally help Gogol to find his way in life and to salvage what is left. I like how this last section ends on a positive note, and its powerful ending makes me appreciate Gogol's tumultuous journey......So, Afterall, it was worth reading it, and it deserves the title of "The New York Times Bestsellers", and I would add I did enjoy it when I was read it.
