Summer Requiem: From the author of the classic bestseller A SUITABLE BOY

by Vikram Seth

'I have so carefully mapped the corners of my mindThat I am forever waking in a lost country...'SUMMER REQUIEM traces the immutable shifting of the seasons, the relentless rhythms of a great world that both 'gifts and harms'. Luminous, resonant and profound, these poems trace the dying days of summer, 'the hour of rust', when memory is haunted by loss and decay. But in the silence that follows, as the soul is cast adrift, there is also reconciliation with the transience of all things; the knowledge that there is a place, 'changeable, that will not betray'.

Genres: Poetry, India, Indian Literature, Literature

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2015

About the author

Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.

During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.

The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.

In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.

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 presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.

Reviews

[Sakshi Nanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The overarching idea in Vikram Seth’s poetry is that of transience – of seasons, of love in relationships and of life itself. We see the poet, at home or in the world, looking around at shifting scenes and poring within with thoughts of change, and even death. Observation and contemplation unite to create vivid visuals which add profundity even to the usual. And the poet? A man whose streams of thought, whether flowing backwards in time or surging ahead, seem poignantly lonely in a crowd. However, the low notes of remembrance of things gone by are in peaceful symphony with those positive ones reflective of acceptance of this very impermanence around; a flux which impresses itself upon the poet’s mind as he bids adieu to summer.

Vikram Seth is not a Romantic poet. While his sense of ‘I’ is remarkably real, divinity is not what he sees when he views trees and beaches, birds and sunsets. However, faint strokes of similarity can be seen between the poet’s and William Wordsworth’s relationship with nature. They both drew solace in its lap; learnt to value it when they were away from it. And as a result of this reminiscing, they both learnt to appreciate the role of memory.

A letting go and yet holding on…but not a swan song. No.

Somewhere in the valleys of interpretation that ‘Summer Requiem’ creates we find the poet wandering, and us readers wondering alongside. Thus luring us into shared intimacy with his mind, Vikram Seth in his latest collection of poetry traverses moods with soulful ease and unreels panoramas of landscapes – of change in both the outside world and the labyrinths within.

Timeless poetry that you can turn to, again and again, to see something anew every time you do.

[To read the full review, go here - http://www.sakshinanda.com/2015/10/th...]

[Amanda B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[World Literature Today]

"Summer Requiem, written over the last twenty years, is a quiet and meditative book much like his earlier one, All You Who Sleep Tonight. In this volume, the motif of the incarnadine—including the ruddy summer sunset image on the cover—recurs: “Rose light enflamed the eastern sky” (“One Morning”), the pink of the “Acroclinium” flower, and “The hour of rust brings everything to a close” (“Summer Requiem”). There is sadness and weariness too—“My love has gone. What do I have instead?” or “My joints have rusted and my brain is lead” (“Can’t”). It is a mature and older Vikram Seth—a writer who has lived, traversed, and experienced a long and varied life with its sine-graph vicissitudes." - Sudeep Sen

This book was reviewed in the March 2016 issue of World Literature Today magazine. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2...

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favourite poems:

This Room
Day and Night
Parrots at Sunset
Late at Night
A winter room
Western Highlands

[Shahpar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in one breathless sitting. This was my second time. The first time I read it was when it had just come out in 2016. I didn’t like it as much as I do now. I’ve come to it a different person in 2019. Does that happen to you as well?

The contents page isn’t an acrostic poem though. Boo.

Favourite poem in January: “What’s in it?” Please go read it. It’s achingly beautiful.

[Atiqah Ghazali AlKashif · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't feel it. My apologies.

[Anand Ganapathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Vikram Seth's prose more than his poetry :)

[Richa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book that will take you to places and circumstances that once upon a time were your humble abode. Now things have changed and, we have moved forward in life where things or people that matter live far away. The poems were deep. One has to focus on what he is trying to say, else you'll lose the plot. I enjoyed some and, some were out of my reach. I feel I should go back to those again in the latter part of life to understand them better. Not merely reading it, but feeling them as well will only make me closer to the truth.

Even though I didn't get few poems, I wish to read them again. It happens very rarely when I feel like re-reading a book. So, if it is happening, that means it has left an impact on me. Like every other poetry book, go slow with this. My favourites from this book are – Can’t, This Room, In Touch, Day and Night. If you enjoy reading poetry, you will like this.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real mix of poems, in that some I found very enjoyable (probably the ones that were easier to understand!) and others less so (those with more obscure themes). Still, overall, it was a pleasing little book.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A staggeringly good talent. One of the most amazing displays of rhyme without it ever lapsing into cliche or mush or silliness. Not surprising. But great to see he's still got it.

[Manan Sheel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is one of the sweetest book I have ever read. it is sweet as sweets and utterly delightful, the parrots poem and rocking chair poems were most enjoyable...

[Ian McHugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful collection in places. Some memorable lines and verse. The first 30 pages was distracting as Seth's need for rhyming couplets became slightly distracting as I anticipated the final word of the line. Sometimes hilarious, shoe-horned, rhymes were used.

[A Thousand Mornings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turning the pages of Summer Requiem, one flits from a love that is all but dissipated to one that still burns bright. As always, his poetry stays with you long after you have put away the book.

http://thewandererstrail.com/2019/04/...

[Cooch · Rating 3 out of 5]

There and a half

The overwhelming feeling is of everything being played too safe. The dexterous use of language of his prose is mostly missing, as well as his strong and assured voice.

[Shishir Chaudhary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one on the World Poetry Day 2018. Quite a soothing, fulfilling read by Vikram Seth - one of the finest living poets. If you are into poetry, which I believe everyone should be, go for it.

[Raylene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poems went over my head, while there were some that I could relate to deeply. One of the many trials while reading poetry, you don't have to understand it all.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seth's poems are 'easy reading' compared to some poets, but there's depth to them as well as the more overt pleasures of tightly constructed rhyming verse.

[Sofia Jeremiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nicely written but lacked in depth. I couldn't connect or feel for any of the poetries.

[Abhinav Anand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I revere Vikram Seth’s work but his other anthologies are much interesting than Summer Requiem. A few poems were touching but the rest I couldn’t enjoy.

[Joanna]

Mixed. Some were lovely, more were just ‘meh’. I’m glad I picked up this collection and read these poems though, you won’t find your next favourite poet if you don’t try new things!

[Gary Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things change

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

so much joy reading these poems aloud

[Sean Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth's Sonnets#
A cracking book of poetry from Seth which really made you think and contemplate things.
Deeply emotive on occasions, an already blinder for poetry.

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book of poems from the author of my favorite book. It’s fine. It’s poetry.

[Dania · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Sophie]

A book with poems on the themes of love and loss, general observations and nature. Some poems are interesting, with use of creative language, paradoxes and double meanings. Others are pretty poor and overly simplistic. A few take place in other, hotter countries. They range from 4 lines to a few pages long. There are also a few poems by other poets. I would rate this 3.5 out of 5 stars but at this time goodreads still will not allow half star ratings!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book to dip in and out of, but having heard the author recite from this anthology, talk about his inspiration, and put the poems in to context, it only reinforces my view that you get the most out of poetry when you hear the poet speak his or her own words.

[nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Cacography on the Summer Requiem.

Lines here hold fast...
And yet some more draw toward me
Grooves to run through again.

[Ankita · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average fare this time.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very moving poetry - I plan to read it again!