Two Tales of Identity Crises

I just wanted to write about 2 books I have read in the recent past, both similar in that they explore the protagonists quest for identity, and yet both quite different in their settings and style. BUT BOTH VERY GOOD!

The 1st one, "The Impressionist" by Hari Kunzru - a mixed-race boy called Pran who can pass off as Indian or British and makes a journey through the Indian subcontinent, England and Africa.

In essence, it's a gripping story, vaguely reminiscent of Kipling’s ‘Kim’, the tale of a boy, half English and half Indian, and his adventures. The boy, originally named Pran, is brutally evicted from his childhood home and traipses through an assortment of situations before ending up in Oxford and finally into deepest Africa. There are also a whole bunch of other characters, the supporting cast if you will, who are vibrant and alive. And each of them is a part of yet another twist and turn in Pran’s life.
But the turmoil of Pran's identity runs deeper than just change of locale or supporting cast. Depending on his clothes, behavior and the expectations of those who meet him, he can appear either Indian or white. Pran's survival depends on maintaining this split personality; he is whoever the occasion requires him to be.

All this backed by a fairly decent momentum and some good story telling.

The 2nd one, "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri – is about a second-generation Indian-American (‘Desi’) immigrant who is completely drawn by and yet confused by his heritage and destiny.
Although the story begins with 2 members of the Ganguli family, Ashima and Ashoke, and their struggles in their new life in the States, it is really about their son Gogol Ganguli and his own struggles with his name and his identity. Gogol is all the typical Desi kid, he goes to Yale, changes his name and tries to recreate himself into something his parents never were – ‘hanging out’ with friends, going to parties, meeting and dating girls, but he is never able to shake off his old identity.
It almost feels like the author is tracking this guy’s life, but never intrusive enough to be annoying. Gogol’s life too takes some interesting turns as he slowly finds himself drawn to precisely the things he resisted all his life – his Indianness. And only in the end does he come to understand his parents' sense of identity - the world they left behind and the new world they created.

4 on 5!