Edwardsville Public Library discussion

Reading and Discussion Schedule for Interpreter of Maladies:

Week One (Oct 7 - Oct 13) "A Temporary Matter" and "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine"

Week Two (Oct 14 - Oct 20) "Interpreter of Maladies" and "A Real Durwan"

Week Three (Oct 21 - Oct 27) "Sexy," "Mrs. Sen's" and "This Blessed House"

Week Four (Oct 28 - Nov 3) "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" and "The Third and Final Continent"

This discussion will be moderated by Judy T.

I thought it would be interesting to read a collection of short stories for our second selection. As we move through the book I'm hoping we can talk about some of the themes that appear in several stories, but, for now, I'm wondering what you thought about "A Temporary Matter" and "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine." I'll start this off by saying I thought "A Temporary Matter" was a really sad story. Although the story states "Part of the unwinding was that Shukumar seemed to remember their relationship as perfect before the loss of the baby" I wonder if that was true. Would their marriage have survivied if the baby had lived or were there serious problems in their marriage before that happened? The other question I've thought about is whether it was cruel and vindictive of Shukumar to tell Shoba he had held their baby or if it was really a healthy and therapeutic admission on his part?

I thought the author did a really good job of setting up an interesting dynamic in "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine." Lilia's father is concerned she is becoming very Americanized; she is unfamiliar with current events in India\ and he is concerned about her American education. Mr. Pirzada is mystified by Lilia's enjoyment of Halloween. Yet the relationship between Lilia's parents and Mr. Pirzada can exist only because they are in America. Do you think the idea of assimilation was handled effectively in this story?

In "Temporary Matter", I didn't get a really good sense of how solid Shukumar's marriage was before the loss of the baby. My impression was that it was a happy marriage and that when the baby died, everything fell apart. I'm not sure what to think about his admission to his wife that he held their baby son. It seemed like something he needed to say, but he also knew it would hurt his wife.

In the second story I loved the description of how Lilia held onto the candy that Mr. Pirzada gave her and would eat one piece before brushing her teeth at night. To that ritual was latter added her hoping that Mr. Pirzada's family was OK. I was also amused by Lilia's parents opening up the university directory to look for Indian last names and then inviting those people to dinner.

I felt that there were aspects of the characters in "When Mr. Prizada Came to Dinner" that were appealing and even somewhat humorous, too. That caused me to think about whether any of the characters in our next two stories are sympathetic or appealing. Did you like either Mr. or Mrs. Das or Mr. Kapasi in "Interpreter of Maladies?" How did you feel about Boori Ma in "A Real Durwan?" Were you sympathetic towards any of these characters?

Food and cooking are recurrent themes in the stories in this book. What do you think the fish Mrs. Sen purchases regularly represents and says about Mrs. Sen? What do you think the meal Twinkle prepares for Sanjeev using the vinegar she found says about their relationship?

In "Interpreter of Maladies" I liked the character of Mr. Kapasi and did not like Mr. and Mrs. Das. Perhaps I liked Mr. Kapasi because the story was written from his point of view so his character is more developed. Oddly, I didn't feel much sympathy for Boori Ma in "A Real Durwan".

I think the fish Mrs. Sen purchases is her tie to her home. She is not happy being away and holds onto the fish so that Mr. Sen remembers what she has given up.

I am wondering if you have a favorite story in this collection? What about it do you especially like? I'll volunteer that my favorite story is the last one, "The Third and Final Continent." I like the characters very much. The narrator and Mala both seem to be kind and caring people, and they exhibit a positive attitude about assimilating in the United States and about their relationship. I thought this was a more upbeat and positive story than many of the others. What's your favorite story?