When reading literature and watching movies that are based on the literature, I realize that they are two different mediums. When literature is made into film, considerations have to be made in the sense that reading a novel will keep someone entertained for quite a long period of time, but the film is only allotted around two hours to keep viewers occupied. The book and the film are basically dealing with the same topic of displacement and the formation of identity. For the most part, I noticed that the film is true to the storyline. Both the author of the novel, Jhumpa Lahiri , and the director of the film, Mira Nair, demonstrate the struggles that Gogol has with his name. Gogol does not understand the meaning behind it and doesn’t think…show more content… One of the first things I noticed while watching the film, it begins with how Ashoke and Ashima met, moved to the US, and then started a family. The movie opens up with Ashoke Ganguli's train accident and then it moves to his arranged marriage to Ashima and their new residency in the United States. But the book opens with the birth of Gogol and flash back take place describe Ashoke's train accident and marriage. The movie keeps the audience in the dark about how Ashoke was rescued from the train wreckage until Gogol learns about it too. Another difference between the book and the film is the Montgomery’s. The film left out Ashoke and Ashima’s first neighbors in the U.S. whom from time to time they shared their washing machine with. Gogol’s growth in the novel was slow paced, whereas in the film some of his incidents had to be left out. In the film, Gogol’s relationships with Kim and Ruth are not part of his growing up stage. Other differences are Gogol’s meeting with Maxine’s parents being left out of the film. In the novel he meets her parents and realizes how normal they are compared to his own. The timeline is different when Ashoke tells the story of the train accident. In the book he tells Gogol before he even meets Maxine, but in the film Ashoke tells the story when Maxine visits to the Ganguli’s home. Moushumi's relationship and break-up with Graham is briefly mentioned in the film, but in the book there were a lot more details behind it producing more sympathy for
