Check out my Interpreter of Maladies book summary and review  that I created to help you understand the basics of this great book. The Interpreter of Diseases (original title: Interpreter of Diseases) is a collection of short stories by Indian-American Jhumpa Lahiri1. In 2000 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Prize.

The nine short stories, some set in India and others on the East Coast of the United States, deal with topics such as arranged marriage, alienation, dislocation and loss of culture and provide insight into the experiences of immigrants. indians. as well as the life of the inhabitants of Calcutta.

 

Interpreter of Maladies book summary

The couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until a blackout meets and "suddenly can talk to each other again" on four dark nights.

 The story gives us little bits of their memories, in Shukumar's view, which slowly give us an idea of ​​what separates them. For a brief moment, the difference seems to have no reason other than disagreement.

 But descriptions of Shkumar and Shobha's changing looks begin to hint at something much more than a quarrel between the two lovers. We soon discover that the two characters' exhausted outward appearance is the result of the inner emotional conflict that has caused this profound alienation between them.

The husband and wife grieve for their dead child. This agonizing loss casts a mournful note on the rest of the story. But there is some hope that the couple will reconnect, as each night of darkness they confess more and more to each other - things they would never say as a man and a woman.

 A late-night drink with a friend, a picture cut from a magazine, or a moan on a jacket are all confessions she made during a power outage at night. Shukumar and Shoba converge as secrets merge into a knowledge that seems to cure the terrible loss they share together. On the fourth night,

 we had the greatest hope of reconnecting with them when they "make love so hopelessly that they forgot."

But just as a newborn never starts his life, the couple's efforts to revive their early marriage fail. At the end of a tentative topic, Shoba and then Shukumar confidently make one last confession, an admission that their marriage is over. Finally, they "cry over the things they know now."
When Mr. Pirzada came to dinner

Mr. Pirzada is a Professor of Botany from Dhaka who has been living in New England for a year after receiving a research grant from the Pakistani government. He leaves behind his wife and seven daughters whom he has not seen for months.

 Because the grant he received does not provide him with much daily expenses, he visits ten-year-old Lilia and her family frequently for dinner, and often brings sweets for the little girl. When Lilia mistakenly refers to Pirzada as "Indian" to her parents in private, her father tells her that he is Pakistani, which baffles Lilia because he looks like her parents,

 eats the same things, and speaks Bengali like them. But the constant television news of Bangladesh's war of independence informs her of Mr. Birzada's controversies as well as his current plight. So, one night, she decides to eat the candy he gives her, and she prays, and stops brushing her teeth so that the magic of the candy can still be kept through prayer.

 She also does her best to learn as much as possible about Pakistan from her school library. But her teacher suppresses her curiosity and says there is "no reason to consult" about a book on Pakistan, which reflects the American-centric nature of the US education system.

In late October, her mother bought a large pumpkin, and Lilia insists on carving it. Mr. Pirzada offers her to help and ends up doing most of the chopping. When news broke of a possible war between India and West Pakistan over East Pakistan,

 the knife slipped from Mr. Pirzada's hand and shaped the letter "o" to form the pumpkin's mouth. During Halloween, when Lilia and her friend Dora go trick-or-treating dressed as witches, Mr. Pirzada insists on accompanying them to ensure their safety;

"Don't worry," Lilia replies, and soon realizes the whole irony. “As long as the lady is adamant,” replies Mr. Pirzada, and stays with my parents all night.

During Lilia and Dora's tour of the neighborhood, Dora wonders why Mr. Pirzada wanted to accompany them so badly. "His daughters are missing," Lilia says, making her feel very guilty for saying so.

 Then Lilia tries to justify Dora that she was wrong in what she just said and that Mr. Pirzada's daughters are fine. That night, on returning home, she learned of the impending Pak-Indian war, and when it occurred in December, their house was empty of joy. After the New Year holidays,

 Pirzada returned to his new homeland, Bangladesh. Lilia and her family were soon relieved when he sent pictures of him and all of his daughters. Lilia reveals that she used to eat a piece of Halloween candy and pray for him every day, but when she received the good news, she stopped and eventually decided to get rid of the candy.