Episode 014: The Namesake
Download MP3Thank you for joining us for our discussion of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli are simultaneously navigating a new relationship, a new marriage, a new life, and a new country and merge their traditions with the American ones in which they raise their children. Their son Gogol, named after the Russian writer, knows only that he feels the burden of expectation as well as his odd name. He stumbles along the first-generation path, with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. Exploring identity, the claims of family, and the defining power of the name bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves.
In This Episode We Mention
Teach Yourself Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri
Short stories – Just Lather, That’s All by Hernando Téllez; Skin and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl; The Screaming Woman by Ray Bradbury, Araby by James Joyce, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
Headhunter by Timothy Findley
But I Don’t Wanna Grow Up! Live podcast on Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30 pm. at the Good Will Social Club.
Can You Tell Me A Book You Would Also Like?
Trevor: Stoner by John Williams
Erica: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Kirsten: What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
Nerd Word for Word Nerds
Alan: Swiftie
Erica: Eyre (legal term) and The Eyre Legend
Kirsten: Kirsten (Baby Name Wizard and Urban Dictionary)
Trevor: Typecasting featuring Yul Brynner
Hey!! Our little podcast is one year old! To celebrate, we’ll be doing a live podcast on Tuesday, March 26th, at the Good Will Social Club, talking about the kids’ books that made us love reading. We hope to hear your favorites and to see you there.
As always – we want to talk about what you want to talk about. Get in touch on social media or email us at wpl-podcast@winnipeg.ca.
Time to Read is a production of the Winnipeg Public Library. Your hosts today were Kirsten Wurmann, Trevor Lockhart, Alan Chorney, and Erica Ball. Our webmaster is Arryn Seburn. Our social media guru is Reegan Breu. Audio production and music by Dennis Penner.
Creators and Guests
Host
Dennis Penner
Dennis works in the ideaMILL and while he prefers mysteries and non-fiction, he’s open to reading almost anything. He’s also the editor/producer, so he can edit the show to make himself sound smarter than he really is.
Host
Trevor Lockhart
Trevor is the Branch Head of the Louis Riel library. He tends to be a slow reader but a fast talker, so it all evens out.
