tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6906227.post9119532138088069713..comments2023-09-04T04:36:04.506-05:00Comments on Blog Blog Woof Woof: A story about "The Namesake (movie tie-in edition)"bmitd67http://www.blogger.com/profile/17733514127804471754noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6906227.post-58183156020083384102007-04-04T09:03:00.000-05:002007-04-04T09:03:00.000-05:00Marjorie, I think that is a load of crap, in this ...Marjorie, I think that is a load of crap, in this particular case. <BR/><BR/>Why is "The Story of My Cultural Experience" an agenda? People write what they know. People write what they want others to know. <BR/><BR/><BR/>I see nothing resembling "self-defeating cultural fetishization". The issues she explores are valid and explored well. As a black man who grew up in a predominantly white environment I can't tell you how much I hated being identified as Black...I knew I was Black so why did everybody (blacks and whites) keep pointing it out. I never hated my parents or "their ways" but I have at least one relative who does. There is guilt and embarrassment that comes with being the first or only in what seem to be normal situations...and I won't even go into the stress and confusion that is part of interracial dating. I won't say my experiences are the same for everyone but mine have been quite similar to those of Gogul.<BR/><BR/>I have enjoyed reading this book.<BR/><BR/>I have no quibbles with her as a writer, I am not comparing her to any other minority/immigrant writers, and I am sure as hell not anaylizing this for Ph.D.bmitd67https://www.blogger.com/profile/17733514127804471754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6906227.post-76397542872188292692007-04-04T07:59:00.000-05:002007-04-04T07:59:00.000-05:00One of my colleagues here in DC is writing her PhD...One of my colleagues here in DC is writing her PhD dissertation on Lahiri and other southeast Asian-American writers. We've had quite a few head-nodding discussions wherein we talk about how much we hate Lahiri. She got to see the movie-- said it was far better than the book but still problematic. I've refused to read Namesake because I hated Interpreter of Maladies so much... and Nadeea says Namesake a lot worse in terms of doing that thing where minority writers are more invested in writing The Story of My Cultural Experience, rather than writing a peice with more artistic integrity and less of an agenda. Her style of writing just does this totally self-defeating cultural fetishization thing that I find both really disheartening and lacking self-awareness on the part of the writer.<BR/><BR/>I'll see the movie, doubtlessly, but Nadeea says it's only better because it only minimally deals with the trite (a la Amy Tan, another novelist not worth her hype-- she's like Maxine Hong Kingston on a diet of rice cakes and sweet-n-low) 2nd generation plotline. <BR/><BR/>For juicier fair, I'd reccommend Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things (probably my favorite book ever) or pretty much anything Zadie Smith is up to.<BR/><BR/>Ugh-- Marjorie's lit crit monster appears to have raised its ugly head...Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312642466438795073noreply@blogger.com