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Only Goodness: Family Snapshots
Each story in this series offers a poignant glimpse of family life � the ties we cling to; the ties we try to sever; and the ties that make us who we are. Told from a myriad of perspectives, from a dazzling array of some of the finest short story writers of our generation (including Jhumpa Lahiri, George Saunders, Jon McGregor and Elizabeth Gilbert), Family Snapshots gives us a fresh, empathetic and moving insight into the meaning of family. Only Goodness is taken from Jhumpa Lahiri's dazzling collection of stories, Unaccustomed Earth.
- GenresShort StoriesSchool
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 2013
8 people are currently reading
233 people want to read
About the author
Jhumpa Lahiri
106 books14.5k followersNilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri is a British-American author known for her short stories, novels, and essays in English and, more recently, in Italian.
Her debut collection of short-stories, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her first novel, The Namesake (2003), was adapted into the popular film of the same name. The Namesake was a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and was made into a major motion picture.
Unaccustomed Earth (2008) won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, while her second novel, The Lowland (2013) was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.
On January 22, 2015, Lahiri won the US$50,000 DSC Prize for Literature for The Lowland. In these works, Lahiri explored the Indian-immigrant experience in America.
In 2012, Lahiri moved to Rome, Italy and has since then published two books of essays, and began writing in Italian, first with the 2018 novel Dove mi trovo, then with her 2023 collection Roman Stories. She also compiled, edited, and translated the Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories which consists of 40 Italian short stories written by 40 different Italian writers. She has also translated some of her own writings and those of other authors from Italian into English.
In 2014, Lahiri was awarded the National Humanities Medal. She was a professor of creative writing at Princeton University from 2015 to 2022. In 2022, she became the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at her alma mater, Barnard College of Columbia University.
Her debut collection of short-stories, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her first novel, The Namesake (2003), was adapted into the popular film of the same name. The Namesake was a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and was made into a major motion picture.
Unaccustomed Earth (2008) won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, while her second novel, The Lowland (2013) was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.
On January 22, 2015, Lahiri won the US$50,000 DSC Prize for Literature for The Lowland. In these works, Lahiri explored the Indian-immigrant experience in America.
In 2012, Lahiri moved to Rome, Italy and has since then published two books of essays, and began writing in Italian, first with the 2018 novel Dove mi trovo, then with her 2023 collection Roman Stories. She also compiled, edited, and translated the Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories which consists of 40 Italian short stories written by 40 different Italian writers. She has also translated some of her own writings and those of other authors from Italian into English.
In 2014, Lahiri was awarded the National Humanities Medal. She was a professor of creative writing at Princeton University from 2015 to 2022. In 2022, she became the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at her alma mater, Barnard College of Columbia University.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 15, 2025
# short stories in the shortest month #13
Apenas Bondade, de Jhumpa Lahiri
3,5*
Jhumpa Lahiri fez exactamente o mesmo percurso que a protagonista deste conto: filha da diáspora indiana, nasceu em Inglaterra e, ainda pequena, foi viver com a família para os Estados Unidos. Os pais dos irmãos Sudha e Rahul são o estereótipo conhecido dos imigrantes oriundos da Índia, aqueles que esperam que os filhos tenham óptimas notas e ingressem no ensino superior, não aceitando menos que a excelência para a sua prole. Quando Rahul parte para a universidade mas se afunda no álcool, só a irmã mais velha consegue enfrentar a realidade, mas até ela acaba por ter um momento de fraqueza que lhe poderá custar caro.
Os pais sempre tinham sido cegos às coisas que os afligiam enquanto crianças: o facto de serem gozados na escola por causa da cor da sua pele ou pelas comidas estranhas que a mãe ocasionalmente colocava nas lancheiras, como as sandes de batata e caril que tingiam o pão de verde. O que poderia acontecer na vida dos filhos para que estes fossem infelizes? Devia ser esta questão que os pais se colocavam. “Depressão” era uma noção estranha para eles, coisa de americanos.
Apenas Bondade, de Jhumpa Lahiri
3,5*
Jhumpa Lahiri fez exactamente o mesmo percurso que a protagonista deste conto: filha da diáspora indiana, nasceu em Inglaterra e, ainda pequena, foi viver com a família para os Estados Unidos. Os pais dos irmãos Sudha e Rahul são o estereótipo conhecido dos imigrantes oriundos da Índia, aqueles que esperam que os filhos tenham óptimas notas e ingressem no ensino superior, não aceitando menos que a excelência para a sua prole. Quando Rahul parte para a universidade mas se afunda no álcool, só a irmã mais velha consegue enfrentar a realidade, mas até ela acaba por ter um momento de fraqueza que lhe poderá custar caro.
Os pais sempre tinham sido cegos às coisas que os afligiam enquanto crianças: o facto de serem gozados na escola por causa da cor da sua pele ou pelas comidas estranhas que a mãe ocasionalmente colocava nas lancheiras, como as sandes de batata e caril que tingiam o pão de verde. O que poderia acontecer na vida dos filhos para que estes fossem infelizes? Devia ser esta questão que os pais se colocavam. “Depressão” era uma noção estranha para eles, coisa de americanos.
June 30, 2020
Beautiful
November 1, 2024
read this for AP lit summer homework.. really good but so depressing. interesting insights about human behaviour and relationships, especially familial and marital ones.
edit: read this a second time!! so so good!!! even though the ending isn’t a traditionally happy one, i think sudha still does reach some sort of moral reconciliation because she realised she can’t help rahul because he doesn’t want to be helped.
edit: read this a second time!! so so good!!! even though the ending isn’t a traditionally happy one, i think sudha still does reach some sort of moral reconciliation because she realised she can’t help rahul because he doesn’t want to be helped.
December 9, 2020
Showing not telling
I loved the way this book is playing with a perfect ballance between showing and telling. It was introduced by my uni tutor and I loved it.
I loved the way this book is playing with a perfect ballance between showing and telling. It was introduced by my uni tutor and I loved it.
July 31, 2021
“Pensava al marito che non si fidava più di lei, al figlio il cui pianto proprio in quel momento la interruppe, alla famiglia che quel mattino aveva rotto il guscio come un pulcino, tipica e terribile quanto qualsiasi altra.”...
...
Si conclude così il racconto della Lahiri, e così mi ha riportato a una considerazione di Valeria, la protagonista di “Quaderno proibito”, della De Cèspades, e che dice “A un certo punto non si capisce più dov’è la bontà e dov’è la spietatezza, nella vita di una famiglia.”.
È vero che ogni famiglia vive a suo modo di affetto e accudimento ma anche di sentimenti oscuri. La spietatezza di cui parla Valeria si riferisce alla dissimulazione di emozioni e desideri che, in una certa misura, sono fisiologici, aiutano il gioco del bilanciamento della convivenza. È quando si va oltre la misura della finzione, come accade in questo racconto, che gli equilibri si spezzano e, paradossalmente, ci si libera del fardello della finzione e la famiglia esce dal guscio e inizia a vivere per davvero.
C’entra davvero molto poco il discorso dell’integrazione a cui si accenna nella quarta di copertina. Se l’autrice ha pensato di approfondire il tema nel testo, io non me ne sono proprio accorta (ma sono propensa a credere che si tratti di una “svista” editoriale).
È un dramma familiare costruito su personaggi molto poco definiti, secondo me, senza guizzi né pathos. È il mio primo approccio a questa autrice e mi aspetto di poterla riscoprire in futuro, perché questo testo è dimenticabile…è già dimenticato…
...
Si conclude così il racconto della Lahiri, e così mi ha riportato a una considerazione di Valeria, la protagonista di “Quaderno proibito”, della De Cèspades, e che dice “A un certo punto non si capisce più dov’è la bontà e dov’è la spietatezza, nella vita di una famiglia.”.
È vero che ogni famiglia vive a suo modo di affetto e accudimento ma anche di sentimenti oscuri. La spietatezza di cui parla Valeria si riferisce alla dissimulazione di emozioni e desideri che, in una certa misura, sono fisiologici, aiutano il gioco del bilanciamento della convivenza. È quando si va oltre la misura della finzione, come accade in questo racconto, che gli equilibri si spezzano e, paradossalmente, ci si libera del fardello della finzione e la famiglia esce dal guscio e inizia a vivere per davvero.
C’entra davvero molto poco il discorso dell’integrazione a cui si accenna nella quarta di copertina. Se l’autrice ha pensato di approfondire il tema nel testo, io non me ne sono proprio accorta (ma sono propensa a credere che si tratti di una “svista” editoriale).
È un dramma familiare costruito su personaggi molto poco definiti, secondo me, senza guizzi né pathos. È il mio primo approccio a questa autrice e mi aspetto di poterla riscoprire in futuro, perché questo testo è dimenticabile…è già dimenticato…
November 6, 2024
so beautifully written, but left me feeling so unbearably cold. a real look at what happens when families don't have honest communication.
i really liked how the author captures the protagonist's relationship with her brother. in his early childhood, she almost cares more for him than herself, that selflessnes reads as so raw. yet, it wasn't true selflessness, as she was vicariously living through him... the author crafts the complexity of their relationship very well.
i really liked how the author captures the protagonist's relationship with her brother. in his early childhood, she almost cares more for him than herself, that selflessnes reads as so raw. yet, it wasn't true selflessness, as she was vicariously living through him... the author crafts the complexity of their relationship very well.
October 14, 2025
as an asian who grew up in asian family, this story speak to me in so many levels. the tiger parenting style, the ever responsible eldest daughter, the irresponsible second manchild. its a very depressing story since apparently nobody in this family are thinking about communication, not even talking genuinely and everybody are walking around on eggshell.
August 2, 2019
Forse sono un po' troppo esigente, ma di racconti ne ho letto. Questo è diluito ed inconcludente. L'anti Carver, per capirci.
December 15, 2020
A lovely story that explores family relationships.
Read
November 30, 2021I only read the title piece but man was THAT a rollercoaster
July 25, 2024
Molto scorrevole. Storia semplice e ben raccontata.
November 5, 2024
I wanted a happier ending, but this story rang bittersweet. For all that, it was engaging and well-written.
Read for a literature class in college.
Read for a literature class in college.
December 8, 2025
"solo bontà"? more like "solo dolore"
July 23, 2015
Quick Glimpse in Lahiri’s world and prose
Lahiri is one of my favourite authors and having read nearly all of her books, I of course wanted to read this one. This short story is a quick glimpse of her emotional prose, of her world of Bengali immigrants in USA. She invariably manages to endear me to her characters who struggle to adjust to their hybrid existence. This story is more superficial than her novels where she deepens and widens her detailed observations of human emotions. I recommend reading her longer books.
Lahiri is one of my favourite authors and having read nearly all of her books, I of course wanted to read this one. This short story is a quick glimpse of her emotional prose, of her world of Bengali immigrants in USA. She invariably manages to endear me to her characters who struggle to adjust to their hybrid existence. This story is more superficial than her novels where she deepens and widens her detailed observations of human emotions. I recommend reading her longer books.
October 3, 2024
oof!
The plot really reached to me in a way that many books have not. potentially because I am a new mother and I could relate so well with the main character, but also I have this fear of trusting people.
It was a great little read.
The plot really reached to me in a way that many books have not. potentially because I am a new mother and I could relate so well with the main character, but also I have this fear of trusting people.
It was a great little read.
June 7, 2012
niente di che
L'assenza di sentimenti tra i genitori turba. interessante il tema.
scorre velocemente senza colpi di scena particolari
L'assenza di sentimenti tra i genitori turba. interessante il tema.
scorre velocemente senza colpi di scena particolari
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews