The Namesake

　　果戈里是印裔美籍移民的第二代。在一次火車出軌意外中，他父親因為手中翻動的果戈里小說書頁而得救，決定以此俄國小說家之名為兒子命名；名字困擾果戈里將近大半生，直到他下定決心改名。

　　他在火車上邂逅了第一個女友，之後也長久交往了一個活潑大方的對象，但他的印裔身分，卻讓他們的相處卻像是行進在不同軌道上，背道而馳。最後他娶了跟他同是印裔的第二代移民女孩，本以為相同的文化背景，會使得一切的反叛與不安暫歇，卻又在火車上乍然聽聞妻子的秘密……搖搖晃晃的火車，牽繫著他掙扎的人生，一路行進。

作者簡介
　　鍾芭．拉希莉(Jhumpa Lahiri)　
　生於倫敦，成長於美國羅德島的印裔作家。英國文學學士、波士頓大學英國文學碩士、比較文學及藝術碩士、創意寫作碩士、文藝復興博士，她於波士頓大學教授創作，並於羅德島的學校教授設計。
　　1997年獲路意斯維(The Louisville Review)小說獎，1997-1998擔任藝術中心教授。2000年以短篇小說《醫生的翻譯員》(Interpreter of Maladies)獲普立茲文學獎、最佳美國短篇小說獎、歐亨利文學獎、海明威小說獎、紐約客小說新人獎等大獎。

The ”Namesake” is the story of a boy brought up Indian in America, from ’the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person and say ”Read this!”’ (Amy Tan) ’When her grandmother learned of Ashima’s pregnancy, she was particularly thrilled at the prospect of naming the family’s first sahib. And so Ashima and Ashoke have agreed to put off the decision of what to name the baby until a letter comes!’ For now, the label on his hospital cot reads simply Baby Boy Ganguli. But as time passes and still no letter arrives from India, American bureaucracy takes over and demands that ’baby boy Ganguli’ be given a name. In a panic, his father decides to nickname him ’Gogol’ - after his favourite writer. Brought up as an Indian in suburban America, Gogol Ganguli soon finds himself itching to cast off his awkward name, just as he longs to leave behind the inherited values of his Bengali parents. And so, he sets off on his own path through life, a path strewn with conflicting loyalties, love and loss! Spanning three decades and crossing continents, Jhumpa Lahiri’s much-anticipated first novel is a triumph of humane story-telling. Elegant, subtle and moving, ”The Namesake” is for everyone who loved the clarity, sympathy and grace of Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning debut story collection, ”Interpreter of Maladies”.