Jhumpa Lahiri, who became a major icon at NRI is getting rave reviews for her new book, The NameSake. Here is what the New York Times had to say about the book.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s quietly dazzling new novel, “The Namesake,” is that rare thing: an intimate, closely observed family portrait that effortlessly and discreetly unfolds to disclose a capacious social vision.

San Francisco Chronicle, however has a rather confused review though in the end they come through liking the book.

As for Lahiri’s immigration from the subcontinent of short fiction to the novel’s hectic mainland, her crossing could scarcely be smoother. Second books often suffer during this passage, creaking under the strain of leaving both brevity and autobiography behind.

But the best review comes from Oregonion, which has managed to capture the nuances of the book in a 1000-odd words.

This is a novel of observation and attentiveness to detail, not a sprawling, multigenerational saga. Instead of a linear plot, it is a series of precisely focused snapshots.