A Suitable Boy: A Novel (Perennial Classics)
by Vikram Seth
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Those interested in other cultures, history. Those looking for a really satisfying read....
I am currently 1390 pages into this 1475 page monster. It is an amazing portrait of the newly free India in the mid-1950s. The detail of the culture, politics and religion is amazing, and the array of characters and intersecting stories is impressive as well. My number one criticism throughout the book has been and continues to be that the characters are not very complex or believable. But then, I am anxious to see what happens in the next 90 pages, so they are believable enough for me to be...more
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Read in March, 2008
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Read in May, 2007
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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Read in April, 2008
recommended to David by:
Lesley
If you are about to read A Suitable Boy prepare to become acquainted with the politics and Hindu-Muslim conflicts of India half a century ago and intimately acquanted with middle and upper class Indian families of the period. Meet the Mehras', the Kapoors' and the charming Chatterjis' You will follow their careers, their tribulations and their love affairs. It is one of Vikram Seth's achievements in this remarkable novel that all of his characters burst with life and what a bunch they are - we ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Lovers of Indian literature, Dedicated Readers
I finally finished it and it only took a month! The more I read the more I admire the breadth and scope that Mr. Seth needed to write this tome. Not only do you have the overlapping stories of the four main families and friends there is the turbulent political situation in India the short time after the British left. There is also land reform, law, environmentalism, cricket, Partition and many other things that I just nodded my head while reading because I had no idea what it was about (mostl...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of Victorian literature
Like I've said in other reviews, my main criteria for liking a book are length and detailed characterization. Length, because I'm a fast reader, and detailed characterization because I like when books transport me to another place and time, and I feel that this is best accomplished by getting to know the characters in a book. I think postmodern critiques are a bunch of hooey--I don't care what the Marxist transgendered ferret owners' reading of a book is; I like to feel as if I'm a member of t...more
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Read in March, 2006
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-hin...more
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-hin...more
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Read in February, 2007
If you're traveling in India, this book is a great read because it helps you understand certain aspects of Indian culture, history, and personalities from a perspective that you can't otherwise get from wandering around the country on your own. You get a great sense of satisfaction from exploring the country and exploring the book at the same time, each one furthering your understanding of the other as you work your way through both.
It takes place in the 1950s, just a few years after India ga...more
It takes place in the 1950s, just a few years after India ga...more
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Read in March, 1997
recommends it for:
anyone who reads
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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Read in February, 2007
I started this book in...maybe January 2007? Read 500 pages or so (of about 1400, I think), put it down for a month, picked it up again, literally cut it in half so that my friend and I could share the weight of dragging it around India in our backpacks.
This is not a page-turner, but that's not a criticism. The plot wanders around in many different directions, never with any clear end in sight.
I kept picking it up again because I wanted to stick with these characters, see what they w...more
This is not a page-turner, but that's not a criticism. The plot wanders around in many different directions, never with any clear end in sight.
I kept picking it up again because I wanted to stick with these characters, see what they w...more
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Read in November, 2007
this book is 1,349 pages long. i know because i would always subtract the page number i was on from the final page number. i thought it was too long. after reading half of it, i started skimming (GASP!) parts that i felt were tedious. it´s set in india in the 1950s, right after gandhi has died, pakistan became its own nation, the british left. so it´s an interesting time historically. also, there is a lot of conflict that i was ignorant of between the hindus and the muslims. and i remained mos...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
people who like crazy Indian people
I think my mother wishes I read this book years earlier.
But seriously folks, this is almost a masterpiece. I kind of wished I knew more about Nehru's India in 1952 to see just how masterful this work is. Of course, the search for the perfect husband for the main character is the meat and potatoes of the story and I felt like he rushed a bit at the end, as did I, skimming the political bits--and I didn't agree with whom the main character chose or why.
The other downside (and there are amp...more
But seriously folks, this is almost a masterpiece. I kind of wished I knew more about Nehru's India in 1952 to see just how masterful this work is. Of course, the search for the perfect husband for the main character is the meat and potatoes of the story and I felt like he rushed a bit at the end, as did I, skimming the political bits--and I didn't agree with whom the main character chose or why.
The other downside (and there are amp...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Those with long attention spans
Is this a tome, or what? Hoo boy. I'm hoping I can get this done in one gulp, I can't renew it at the library. It's a good thing TV is terrible.
I'm enjoying the level of detail in this story. This is the first time I've read a novel about India that devotes equal time to Hindu and Muslim characters. The slice-of-life bits are good stuff, but I do get bogged down in the political discussions.
This ultimately took me two renewals, and on my last renewal I had three hours to go when I d...more
I'm enjoying the level of detail in this story. This is the first time I've read a novel about India that devotes equal time to Hindu and Muslim characters. The slice-of-life bits are good stuff, but I do get bogged down in the political discussions.
This ultimately took me two renewals, and on my last renewal I had three hours to go when I d...more
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Read in January, 2004
An epic novel in the tradition of "War and Peace," Seth's masterpiece is set in India mid-20th century. I recommend reading this when you've got time to drop everything else in your life and become immersed in the world of three Indian families trying find their way in post-British India.
This novel has it all: passion, sex, birth, death, religous conflict, sibling rivalry, bloodshed, politics. You get the idea.
The characters are all wonderfully drawn (the book has a chart of s...more
This novel has it all: passion, sex, birth, death, religous conflict, sibling rivalry, bloodshed, politics. You get the idea.
The characters are all wonderfully drawn (the book has a chart of s...more
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Read in January, 2008
A suitable boy...a book about four families...but basically on the life of one gal n all the people related to her in some way or another. One just gets involved with this main character. Sometimes it feels as if you are in her shoes. The hardships she faces when she finds her love, then when taken away to a new place (after realising that mebbe she isnt that important) realises that there is life other than that love; all this along with family pressure related to a particular suitor. There are...more
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this is an enormous book and a serious undertaking when reading it. the novel is complex, with four families involved, so it's best read when you won't be easily distracted. think vacation. or long-haul flight.
patience is needed when starting but once you begin you may find that you don't put it down. love, hate, career, death, religion, politics, humor, family drama, friendships and romantic relationships entwine four families in 1950's India, three years after Partition. the book made me smi...more
patience is needed when starting but once you begin you may find that you don't put it down. love, hate, career, death, religion, politics, humor, family drama, friendships and romantic relationships entwine four families in 1950's India, three years after Partition. the book made me smi...more
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Read in September, 2007
It took me nearly four months to read and i had to buy a bigger handbag to carry it around with me,but it is well worth sticking with it(all 1500 pages!)
Any one who has read the book will understand how the stupid rhyming couplets that the chatterji's family kept up were by far the worse bit of the book, surley no really family would ever act in this way? The histroy in the book however, and the smapshot of India at this time was absolutly fascinating. It has left me with a different perspecti...more
Any one who has read the book will understand how the stupid rhyming couplets that the chatterji's family kept up were by far the worse bit of the book, surley no really family would ever act in this way? The histroy in the book however, and the smapshot of India at this time was absolutly fascinating. It has left me with a different perspecti...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Alison by:
lyzzybee and LindyBrecommends it for: Anyone wanting a BIG novel to get their teeth into.
This book took a whopping FIVE months to read!
On the whole I really found myself immersed in this book. At times I was bored and frustrated with the politics, but that was more often about my tiredness at the end of the day. A beautiful exploration of arranged marriage. The family tree in the front helped at first. It also would have helped to have an explanation of various tradtions and terms that I was unfamiliar with. Paan...I didn't know what was until an Indian friend explained that it'...more
On the whole I really found myself immersed in this book. At times I was bored and frustrated with the politics, but that was more often about my tiredness at the end of the day. A beautiful exploration of arranged marriage. The family tree in the front helped at first. It also would have helped to have an explanation of various tradtions and terms that I was unfamiliar with. Paan...I didn't know what was until an Indian friend explained that it'...more
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Read in November, 2007
Close to 1500 pages long - I was afraid of losing interest midway.
I finished it in 5 days.
Set in the India of the '50s, this is about the hunt for "a suitable boy" for Lata, the youngest daughter of Mrs. Mehra.
Post-partition India is the backdrop, and critics who've lived through the time cannot find a single fault in the depiction of the 1950's - with the princely states unsure of their influence in a time of new found freedom and democracy, brown sahibs and their p...more
I finished it in 5 days.
Set in the India of the '50s, this is about the hunt for "a suitable boy" for Lata, the youngest daughter of Mrs. Mehra.
Post-partition India is the backdrop, and critics who've lived through the time cannot find a single fault in the depiction of the 1950's - with the princely states unsure of their influence in a time of new found freedom and democracy, brown sahibs and their p...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
all
This has to be the best Indian English book I've ever read. A lot of people get turned off by its voluminous size but once you begin, there's no stopping you. The poetry apart, the manner in which Vikram Seth has captured all the characters is brilliant. Each character is developed so thoroughly and so completely. At the end of about 1300 odd pages, you are left asking for more. Excellent! The best part about this book is that it makes no attempt to preach about India - its good, bad, or ugly. I...more
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