Interpreter of Maladies: Sexy

Here's our discussion thread for the fifth story in Interpreter of Maladies. What did you think of it? How does Miranda compare to other women in Lahiri's stories? How does her acquaintance with Laxmi impact her relationship with Dev?

If you'd like to discuss themes across multiple stories, please feel free to create a new topic (see the "Post a new topic" link on the left-hand side of this page). For folks who've finished reading the whole book ahead of schedule, here's a thread where you can discuss the whole thing: https://www.librarything.com/topic/250720.

I'm on the fence about this one. It wasn't one of my top favorites of the lot. Partly because I'm not a fan of mistress stories in general, I think. I look forward to reading what others think of this one.

I'll cut to the chase on this one....
It definitely made me uncomfortable for the child, Rohin to be making observations about what is sexy
but I suppose it's his observations that cause Miranda to realise that Dev is a predatory male and not as exotically interesting as she first supposed.

>2 jennybhatt: Yeah, I'm with you. It was an uncomfortable read for me throughout. It just ramped up that factor during the time she spends with Rohin.

I really liked this story. It seemed a perfect example of how a womanizer is able to hide his actions to most, and also how a "third" or "unexpected" person's observances (and in this case a jumble of overheard comments that Rohin was too young to understand) end in their telling more than they realize to an adult. And yet, as here, the adult can become wiser in her thinking and actions.

I really liked this plot. Miranda slowly took in the different ways to frame her relationship with Dev, with the encounter with a more affected member of the cheated-on family being the last straw.