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A Suitable Boy

by Vikram Seth

4.06 · rating details · 7,119 ratings · 689 reviews

Vikram Seth's novel is, at its core, a love story: Lata and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, are both trying to find -- through love or through exacting maternal appraisal -- a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Set in the early 1950s, in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, A Suitable Boy takes us into the richly imagined world of four large exten

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Paperback, 1474 pages

Published October 4th 2005 by Harper Perennial (first published 1993)

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Oct 24, 2011

Simika rated it

Recommends it for: everyone!

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *Spoiler alert*

I finally finished reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. For some reason, I used to avoid picking it up and kept putting it off. I suppose it was mainly the size (it’s one thick book - approximately 1500 pages!) but I also think it had to do with this misconception I had that it would be a tough read, that Seth’s writing would be pompous and saturated with flowery descriptions of rivers winding through the green and yellow village of GraamNagar. Imagine my surprise wh...more*Spoiler alert*

I finally finished reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. For some reason, I used to avoid picking it up and kept putting it off. I suppose it was mainly the size (it’s one thick book - approximately 1500 pages!) but I also think it had to do with this misconception I had that it would be a tough read, that Seth’s writing would be pompous and saturated with flowery descriptions of rivers winding through the green and yellow village of GraamNagar. Imagine my surprise when I find that the language is smooth, his tone light and his narrative interesting. The fact that Seth managed to keep the threads of the numerous plots and subplots clear in his head is an accomplishment in itself, but even more impressive is how each characters of his story is real; they are people we recognize, with mannerisms we’ve noticed in ourselves and others, and dialogues we’ve heard, thought or spoken.

The title might suggest that it’s the story of finding the perfect marriage candidate for the central character but that would be belittling the grand work that is A Suitable Boy. It is the story of the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Khans, the Chatterjis and a myriad of other characters, such as Saeeda Bai and Kakoli, many of whom are fleshed out substantially, even when their appearance is minimal. The beauty of the story arises from their interactions with each other, their thoughts and their ups and downs. Little details that create vivid images of a decaying courtesan’s world, a cosmopolitan Calcutta, the shoemakers’ rank (as in rancid) neighbourhoods and so on. The story covers about a year of the characters’ lives, detailing the day to day mundanity. Little decisions — a smile here, a letter there, a glass of nimbu pani (lemon-water) every now and then - are what makes the story. Yet these little decisions, these microsteps that are taken, culminate in huge changes that are noticed only in hindsight.

I’m probably not giving away any surprises when I say that I was thoroughly pissed off at Lata Mehra’s decision to marry Haresh Khanna. I shouldn’t have been surprised because Lata does say in the first few pages, ” I always obey my mother” and so the ending wasn’t so much a surprise as it was a disappointment. I did understand why she did it, but I couldn’t help my acute disappointment in her all the same. I was genuinely frustrated at her pigheadedness, her thought process that led her to this decision. I was angry because I am afraid that her reasoning resonated with the coward in everyone, especially south asian girls who have had to, or will have to, at least discuss the concept of arranged marriage at some point in their lives.

Ironically, her mother later suffered a number of qualms herself about whether Haresh would be the right boy for her daughter. Had Lata decided against the marriage, Mrs. Mehra would have been perfectly amenable, especially since Lata’s yuppie brother Arun did not condone the marriage either. So why did Lata decide to snub both Kabir, the Muslim she fell in love with, or Amit, the Bengali poet she could fall in love with easily? Her reasoning in the last few pages was scary because it reminded me of how we would rather our lives be a smooth ride of mediocrity than a roller coaster of brilliance that plummets from time to time. We choose to be mediocre-ly happy - the utilitarian idea that the “aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number” (http://www.m-w.com).

She says, “I’m not myself when I’m with him [Kabir]. I ask myself, who is this - this jealous, obsessed woman….I don’t want to [passionately love him], I don’t know want to. If that’s what passion means, I dont’ want it.”

Once Lata makes her decision, we know that she will lead her life contently enough. It upset me because I saw Lata in a number of people I know in real life, including myself. Mind you, I am not advocating against arranged marriage as a whole because I know they can work. Lata’s sister Savita, who marries Pran after meeting him only once in front of her elders, does genuinely fall in love with him and go on to lead a happy life. So it’s not that arranged marriages are wrong. I just felt that Lata was wrong in her decision to marry Haresh. Even if he was considered fair and good looking, confident and ambitious. Ironically, from Haresh’s side, it’s not exactly a traditional arranged marriage. He arranges his nuptials himself because he doesn’t like the parents getting involved in this matter; his parents already know that he will run away (metaphorically speaking) if they try to set him up. So to Haresh, this is a decision he’s making by himself for his own benefit. Haresh had already been in love with someone else before, had neatly folded away his Devdas romanticism for that girl and was ready now to live a contented life with someone else (it just happened to be Lata). He is oh so bloody honest about his feelings for this girl, and that he knows it won’t ever happen and so must move on… Lata wanted his practicality, his forceful ability to get things done, his willingness to help out her family members. What angered me was the underlying assumption that Kabir/Amit couldn’t be all those things, that they would be selfish beings simply because they would also love her, and she would have to him (either him) back.

My favourite characters in the book are Amit Chatterji and Pran Kapoor. I know Vikram Seth denies fashioning Amit after him, but to be honest, for some reason while I was reading about Amit’s tendencies for the necessary inactivity that comes with being a writer, I thought of Seth. What I liked about Amit was that he was the uber intellectual: his tone was oft-sardonic, his amusement frequent, his observations of people accepting and piercing. He talked a lot and said very little. He was cryptic in his cynicism. I loved him. Lata rejects him on the basis of his being "high-maintenance" type - someone who needs his meals laid out for him, who wouldn’t have time for her if he was working on a novel, and whose moodswings are as frequent as her own. I don’t buy that completely. He did make the time for her, he knew how to be charming and behave in society (he wasn’t an absent-minded intellectual), he knew what he wanted and he knew how to get what he wants. Lata was right in that he wouldn’t fall apart at her rejection, but I think it’s not his insensitivity that would allow him to be friends with her after her marriage, but his excessive civility, his sophistication and his writer’s acceptance of life.

My other favourite character, Pran Kapoor - a thin, dark quiet professor - is a sweetheart. The kind of nice guy who doesn’t begrudge his mother-in-law’s long vacations with them, who plays April Fools Day jokes on people because “those who aren’t conscious of the date must take the consequences”. He is the ultimate good son, who quietly accepts his arranged marriage and falls in love with his wife. His was the real arranged marriage, in the true sense of the word, and yet you cannot dislike him or his wife Savita because they are both so lovable people, that you just know that they were destined to be together, no matter how they got together.

For those of you who haven’t read it, do. Trust me, I can’t begin to describe the many shades there are to each character and how nothing I say will completely do justice to them. I got mad at one character’s one decision, not at the book. Seth is amazing. His voice is uninstrusive and style very graceful. That’s the word: graceful. Despite its size, you get a soft feeling reading it. True it is a tad tedious at times. Some of the political parts and some of the characters could have been done without. But in the end, you can’t get angry at someone who gives you the whole cake when all you asked for was a slice.

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Apr 07, 2009

Paul rated it

Recommends it for: anyone with an insatiable interest in every possible detail about every possible person

Shelves: doorstops, novels, india

After about page 200 I realised this was like eating Turkish Delight morning noon and night and my spiritual teeth were beginning to dissolve under a tide of sickliness which didn't ever let up. All these characters are so unbearably cute, even the less-nice ones. If post-independent India was crossed with Bambi, it would be Vikram Seth's endless gurgling prose.
So I stopped reading and drove several three inch nails into my head, and I've been all right since then.

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Oct 30, 2011

Whitaker rated it

Shelves: 2011-read, contemporary-fiction, india, recommended-unreservedly, would-kill-if-thrown

I know some GR’ers didn’t really cotton on to the style of this book. And maybe it was because I read this while on vacation in India itself, but wow! Just W.O.W! It’s a fucking long book—1,500 pages. And every single page was worth the time I spent on it and more.

If Midnight’s Children is India’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, then A Suitable Boy must be its War and Peace. It’s got the same melding of personal lives seen in amidst great national events. Instead of the romance of Na...more

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Dec 02, 2007

Danielle Franco-Malone rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: dani-s-very-faves, dani-s-top-10

This is one of my five all time favorite books (along with the Handmaid's Tale, On Beauty, the Red Tent, & Corelli's Mandolin). It is a patch work story of many characters' lives; by the end of the story, you see how they all intersect.

This was one of those books where when I finished the book I was completely invested in each of the character's life. The story is set in post-independence India and explores a number of social/political issues of the time (i.e. land reform, muslim...more

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Jun 18, 2007

Sarah rated it

Recommends it for: anyone who reads

Shelves: foreverbooks

Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy is one of the best books I've ever read in my entire life. It's a long book. But it is very engaging; I managed to read it in one stretch, with a break to sleep, while I awaited the movers to take me and my belongings across the counry. To my chagrin I had completed it before my flight, and when it finished I didn't want the book to be over, I wanted to go back and re-read it from the beginning. It is one of the best books about life in India I've ever read, it i...more

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Aug 23, 2010

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Chris by: Rita

Shelves: lit-fiction, india

There is something about train rides. Maybe it's because I HATE flying, maybe it's the beautiful places outside the window, who knows? There is something about riding trains. During my last train ride, I was seated next to a woman who loved to read, so course we began to trade you should read this lists.

And there is nothing better than that.

This was one of the books she recommended. I saw it at a used bookstore in the three volume edition (which was cheaper than the ...more

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Apr 03, 2010

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads, best-of-2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ATTENTION: SMALL SPOILERS AT THE END!

This book literally had it all: love, intrigue, death, birth, lust, suspense, comedy, sibling rivalry, politics, religion, history, all with an overly dramatic mom. While I didn't give this five stars because I loved the book, I gave it five stars because of its complexity. This wasn't just a story, I was transferred to India circa 1951. It totally envelopes you in the story. While the backbone is Lata's quest for "a suitable boy" you be...moreATTENTION: SMALL SPOILERS AT THE END!

This book literally had it all: love, intrigue, death, birth, lust, suspense, comedy, sibling rivalry, politics, religion, history, all with an overly dramatic mom. While I didn't give this five stars because I loved the book, I gave it five stars because of its complexity. This wasn't just a story, I was transferred to India circa 1951. It totally envelopes you in the story. While the backbone is Lata's quest for "a suitable boy" you become a member of the four families. It took me quite some time to finally get the families' names straight, who was with which family and married to whom, as there were some marriages that crossed between them. Even on the morning I finished this, I still paged back to the family trees.

There were so many different stories going on at the same time, but Seth smartly sprinkled them throughout the book. If you get bored, have no fear, you'll move on to something else soon enough. Each "chapter" or couplet as he had, usually had two stories that he seamlessly wove together, so much so it was a few pages in before I realized we had moved on to another part of the story.

His writing? Eh, was a bit disappointed. I adored "An Equal Music," and part of that was his lyrical writing. Heck, I even picked up the violin for about a year because I was so intrigued about the music quartet! This almost felt like it was translated to me, although I know it wasn't. Was stilted in parts, and not one of a finessed writer, although this may have been one of his first books.

The problem of having a book this long is it's like time, you start to forget what happened in the beginning. I felt that way halfway through, I had to keep reminding myself of certain things that happened to some of the characters.

To end, I'll put in two small spoilers. I was SO disappointed with the boy Lata marries. How I wanted her to end up with Kabir. Ah, unrequited love, and I'm always looking for that happy ending. Also, I felt that Vikram Seth was the poet, Amit=. There were a couple of things that lead me to think that.

A couple of friends asked me the other day should they read it. I wouldn't recommend a 1,000-plus page book, as something this long is truly an investment, even for someone who reads a lot. Do I think it was worth it? Whenever I am involved in a book, I always wonder what is happening with the characters when I close the cover, and I know I will wonder about these four families. Is Lata happy in her marriage? How is Maan doing? Is Parvati's baby born? I spent the past two months with these people, and for the most part, I liked them all. I'm not jumping up and down for joy (well, maybe because I can read something else!) that this book was so incredible, it was too complex and detailed for me to do that. But yes, it was worth it.
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Nov 06, 2009

Neha rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009

A Suitable boy is a very sutiable book for both boys & girls..

When I borrowed this book from the library I found it surprisingly huge and scary, everyone who saw me carrying it was equally astounded. I started having my doubts that what if the book becomes a lousy read and I end up wasting my time or leave it half read.. but the book from Page 1 had a smooth pace & never for once lost my interest. SO when Vikram Seth says in his opening lines..

'Buy me before good sense ...more

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May 22, 2011

James rated it

Shelves: asian-lit, u-of-chicago, historical-fiction

This is a novel of India set in the early 1950s just after the partition, Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy provides a window into the culture and history of India at that juncture in its history through a romance about a young girl, Lata, whose mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, is searching for a "suitable boy" for her to marry. The novel's opening section succeeded in immediately arresting my attention. Some of the most notable aspects of the novel include the subtle ways that the author suggests ...more

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Jan 11, 2008

Lulu rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finally finished it. Overall, it was a good read but I can't say that it was one of my favorites.

1. It was too long. The stories could have been told in a more succinct way. This includes the politics. I found myself constantly re-reading those sections.
2. The author should have included a glossary to define some of the terms he used or used the words in a way that I could figure out what he was talking about. In some places he did this but not nearly enough and so I found my...more

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Jun 14, 2007

Ellie Ray rated it

Recommends it for: those interested in Indian literature and society, people with strong wrists and long plane flights

This book combines Jane Austen's sensitivity to the nuances of social interaction and compelling characters with a Tolstoyesque interest in every social, political, economic and religious detail pertaining to the greater world of the plot. Lata, the main character, is a college student in Brahmpur in the 1950s whose mother is determined to marry her off to some nice middle-class boy (hence the title), but the 1400+ novel (one of the longest ever published in English) often ignores her for chapte...more

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Jul 01, 2008

Quirine rated it

I have an in-built horror of books that stray on longer than 300 pages. Anything longer and I always find the story sagging somewhere towards the middle and losing me by the end. Except with A Suitable Boy. It's over 1000 (tightly written) pages and I only wish it could have gone on and on. This sprawling saga takes you all over India in the 50s, into the lives of a dozen or so interconnected characters. And yet Seth masterfully manages to keep each story bubbling on the stove with delicious res...more

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Apr 20, 2010

Joyce Lagow rated it

A massive (1474 pages), quiet novel that superficially is something of an Indian novel of manners much in the style of the 19th century English novelists, but which also is a history of India at a critical time the early 1950s as experienced by the members of four middle class families and a host of characters from others.[return][return]The central thread of the novel is the search for a husband a suitable boy for Lata Mehra, the younger daughter of Mrs. Rupra Mehra, a widow who lives in...moreA massive (1474 pages), quiet novel that superficially is something of an Indian novel of manners much in the style of the 19th century English novelists, but which also is a history of India at a critical time the early 1950s as experienced by the members of four middle class families and a host of characters from others.[return][return]The central thread of the novel is the search for a husband a suitable boy for Lata Mehra, the younger daughter of Mrs. Rupra Mehra, a widow who lives in the fictional state of Purva Pradesh. Mrs. Mehra s older daughter, Savita, has just been married to Pran Kapoor, a lecturer at Brahmpur University; Pran is the son of the Minister of Revenue for Purva Pradesh, Mahesh Kapoor, who was one of the original freedom fighters for India s independence, and who is now an influential member of the ruling Congress Party. The Meharas and the Kapoors, along with the Chatterjis, an upper-class Hindu family of much more modern habits and the Kahns, a Muslim landowning family, provide the bulk of the characters through whose lives the reader sees India. [return][return] It is 1951, 5 years after independence, and 4 years after the agonizing partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. The politicians have taken over from the British, and Seth s account makes it clear that as everywhere else in the world, mediocrity for the most part rules and those who have risen from powerlessness to power are no different in their ambitions than in any other country. India is still fragile, still troubled with tensions between Muslims and Hindus, floundering in many respects held together mainly through the people s devotion to their Prime Minister, Nehru. While the novel concerns itself with the lives of those in the four families, who are either related by marriage or by ties of friendship, the political life of the country, as seen through the affairs of Purva Pradesh, is a prominent subthread. Hindu-Muslim riots and the elections of 1952 are an integral part of the story and affect the lives of all the families. Since one of the families is that of a powerful Muslim landowner who is affected by the land redistribution act promulgated and fought for by his best friend, Kapoor, Seth s narration shows the consequences both intended and unintended of a well-meaning legislation aimed at giving poor tenant farmers their own land. Some of which actually wind up harming terribly the very people the legislation is meant to help. Seth does this seamlessly within the framework of the lives of his characters.[return][return]Another fascinating aspect of the book is the description of the Hindu religious celebrations. Since the story takes place over a time period of slightly more than one year, all the major religious celebrations are presented as seen through the participation of the characters both the devout older women of the story, the somewhat skeptical younger generation who participate more out of a sense of tradition than piety, and of the men in the families, who are almost universally scornful and impatient with what they view as superstition. A panic during one of the major festivals that causes the deaths of hundreds. The inadvertent intermingling of a Hindu and a Muslim religious procession which results in a horrendous riot. These and more are skillfully interwoven into the main story.[return][return]But what leaps out more than anything else in this vast book is the way that the Indian middle classes have become Anglicized. It is a remarkable description of how an oppressed people long dominated by a ruling class of another race has taken on the prejudices and practices of their oppressors. A suitable boy must be able to speak English without accent. A suitable boy must not be too dark as one of the characters says she does not want her grandchildren to be black. Lawyers in the courts address judges as my Lords . Cricket is a passion.[return][return]One minor flaw that is from time to time irritating: Seth uses a large number of Hindi words for all sorts of things, from the names of trees to fruits to common household items. Most of the time, this is not a problem because either (sooner or later) the meaning becomes clear from the context or the singularity of whatever it is, such as a tree, doesn t get in the way. But from time to time, it s a puzzle to understand exactly what Seth is talking about. Is it a chair? A stool? A bed? Some other piece of furniture? The book would benefit from a glossary.[return][return]There is more to this book, but these are the main threads. It s a quiet book, that at first keeps to its innocent appearance as a book of manners, but slowly draws the reader in to the lives of the characters and the times in which they live. It becomes a page-turner simply because these lives, while quite ordinary in one sense, are caught up in extraordinary times and in a quest to live and be fulfilled when the world around them is changing from the traditional to the inescapably modern. The struggle to adjust, to keep what is valuable and also expected of the traditional to keep purdah in the face of women s voting rights, to accept arranged marriages in a world where young men and women can mingle far more freely than is traditional while adjusting to the freedoms and dangers of the modern world Seth has done a brilliant job of showing us ordinary, believable people caught up in this transition and making their lives absorbing to a reader 50 years later.[return][return]Highly recommended.[return][return](less)

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Feb 26, 2009

Prashant R rated it

I read this book, almost two decades ago, when it first released in 1991. I had just appeared for my 12th grade exams and was hungrily soaking up books, through my vacations. I borrowed it from my neighborhood "circulating" library in Bombay, for a princely sum of Rs 50/- (a single US $). This was also the first book by an Indian author i had read.The scope, the breadth and the range of characters, in this book, are breathtaking. I could associate with some of the characters and certai...more

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Jan 18, 2009

Julia rated it

With more than 1900 pages this was the greatest tome I have ever read.
Because of my studies I was not able to read it within a short time (this is really possible, I am sure). This wonderful novel, the many interesting and authentic characters accompanied me through months. When I finally finished the book, I really started missing the persons.
Seth's novel is unique written. I became curious about it, and finally bought it, because wonderful author Sharon Maas (Of Marriageable Age) t...more

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Oct 25, 2011

Susy rated it

At 1474 pages, this novel about a newly independent India is both massive in scope and microscopically specific in detail. The title refers to the goal of all good Indian parents - to find a suitable boy (or girl) for their child to marry; in 1951 these very virtually all arranged marriages. And while that plot threats continuously throughout the story, it is only one of many. Seth creates four families whose lives intersect by marriage, politics and community; he blends the Muslim and Hindu ...more

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Sep 12, 2011

Amit Narula rated it

Shelves: indian-fiction

I simply don't understand the gushing praise for this book. Unlike the book I'll keep my comments brief.

Let me begin by saying that I only got through about 600 of the 1400 pages. If you're inclined to ignore a review a from someone who hasn't finished the book he's reviewing (a perfectly fair inclination) feel free to stop here.

This book simply reads as an incredibly long and needlessly drawn out soap opera of three families' lives. That's really it. There weren't...more

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Aug 24, 2011

Peter rated it

"Fascinating, sweeping novel set in 1950s India with wonderful detail and charming, memorable characters. Set against the broad backdrop of a country recently independant from Britain and separated from Pakistan, it is a wonderful perspective on Muslim-Hindu relations, culture, politics, and everyday life.

The main plot concerns Lata Mehra and her mother's search to find her a marriageable man. Lata is in love with an athletic Muslim student, her family likes a witty Bengali po...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Robyn rated it

Understandably, the first comment that anyone makes of this book is inevitably shock at the sheer size. At 1,475 pages, it is a labour of love, and there are certainly points throughout when you wonder if it will eventually be worth the time, effort, and undoubted wrist ache. I was given it at the start of my gap year, and it has taken me three years - and four countries - to finally steel myself to start reading. I worried that after so much time, and with such high expectations, it would re...moreUnderstandably, the first comment that anyone makes of this book is inevitably shock at the sheer size. At 1,475 pages, it is a labour of love, and there are certainly points throughout when you wonder if it will eventually be worth the time, effort, and undoubted wrist ache. I was given it at the start of my gap year, and it has taken me three years - and four countries - to finally steel myself to start reading. I worried that after so much time, and with such high expectations, it would result in disappointment, and no desire to complete the epic read it had taken me so long to begin.

To my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read. Without a doubt, it has its drawbacks, most of which stem from the size; a large one of these is the fact that there are sometimes gaps of several hundred pages between meeting and revisiting a character, and you are expected to remember exactly where and when his or her tale was temporarily halted. Many of the names are also difficult to remember and associate with a certain person, especially from a Western point of view, since they are frequently ones which you may never have come across before. There are many unnecessarily long-winded and drawn-out sections, mostly conversation, which lead my mind to wander on several occasions, and when it comes time to put down the book it is often extremely difficult to make the effort to pick it up again. And certainly, I wondered with alarming regularity whether I would in fact ever reach the end.

Despite these relatively minor quibbles - and perhaps necessary evils - this book is undeniably a masterpiece. A Suitable Boy gives readers with little or no knowledge of Indian history and culture the chance to learn about this fascinating country from an intimate standpoint and many different, and highly believable, points of view. Having been lucky enough to have travelled to India before reading the book, it perhaps struck different chords than it would with someone who has never visited; but this is not to say that a newcomer to the finer details of this country would be any less able to enjoy and appreciate the world Seth has opened up, enhanced, highlighted and developed.

Seth's ultimate mastery lies within characterisation; he has a unique ability to create histories, personalities and lives for even the seemingly most inconsequential of characters. His dialogue is flawless, and effortlessly attributable to the vast numbers of people who pepper the pages. Within a few pages, you instantly care for and sympathise with each one of them, and truly feel their emotions as you follow their lives and journeys; a cliche, perhaps, but true nonetheless, and perhaps the most admirable quality of the novel.

After such a long amount of time spent with the characters, you feel as if you know them inside-out. Having lived their lives for the 18 or so months the book covers, you wonder, as it draws to a close, how Seth will possible draw the novel to an acceptable and satisfactory conclusion. It was with some trepidation that I approached the end of the book, and was delighted to find that, true to form, he drew loose ends together and completed the stories for each character in ways that I had simultaneously never expected and yet completely understood. Lessons are learnt, journeys are made, decisions are reached; life goes on, the world continues to revolve, and you know that even as you turn the final page, the characters will carry on with their lives, unheeded by the lack of constant observation. You have merely been privileged to witness a small slice of their everyday lives in the beautifully evocative city of Brahmpur, and I will forever be grateful to Seth for allowing us an intimate insight into the life and death, city and countryside, politics and history, culture and humanity of this intriguing, fascinating world.(less)

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Apr 17, 2011

Asif rated it

Shelves: courtesans, favourites, poetry, india

I read this book a long time ago but it has always stayed with me. It is so massive that it takes a lot of commitment to complete but it is so brilliantly written with so many characters to love (or hate!) that it really is easy to get lost in its' world.

This is certainly one of the best books I have read and is an astonishing achievement! I found I could empathise more with the Muslim characters in the book than with some of the others but Vikram Seth's superbly detailed accounts ens...more

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Mar 06, 2011

Isabelle rated it

Well, I finally got through the 1400+ pages of the book! It was such an engrossing novel, a fun read! Think Bollywood meets Jane Austen, and you have it!

The setting for the novel is post-partition India, a nation in turmoil, politically, racially and culturally, which plays a prevalent part in the novel and actually gives it some depth.
Then there is the very simple premise of the book: a widowed mother of 4 adult children is on a mission to find a "suitable boy" for h...moreWell, I finally got through the 1400+ pages of the book! It was such an engrossing novel, a fun read! Think Bollywood meets Jane Austen, and you have it!

The setting for the novel is post-partition India, a nation in turmoil, politically, racially and culturally, which plays a prevalent part in the novel and actually gives it some depth.
Then there is the very simple premise of the book: a widowed mother of 4 adult children is on a mission to find a "suitable boy" for her youngest daughter to marry. This leads us to get to know several families quite well and to see them through joyful times such as births, weddings and promotions but also through times of sorrow caused by death, lies, violence, betrayal etc... There are no villains in this novel, just people trying to live life on life's terms in an effervescent environment.

The novel is abundant in character study (there are so many characters to begin with), but there is no doubt in my mind that the main character of the novel is India itself, with its beautiful city gardens, its welcoming farms, its secular splendor and its incredible poverty. I was fascinated by all those contradictions that rub against one another: the endearing imagination and zaniness of the very same people who yet believe in and perpetuate the caste abominations, the great richness of cultures which cohabit until two festivals collide and turn into a blood bath, the Maharajahs and courtesans of the most shockingly "feudal"ilk, whose paths intersect with that of forward thinking politicians, enlightened academics and legal pundits.

For some reason, I keep thinking of one of the subplots of the novel: a very uncouth and despicable Maharajah, of antiquated power but very real fortune, is financing the construction of a brand new temple to be built right next to the mosque. The inner sanctum of the temple is to house a massive Shiva Linga so that the Muslim faithful will end up facing a gigantic phallus when they turn towards Mecca to pray...
But God is righteous and great, and the Linga will not allow itself to be part of that shameless provocation!!! More such delightful treats await in the novel!!!(less)

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Feb 14, 2011

Sarah Norman rated it

So I started the year on page 700 of A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth. Which is pretty awesome. I deliberately stopped reading the night before- well it wasn't that much effort, it was quite convenient actually - on pg 699, so I could begin on nice fresh round numbers. I was on holiday for three weeks in Kenya, and I had brought a big book with me. I actually spent some time choosing the book. I had massive lay overs, blah blah, and I HATE running out of stuff to read. God, then I might have to be ...moreSo I started the year on page 700 of A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth. Which is pretty awesome. I deliberately stopped reading the night before- well it wasn't that much effort, it was quite convenient actually - on pg 699, so I could begin on nice fresh round numbers. I was on holiday for three weeks in Kenya, and I had brought a big book with me. I actually spent some time choosing the book. I had massive lay overs, blah blah, and I HATE running out of stuff to read. God, then I might have to be alone with my thoughts, and we don't want that. So I bought this book off Amazon for less than the p&p. If you keep reading this blog, and if I keep it up, you'll see this is unusual for me. I virtually never buy books, and certainly not from online sellers. One thing that might make my reading interesting is that it's largely driven by what's in Southwark libraries. There's no way I can afford to keep up my reading habit, nor would I want to: I can't imagine storing all those books. And I wouldn't like to have to remember books I want to forget. Plus, I don't really like books I've read lying about looking at me, unless I really loved them. Only books I love get to stay at my house.

So A SUITABLE BOY. As it was kind of a big commitment - I couldnt just give up if I got bored - I actually looked it up on the internet. I never do this, and I've discovered this is with good reason. What the hell? People on forums have got some stupid ass opinions. So have people on blogs, I guess. People were all like: why is there so much about Indian politics, about shoes, about land, etc etc. Have these people never heard of a state of the nation novel? Have they never read a Victorian novel?

So anyway, I liked it. It was absorbing. I can't say I loved it. I appreciated what he was trying to do - give a kind of literary life to India, on a massive scale. As a fellow citizen of the old Empire - I'm Zimbabwean - I totally admire and respect that impulse. But I have to say, and this is a sort of hard: I just felt that he did it well, but it's been done far, far better. It was interesting while I read it, I was engaged in Lata's love story (do we believe who she chooses in the end? Jury's out, I think), I learnt a lot about India, and about Pakistan, which was enjoyable, but will I remember it? Don't think so. I'll forget about it. Not in a horrid way, but just in a - oh well - there it goes, like a meal in a chain restaurant kind of way.

For me it's a big like Lord of the Rings in that way. I enjoyed it, which is nice, but it's a bit so what. I didn't feel that the most important part of me gained anything from it. Though, as I said, I admired that claiming a British form - the Victorian novel - for the rest of the world. That's a very hard thing to do. I'd love to do it for Zimbabwe, but let's face it, it's hard. As we see from Seth's very good effort. I mean obviously for me it'd be hard, as I'm not a writer (I work in the theatre) - but for anyone. It's very hard I think to decolonise the mind, and give our own people the space they need. I was talking about the difficulties of expressing the diasporic Zimbabwean experience to a British person the other day, saying how few examples of Zim memoir there are, and then I realised: imagine being British! Not only are there thousands of examples, but some of them are Shakespeare! Now that's difficult

More of my reviews on www.booksof2010.blogspot.com (less)

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Nov 19, 2010

Felix Dance rated it

This book is fat! 1474 crammed pages. I'd been intrigued by it for many years, mainly due to its morbid obesity, seeing it sitting on my shelf at home and it being about India, a country to which I've been many times. Dad gave me the book from Rob, who was chucking it out, in Kathmandu and it's travelled with me over mountains and across country for thousands of kilometres, weighing down my backpack and panniers (and wrecking my pannier rack) all the way, finally being read on my two-week Delhi ...more

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Jun 09, 2010

Jessica rated it

· review of another edition

I've read all 1349 pages of this book twice. It would be impossible to fully develop four branching family trees during partition and political formation of India in any fewer pages. The first time I read this book it was a requirement for an independent study abroad. And I have to say, there may not be another book that can explain Indian politics and culture in a more interesting way. The second time I read the book was after finding it again for .50 in Goodwill after lending my copy and never...more

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May 06, 2010

Joselito rated it

This is like a buffet of Indian food. Everything seems to be here, in this monster of a book, all 1349 pages and 3 kilos of it: law, politics, business, history, tradition, superstitions, deities, romance, suspense, tragedy, humor, festivals, marriages, infidelities, friendship, betrayal, family, deaths, births, suicide,court trials, land reform, poetry, the Chatterji's couplets, amusing characters, etc. Even my mother is here (I mean, a character who, in some ways, resembles my mother). There's...moreThis is like a buffet of Indian food. Everything seems to be here, in this monster of a book, all 1349 pages and 3 kilos of it: law, politics, business, history, tradition, superstitions, deities, romance, suspense, tragedy, humor, festivals, marriages, infidelities, friendship, betrayal, family, deaths, births, suicide,court trials, land reform, poetry, the Chatterji's couplets, amusing characters, etc. Even my mother is here (I mean, a character who, in some ways, resembles my mother). There's something in it for everybody and this comprehensiveness makes it difficult for anyone not to like--or at least not to like something in--this book. Personally, I think the best here would be a tie between the love stories and Vikram Seth's wicked, humorous turn of phrase and the witty conversations between his characters which made me smile so many times.

Even the heftiness of this book did not escape the author's humor. A character here, Amit, is also an author. In a scene somewhere near the end of the book Amit is entertaining some questions from a group of academicians after a poetry reading he held. One asks him about the novel he is writing which is rumoured to be more than a thousand page long already--

"'Why, then, is it rumoured that your forthcoming novel--to be set, I understand, in Bengal--is to be so long? More than a thousand pages!' she exclaimed reproachfully, as if he were personally responsible for the nervous exhaustion of some future dissertationist.

"'Oh, I don't know how it grew to be so long,' said Amit. 'I'm very undisciplined. But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad, they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of 'Middlemarch.'

"'How about Proust?' asked a distracted-looking lady, who had begun knitting the moment the poems stopped.

"Amit was surprised that anyone read Proust in Brahmpur. He had begun to feel rather happy, as if he had breathed in too much oxygen.

"'I'm sure I'd love Proust,' he replied, 'if my mind was more like the Sundarbans: meandering, all-absorptive, endlessly, er, sub-reticulated. But as it is, Proust makes me weep, weep, weep with boredom. Weep', he added, He paused and sighed. "Weep, weep, weep,' he continued emphatically. 'I weep when I read Proust, and I read very little of him.'

"There was a shocked silence: why should anyone feel so strongly about anything? It was broken by Professor Mishra.

"'Needless to say, many of the most lasting monuments of literature are rather, well, bulky.' He smiled at Amit. 'Shakespeare is not merely great but grand, as it were.'

"'But only as it were,' said Amit. 'He only looks big in bulk. And I have my own way of reducing that bulk,' he confided. 'You may have noticed that in a typical 'Collected Shakespeare' all the plays start on the right-hand side. Sometimes, the editors bung a picture in on the left to force them to do so. Well, what I do is to take my pen-knife and slit the whole book up into forty or so fascicles. That way I can roll up 'Hamlet' or 'Timon'--and slip them into my pocket. And when I'm wandering around--in a cemetery, say--I can take them out and read them. It's easy on the mind and on the wrists. I recommend it to everyone. I read 'Cymbeline' in just that way on the train here; and I never would have otherwise.'"

Vikram Seth may not be aversed to the idea of his book being torn up for easy reading like what his character Amit did to his 'Shakespeares'. But whether you do that or not, you will not weep, weep, weep while reading 'A Suitable Boy.' This is a delightful work of art.(less)

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Mar 19, 2010

Stephanie rated it

Shelves: historical-fiction

My review starts with 4 stars, and a sense of accomplishment that 1400 pages and more than 3 months later I have finally finished this book. I may even revise my rating to 5 stars later, but I think it's the kind of book that grows on you slowly over time.

I was frustrated by it sometimes at first, as there are so many story lines that are slow to get going and certainly take a very long time to resolve! At first I thought it was significantly over-written and much too long, trying to t...more

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Aug 16, 2009

Catherine rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, 50books_poc, india

To sum up this book is a task almost as daunting as tackling all 1474 pages of the novel in the first place. It is, on the one hand, a story about finding love, about undertaking a marriage, and about measuring your choices - in many ways it reminded me of Austen in the ways the chief female protagonist weighed the moral weight of her suitors and considered where love fell into her plans. On the other - and this is perhaps the theme I was more drawn to - it's about the ramifications of Indpend...more

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Jul 12, 2009

Steve rated it

A gigantic novel which relates a year in the life of an Indian family shortly after Independence. Notionally about the search of a young girl for a suitable husband (and her mother's attempts to do the same), the story often ranges around a cast of characters and their own subplots. I suppose this is inevitable given a book of this size (1476 pages) - no single plot would be able to sustain interest for so long. In fact, the book often feels slightly meandering and it quite flabby in places. ...more

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Dec 16, 2008

Lulu rated it

Don't let the size stop you--this is literally the thickest book I've ever read, and I read it more than 10 years ago. This book is a great example of how a literary masterpiece can also be accessible and enjoyable, something that is indeed sadly lacking in Indonesia, where literature is often associated with unreadable. The story, in short, is about a family's efforts to find a suitable husband for their youngest daughter. It covers an important chapter in Indian history: its independence fro...more

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Dec 18, 2009

Becky rated it

Wow, what a mission. I have to say, I just don't get this book. For a novel of incredible length, it certainly wasn't boring or particularly arduous. But Vikram Seth's easy conversational style throughout the novel meant that every event, be it tragedy or great joy, was dealt with in the same even tone, leaving everything a bit flat.

Perhaps because of the huge divide in culture, I found his characters very difficult to relate to, and the learned helplessness which most of the wom...more

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About Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist. An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence ...more

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“But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of Middlemarch.” — 29 people liked it

“God save us from people who mean well.” — 23 people liked it

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