A Suitable Boy: A Novel

A Suitable Boy: A Novel

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1545 ratings, 4.13 average rating, 262 reviews (more data...)

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published

April 13th 1994 (first published 1993) by Harper Perennial

binding

Paperback, 1488 pages

isbn

0060925000 (isbn13: 9780060925000)

description

Vikram Seth's novel is, at its core, a love story: the tale of Lata's--and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra's--attempts to find a suitable boy for Lata, th...more

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All ratings | 5 stars (677) | 4 stars (526) | 3 stars (241) | 2 stars (73) | 1 star (28) | avg 4.13

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Paul

Paul rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

10/01/07

bookshelves: finally-threw-it-at-the-wall, novels, really-big-ones

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

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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Jaime

Jaime rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

09/11/07

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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Simika

Simika rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

07/06/08

Read in August, 2004

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 keep putting it off. I suppose it was mainly the size of the book (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 sur...more *Spoiler alert*

I finally finished reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. For some reason, I used to avoid picking it up and keep putting it off. I suppose it was mainly the size of the book (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 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 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 she 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. I am not advocating against arranged marriage as a whole because 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 love her.

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 him (Amit) was the the uber intellectual, his tone oft-sardonic, his amusement frequent, his observations of people accepting and piercing. He talked a lot,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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Mirna

Mirna rated it:

(review of isbn 1857993578)

09/08/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in August, 2008

recommended to Mirna by: Arief Ash Shiddiq

Yes, six hundred seventy pages, and there are still volume 2 and 3 that I have not read.

But reading a third of the saga made me understand why Seth won prizes for this literary achievement. The book is basically a twisted-very much complicated version of a Bollywood saga. If you never heard of or know what a Bollywood Saga is like, go ask God Google to see if you can download some online, or just hunt for the DVD or videos. Look specifically for the drama genre films.

Suitable Boy is, as ...more Yes, six hundred seventy pages, and there are still volume 2 and 3 that I have not read.

But reading a third of the saga made me understand why Seth won prizes for this literary achievement. The book is basically a twisted-very much complicated version of a Bollywood saga. If you never heard of or know what a Bollywood Saga is like, go ask God Google to see if you can download some online, or just hunt for the DVD or videos. Look specifically for the drama genre films.

Suitable Boy is, as admitted at the back cover of this first volume, a love story. It basically tells about Lata Mehra, a girl from the khatri caste in India, and since this is a Bolywood-esque saga it inevitably also tells the events unfolding in her universe, which consisted of four big families related into the other by either sophisticated political fashion, or by marriages.

The stories of these families, intertwined like mad anacondas in mating season, are set in the following years shortly after the independence of India. I have to admit I skipped most of chapters describing the political dramas, most of which happened in court rooms of the parliaments, etc. The romance and drama portions, meanwhile, are too delicious to be left behind. Tee hee.

All the way from its first sentence, I found myself hearing the dialogues written in the book are spoken in English with heavy Indian accent. Madness, I thought. While the narration throughout the book, despite of it sometimes mentioning words in Hindi-Urdu-Bengali, has no specific accent, the dialogues are unmistakably, very heavily accented. For reference of spoken English with heavy Indian accent, seek the show “Coffee with Karan” in cable TV, or find any of The Simpsons series featuring Apu Nahasapeemapetalon, the Kwikmart owner. MTV India is overruled because the VJs are either talking in straight Hindis (or Bengals or Urdu or whatever since I still cannot tell the difference), or their spoken English are impeccable British.
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The book also gives some historical and socio-anthropological knowledges on India. I.e. it was literally a big bloody mess when Pakistan was separated from India, and the event still left a relatively fresh scar to the heart of most Indians today. The Muslim-Hindu feud was already a problem back then, which apparently is still going unchecked up to today, and to add to the list: also the caste system. On the lighter side, Rabindranath Tagore is a Bengali, adored like a saint, and is affectionately referred to as Robi Babu by most Bengals (at least the ones in this book). Also that if you found a family name of Chatterji or Chattopadyay, the person with the last name is of the high Brahma caste, and that both the Chatterjis and Chattopadyays are originated from Bengal.

Seth weaved the dramas and the political backgrounds interchangeably (although the feint hearted such as moi can still opt to skip some parts heheh) and spectacularly flourish it with poetic imageries of beautiful motherland India and its rich multi-cultures. He also adorned the story with poems and couplets; even in English it can still be readily recognized as ‘exotic’. At least, definitely not Shakespearean. I guess this is what qualifies the novel as having a sense of “locality”, something that Indonesian most fierce literature guardians are still trying so maliciously to represent (and had yet succeed … but shhh! Don’t tell them this).

Suggestion for future readers: Find a list of traditional Indian songs of your taste and liking before getting on a long-ish train trip with these songs stored in your mp3 player, reading the book all the while. At the time-span of reading the book you might also want to try Indian food or watch any kind of films featuring India. I watched the Darjeeling Limited. It will definitely add up certain realistic imageries in the imagination.
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Lulu

Lulu rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

01/11/08

Read in March, 2008

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 myself trying ...more

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Ellie

Ellie rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

06/14/07

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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Sarah

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

06/18/07

bookshelves: foreverbooks

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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Quirine

Quirine rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

07/01/08

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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Kona

Kona rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

06/30/08

Read in June, 2008

Well, it wasn't too bad. I definitely feel it was a lot longer than it needed to be. I think Lata made a good choice based on her reasons for not picking one of the other two men in her life. I do wish we knew what became of Maan and it ended with Varun's story finally beginning. Instead of all the political crap, I would have not minded the length if it had filled in more of the family info at the end.

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Golden

Golden rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

03/22/08

Read in May, 2005

recommends it for: Lovers of Jane Austen, those interested in non western locations and cultures.

I cannot say enough good things about this book Believable, interesting characters. Settings that really come alive and a story line which, despite its many hundreds of pages, keeps you involved from beginning to end. I've read it a few times and I'm sure I'll read it again.

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Emmi

Emmi rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

09/06/07

bookshelves: favorites, india, literature

Read in January, 1994

There's nothing like a really great, really long book, and this definitely qualifies. It's a huge book, with many wonderful characters, and many wonderful stories, all set in a time and place that is richly recreated.

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Hameeda

Hameeda rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

03/20/08

I am currently reading this almost 1500 pages long classic novel set in India in the 1950s. So far (after 500 pages)I am loving the book; and alongside reading I am also improving my vocabulary.

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malika

malika rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

04/25/07

Read in February, 1997

I read this book when I was in bed for three weeks with a very painful case of chickenpox, and the only reason I finished it is that I was too weak to tear it into little pieces and burn it.

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Christine

Christine rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

11/25/08

I plucked this book off a bookstore shelf because I liked the cover. I read the first three pages and was immediately enthralled. This is a big multiple-family epic set in India in the early 50s, a few years after India's independence from Britain. Lata's family is looking for a "suitable boy" for her to marry...only Lata has ideas of her own. The author carries the reader through 1400+ pages, four families, a few dozen characters, and somehow does it without ever confusing the reader ...more

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Maia

Maia rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

04/01/08

Read in January, 2005

This is my favorite book of all time. I can't wait until time passes so I can read it again.

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Daryl

Daryl rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

11/17/08

Read in September, 1993

recommended to Daryl by: William
recommends it for: anyone

I read "A Suitable Boy" when it first came out back in 1993 and I have been recommending it to friends and avid readers ever since. Many people would find reading a 1,400 page book a daunting task, but in this case it is pure pleasure. I, like a friend of mine, began to ration out the final chapters dreading to see the story come to an end. I loved the characters (especially Lata's mother) and the love story that is basically the heart of this novel. By the time I finished this book, I...more

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Doreen

Doreen rated it:

09/22/08

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: Fans of serious literature, anyone interested in post-Partition India

Impressive achievement, chronicling 18 months in the life of the extended family and friends of the heroine, Lata Mehra, during her mother's search for the titular character to marry her. It took me nearly a month to finish this book as it charts in at a mighty 1349 pages in the version I own (and I've certainly put off reading it for years due to its daunting size) but it was well worth the effort. The characters are motivated by believable reasons, and nothing about the plot seems forced. I es...more

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Mom/Pat

Mom/Pat rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

07/16/08

What an engaging and fascinating introduction to the society of India shortly after its independence from Britain. It combines wonderful comedy with more serious (even tragic) themes and it certainly does educate any reader whose acquaintance with India's history is less than intimate. Set in 1950/51, this book made me realize that my own concepts about India run more towards a long-ago reading of Forster's Passage to India, towards chutney, curry, the Taj Mahal, and the Hare Krishnas than to ...more

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David

David rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

04/30/08

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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Angie

Angie rated it:

(review of isbn 0060786523)

02/17/08

bookshelves: historical

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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