The Literature Book

MY NAME IS RED

(1998), ORHAN PAMUK

An intellectual murder mystery

centered around 16th-century

miniaturists, My Name is Red won

international acclaim for its author,

Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan

Pamuk (1952–). The book exhibits

a postmodern consciousness of its

own artistry: characters know they

are fictional, and the reader is

frequently referenced. The narration

switches viewpoint, often between

unexpected narrators—there are

passages narrated by a coin and

the color red. The novel’s themes

include artistic devotion, love, and

tensions between East and West.

INTERPRETER OF

MALADIES

(1999), JHUMPA LAHIRI

Jhumpa Lahiri’s first work of fiction,

Interpreter of Maladies was initially

rejected by several publishers, but

went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. A

collection of eight short stories, the

unifying theme is the experience of

first- and second-generation Indian

immigrants in America. Among

the other subjects explored are loss,

disappointed expectations, the

disconnection between different

generations of immigrants, and the

struggle to find a place in the West

for the traditional culture of India,

where two of the stories are set. In

many of them, food plays a major

role as a focus of human interaction.

AUSTERLITZ

(2001), W. G. SEBALD

Often writing in an intentionally

elaborate form of his native tongue,

German author Sebald (1944–2001)

lived in England for the latter part

of his life. Austerlitz is typical of his

work in its melancholy reflections

on loss, memory, and dissolution,

through memoir, history, and

observation. The book’s title is the

name of the central character, who

was sent to England and placed

with foster parents. Later, after

discovering his Czech identity and

becoming an architectural historian,

he explores his troubled past.

LIFE OF PI

(2001), YANN MARTEL

In his acclaimed novel Life of Pi,

Canadian author Martel (1963–)

follows the voyage of a teenage

Indian boy, the son of a zookeeper,

who for 227 days drifts on a lifeboat

in the Pacific Ocean following

a shipwreck, with only a Bengal

tiger named Richard Parker as

his companion. The boy, en route

to Canada, develops wisdom

through adversity. His experiences

(including delirium, blindness,

meerkats, and carnivorous algae)

provide the occasion for urgent and

thought-provoking reflections on

spirituality, religions, and zoology.

THE KITE RUNNER

(2003), KHALED HOSSEINI

Portraying themes of betrayal, guilt,

sin, atonement, and friendship, The

Kite Runner begins in Afghanistan

in 1975. A 12-year-old boy plans to

win a kite-flying competition with

the help of his best friend, but an

act of violence mars the day of the

contest. Exiled in California after

the Soviet invasion of 1979, he

eventually returns to a land under

Taliban rule. Khaled Hosseini

(1965–) was inspired to write this

partly autobiographical novel after

reading that kite flying had been

banned in his homeland.

338 FURTHER READING

Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri’s father

emigrated to the UK from

India, and Jhumpa was born

in London in 1967. Her family

moved to the US—the country

that she considers her home—

when she was two years old.

After her school years she

attended Boston University,

where she earned multiple

degrees, and went on to

teach creative writing there.

Renowned for her restrained,

poignant prose, Lahiri has

achieved acclaim with both

her short stories and novels,

writing on themes informed

by her experience as a second-

generation Indian American.

Key works

1999 Interpreter of Maladies

(see right)

2003 The Namesake

2008 Unaccustomed Earth

2013 The Lowland

No one can explain exactly

what happens within us

when the doors behind

which our childhood terrors

lurk are flung open.

Austerlitz

W. G. Sebald

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