A Suitable Boy

A sublimely written book - spirited, nuanced characters revealing universal human truths and traits interacting gloriously in a specific and fascinating place and time.

fantastic (0/0 people found this helpful)

Just a wonderful book. I can't remember how many times I've read it, and every time, despite the huge cast of characters, you become involved with each of them. You understand their motives, live their lives, join in with their priorities.

I think it's a huge talent to be able to capture so many people and so many lives in quite such a vivid and aproachable way.

Truly gripping! (0/0 people found this helpful)

I love Asian literature buit this book was just amazing. I was really daunted by the number of pages but I just found myself desperate to go to bed so that I could read a few more! The way the stories grip you and make you want to read more and more is so clever, the only downside was reaching the end as I felt a bit lost having spent so many evenings with the characters.

Good, but not to everyones taste (0/2 people found this helpful)

Very well written, but way too much of the politics of India! if you dont mind missing out pages then its a good read. It took me a long time to read it, but im glad i did. there are some unexpected turns, but as there are many charactors, it can be hard to keep track. if you are Indian, you should enjoy it, as you can identify with the charactors. but even if you are not, give it a go.

A shorter book if Seth had more to say (1/5 people found this helpful)

I read 'Suitable boy' when it first came out- and had a very positive reaction- but when I bought a copy recently and read it over my half-term holiday- I found myself deeply disappointed. I had completely over-rated this writer and the reason for it was because I had simply assumed that, because of his superior education, Seth had more to say- that he had a world-view, a theory of society- and that he was taking his time to present it in a prescriptive manner to the ordinary reading public. Now, ten years along, it has become clear that Seth doesn't have much to say- if he had more to say, A Suitable Boy, would be a much shorter book- and what he has to say is not original or timely. Thus, to stand up for good old fashioned 'know-how' and the empowerment of the technically minded middle class who, the book believes, will be able to solve the Labour problem by overaweing the proletariat with their superior skills- was not merely puerile, it was also a safe bet in the atmosphere of the Nineties- when the Socialists were in disarray. Another point has to do with Seth's timidity on the issue of gay rights. Both in the Golden Gate & Suitable boy, Seth puts forward Gore Vidal's point of view which falls far short of the robust defence of gay rights which recent breakthroughs in genetics have made intellectually compelling. Gore Vidal's position was good enough for his time- when a lot of Doctors talked of Homosexuality as a disease but SEth- who is very well educated- should surely have kept abreast of scientific developments in this regard and put forward a more cogent thesis. Indeed, it seems to me that the reason his book is so long is that he has raised up a forest to hide a single leaf- it is the half sentence that reveals that Maan Kapoor is bisexual and has had an affair with the man he will later try to kill (becuase he suspects him of having an affair with the courtesan he is himself involved with). The incest theme- the Muslim aristocrat who is attracted to the courtesan's daughter- not realising that she is his own half-sister- is a hackneyed theme in Urdu & Hindi literature. The fact that Seth can treat such tripe in a naturalistic rather than an ironic manner calls into question not just his taste but also his good faith.
Still, Vikram Seth's 'Suitable boy' is a good book. This is because the central characters really are worthwhile and interesting people- more so, sadly, than their son's treatment of them.

Vikram Seth

Reader Reviews:

Pure Genius (0/0 people found this helpful)

fantastic (0/0 people found this helpful)

Truly gripping! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Good, but not to everyones taste (0/2 people found this helpful)

A shorter book if Seth had more to say (1/5 people found this helpful)

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