Is A Temporary Matter A Novel Or Short Story?

2025-11-26 12:09:09 124

5 Answers

Owen
Owen
2025-11-28 10:47:45
If you haven’t read this gem yet, drop everything. It’s a short story that’ll take you thirty minutes to read and thirty days to recover from. The way Lahiri uses those nightly blackouts as a metaphor for emotional disconnection? Chef’s kiss. Not a single word is wasted. That last line about the lights coming back on—oof. Still gives me chills.
Bryce
Bryce
2025-11-29 02:34:02
Funny how such a brief story can haunt you for years. I first read 'A Temporary Matter' in college, and it still pops into my head whenever I hear about marital issues. The genius is in what Lahiri doesn’t say—the silences between the characters scream louder than their confessions. It’s definitely a short story, but it has the emotional weight of a Russian novel. That final revelation about the baby clothes? Pure emotional gut-punch. Makes you realize how grief can turn homes into haunted houses.
Jude
Jude
2025-11-29 05:53:48
I can confirm 'A Temporary Matter' is a masterclass in compact storytelling. It’s part of Lahiri’s debut collection, and honestly? It ruined me for other short stories for weeks. The way she builds tension through those nightly confessions during blackouts—it feels like watching a slow-motion car crash. I love how the title works on multiple levels too; the outages are temporary, but so is the fragile honesty between Shoba and Shukumar. Makes you wonder how many ‘temporary’ moments actually define entire relationships.
Elijah
Elijah
2025-11-30 04:19:10
Lahiri’s story wrecked me in the best way possible. It’s short but merciless—like a scalpel slicing straight to the heart of how couples hide from each other. The rationed intimacy during those power cuts, the way secrets surface in darkness… God, it’s brutal. Not a novel, just a perfectly distilled tragedy. Makes my chest ache even thinking about it.
Flynn
Flynn
2025-12-02 14:33:50
I stumbled upon 'A Temporary Matter' while digging through Jhumpa Lahiri's works, and it completely caught me off guard with its emotional depth. It's actually a short story from her collection 'Interpreter of Maladies,' which won the Pulitzer Prize. The way Lahiri captures the quiet disintegration of a marriage through something as mundane as a power outage is just... wow. I remember reading it in one sitting, then immediately flipping back to reread certain passages because the imagery lingered so vividly.

What struck me hardest was how she uses darkness—both literal and metaphorical—to explore communication gaps between the couple. It’s not a novel, but it packs more punch in 20 pages than some full-length books I’ve read. The ending left me staring at the wall for a good ten minutes, wrestling with all the unsaid things between people.
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