Book: An Imagined Life
Author: Rohan Srinivasan
Reviewer’s Instagram: onechapteraday.ph
Photo Credit: onechapteraday.ph
Original Book Review
Has anyone ever asked you what your fondest childhood memory is—or what is the earliest and most vivid memory you can recall? Whenever this question comes up, I can barely remember the details, but I am most certain about how I felt during that fond moment in my life. And true to this realization, this book reaffirmed how memories live through us as we grow older—through the emotions they invoked in us.
An Imagined Life is a coming-of-age and family saga that follows the story of Indian migrant families in America, and how this history shapes the life of our narrator, Akash. Personally, the close family knit resonates deeply with me because we share the same culture in the Philippines. It’s pretty common to meet friends who live together with three generations under one roof—and this is how we preserve values, culture, and tradition: from homecooked meals to beliefs and festivities.
What struck me the most—and what I truly appreciated or loved in this novel (mind you, it’s a thicc book)—was that while it’s long, it’s not unnecessarily wordy. My honest feeling while reading was that the author poured into it the emotional depth of Akash as he navigated a wide spectrum of feelings: from extreme admiration towards a parent to deep hatred that he was capable of his age, from the bliss of a childhood surrounded by four parental figures, to desolation and isolation brought by massive guilt.
