Suitable Boy, A - Vikram Seth

This book is WOW! I had read this years ago but am still looking around if I can grab a copy.It's sheer size numbs u but once you start reading, you loose sense of time.one can feel as being there amongst the characters.can actual feel their trials, pains, pleasures.simply put story but tugs your heart.

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My first book of Vikram Seth. It is definitely huge in size and will demand significant time of yours but it would be time worth spending. It revolves around just independent era of India, of families, of relationships. You would remain glued to this literary fiction because it is written beautifully, wittily, poetically.

It give us glimpse of everything during post-independence time politics, Indian festivals, people and overall it is neatly knitted story with parts of everything in it! You can relate characters to people around you and though you finish the book you find yourself comparing people to characters in the book.

You may like to read it in patches of your day but whenever you read you will connect to characters and story. Even though written twently years ago, you will still marvel and cherish reading it. If you are a reader of sorts(a dedicated reader I mean), you cannot skip this book. It's a great conversation starter among bibliophiles and you definitely don't want to look idiot!

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A Suitable Boy is a journey, and you make friends as you go along. Even after you've finished with the book, the characters and their names linger. Vikram Seth is an artist, perhaps who doesn't know when to stop, who creates life size characters and puppet them around beautifully, almost charmingly. There are no protagonists.

Everyone is lovable and hogs the limelight - from lovable Maan to confused Lata to clever Amit to lovestruck Kabir to unbelieveable Mrs Rupa Mehra

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I wanted to read this book from a long time but then I didn't get the time or chance to read it. When I finally picked it up I had expected this book to be a masterpiece. The name of the book somehow gave an insight to the contents and the platform on which the book is based. India after independence specially the state of affairs of bengal. The rich and affluent culture contrasted starkly with a town of brahmpur and the crassness of Indian politics plaguing India where everyone wanted a piece of the cake of power and pomp.

I would recommend this book but a word for caution it is slow and a drag at times. Little repetition of few things but a must read. There isn't anything that we already don't know about but they style of writing makes one to read it on.

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The book showed the mentality, society, culture and beliefs of people in post independent india. After a very long time I got a book which really touched my heart. the heart of the story a love story , which I usually hated.But this time it wa not so.

All the novels of vikram seth are awesome but this one has something unique. When I started reading the book everyone told me that I wont be able to complete the book in a month .But there was something very touching in the novel which compelled me to complete the book in just 15 days.

The book shows the worries of a mother about the marriage of her daughter, which is a very important aspect of indian society. the starting part of the book and the part involving politics was quite boring.But however I believe that this novel was one of the best written by vikram seth. Through a very simple family story the author showed the reality of our indian society.i would like to advice all my friends to go through the book and understand the boon and curse of the society. superb novel........

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"What is that book you are reading?", a friend asked me. "Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy. I haven't started yet." "It's going to take you a long time to finish that one." I flipped through the pages of the book I was holding in my hand. "1349 pages? Oh! That sure is going to take me some time" And it sure did. I met my friend again, just a couple of days back. She chuckled. "I see that book in your hand again. How far have you reached?" "As a matter of fact I finished it yesterday. It took me one and a half months to read. Some book this is." " I told you. I think it's the longest novel ever written. So did you like it?" I was speechless.

This question always makes me speechless. I hate giving any off-hand comments on books. I prefer to explore the emotions I went through while reading a book and it comes best when I put pen to paper. "Well, it's good. Quite tedious though. There are so many characters and so much description. In many ways Seth's style of getting into the details reminds me of Hemingway's." "So who is your favourite character? " "It's difficult to figure that one out. There are four families - the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Tandons and the Nawab's. Each character is different. The author's done well to put enough life in them. I can picturise the plight of Mrs. Rupa Mehra who is worried sick about her unmarried daughter, Lata and is driven to paranoia when she finds out that Lata has been going around with the Muslim guy, Kabir.

She goes groom-hunting for Lata, just like any good Indian mother and is given to melodrama. Very Bollywoodish I must say, but the character is nevertheless very interesting." My friend laughed. I followed up on the comparison with Bollywood. "Then there is that fellow named Maan Kapoor falling in love with that prostitute-singer and pining for her. There's a lot of talk about the festivals in there, much like our Yash Chopra flicks - Holi, Dassera, Diwali, Karva Chauth, Pul Mela, wich is a take on the Kumbh Mela, you name it and it's there. Even homosexuality has been discussed.

I wonder why they haven't made a film of it." She giggled again. "I like the way Seth's elaborated on the situation barely four years after India's Independence. The whole lot of stuff on law and the Zamindari Abolition Bill, the concept of Nehruvian Socialism, the split in the Congress and rampant corruption. It's a different world, but it seems so real. I am sure some of it may be true." My friend added, "I understand where the law part may have come from. Vikram Seth's mother is a lawyer." "And the fictional city of Brahmpur, reminds me of Patna." "Of Patna. You must be joking." "No, just check out the locations described in the book, and visit the place and you'll know what I'm talking about." "So tell me more about the 'suitable boy' she discovers for Lata..." My friend trailed off wondering.

"Haven't you read the book? I thought you would have since you told me that it would take a long time." She laughed. "Well, I was hoping to get the whole of it out of you in half an hour instead of spending one and a half months reading it." I grimaced.

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This was part of a book swap with a friend. I gave her 'Vanity Fair (Thackery) & she gave me 'A Suitable Boy'. I'm half way through so far & looked for reviews to see if it's worth continuing. I'm usually an avid reader of books, fact and fiction, but I'm really feeling like giving up with this one.

The plot has not drawn me in, there's so much background and other seemingly irrelevant detail to get through. I'm not Indian so I can't relate to the culture but I don't think that should make a difference if the book's good.

As of now, I have read about the lives of several different people. I am guessing their stories will all come together later on & their lives get entangled so that the plot gets really interesting. I have read good books that employ that tactic in the past and so may change my mind about this one as I read further. However I have not been particularly gripped by any of the different people introduced so far & just as I am getting used to reading about one person hoping their life will get a bit more interesting, the book switches to another person & I'm back to square one in their story. I do feel that by the half way mark the book should have my attention, I like a book to engage me in the first chapter and realise it's often not until the third chapter some books 'get going' but by half way I expect more.

I'll finish it to see what the 'fuss' is about but so far I definitely wouldn't recommend it to others.

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Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy is a truly great book. Period.

A simply written book, it awes you by its size but draws you into it with more than a handful of characters trying to come to terms with their lives and situations. A huge amount of research has gone into this book but Seth smoothly dwells on the complexities of human nature. Not once does the academic investigation dwarf the narrative – the first sign of great fiction.

Set in the early 50s, A Suitable Boy talks of a newly independent India, its triumphs and its pitfalls. The narrative focuses on four families – the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Khans and the Chatterjees. The Mehras represent the growing middle class; the Kapoors are a mix of the political class and the academia with a liberal dose of middle class morality; the Khans embody the insecure Muslim royalty – one that chose to remain in India after partition and is now about to be dispossessed of its land; the Chatterjee’s characterize the Anglicized Indian intelligentsia. The four families are linked to each other by marriage and/or friendship.

Seth sets his book in an India that’s undergoing a radical change. The land reforms have threatened royalty; the musicians and courtesans are in danger of losing their source of livelihood; the middle class is emerging as a conspicuous entity; the radicals within and without the Congress Party have threatened Nehru’s vision of India, there are murderous riots and there are Hindus and Muslims saving each other. India is a land of complexities. Hindus and Muslims despite the communal backlash and the creation of Pakistan still live as brothers in some pockets but it is taboo for them to marry into each other.

Mahesh Kapoor, the Revenue Minister of Purva Pradesh has two sons – Pran and Maan. Pran has married Rupa Mehra’s elder daughter Savita. She has three other children – Arun the eldest, the spineless Varun and Lata, the apple of her eye, the daughter for whom she is in search of a Suitable Boy. Arun has married Meenakshi Chatterjee. Meenakshi and her siblings want Lata to marry their brother Amit while Lata herself is in love with Kabir Durrani. Enters Haresh, working at Praha shoe company as a foreman who Mrs. Mehra wants to wed Lata and the Austenian tenor is established.

The structure of the book is simple. It begins with one wedding and ends with another. The period between the two weddings is eighteen months. In between a lot happens - babies are born, people die, lovers unite and part ways, elections are won and lost, friends become bitter enemies and reconcile, unhealthy whispers of the past become the screaming reality of the present ... A Suitable Boy is peopled healthily. The characters are vivid and real to the core – even the minor ones like Durrani Senior, Prof. Mishra, Saeeda Bai, Tasneem, Rasheed, Baba, Netaji, Home Minister L.N. Aggarwal, Chief Minister Sharma, Mrs. Tandon, Bhaskar, Veena, Dr. Kishen Seth and many more.

There are many threads to the novel which one initially feels has the author rambling rather incongruously. But dwell deeply and what emerges is one composite whole. Humorous (Mrs Rupa Mehra’s character is dealt with sympathetic humor), ironical, moving (Rasheed-Maan, Maan-Saeeda Bai, Maan-Feroz, Lata-Kabir relationships do not fail to leave a lump in your throat), astute (the entire take on Indian polity) and whimsical (the finale is alas, indeed, whimsical) make A Suitable Boy a slight flawed, not to be missed book. Read it to know how a complex tale can be rendered so simply.

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This book is surely not the newest book on the block. It was published I believe in 1992 and I remember the amount of adulation it had received but somehow, I never found the time or shall I say, the energy to read 1400 odd pages at a stretch but I'm glad I waited because I surely lacked the patience & appreciation in my early 20's!

I have to say I haven't read anything like this before especially, in the Indian context. What 'Gone with the Wind' might be for the western readers, ''A Suitable Boy'' could perhaps be for Indians! It touches the very core of India...from the very Anglicised 'high society' to the poor tenants and landowners; it gives you a beautiful picture of what was on the minds of common people, masses, politicians and the framers of the our Constitutional laws in post-independence era....for once, it's refreshing to read something different besides the tragic Hindu-muslim bloodshed post-partition!!! The author manages to interlace 4 different families with different backgrounds...the Kapoors, Chatterjis, Khans and Mehras...and tells a story which would resonate with generations to come, he touches the essence of being an Indian!

Here I would give kudos to the author's writing style...he is descriptive yet has subtle humour and along the way, gave a peek of the social and political state of the country in early 1950's. I have to admit, there were times when I was tempted to skip some of the lengthy procedures and court scenes because as a reader, you want to keep up the pace and not lose the enthusiasm but my only advice is be patient at such times! It is a treat to read and it does linger in your mind long after you have finished reading.

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I started reading this book only because I thought that I should read the longest single volume novel written in english. I'd then be considered great by my peers &c. What I did not consider while starting to read this book was the enjoyment the book would give me.

The book set in post independence India is perhaps the greatest book of fiction I've ever read.It is the story of Lata, the protagonist, who is being pressurized by her mother to marry a boy of her choice; a typical Indian mother. In course of the narration many people gets involved either directly or indirectly with Lata. The story which started off as a simple concept takes the shape of a huge tree.

A poem written in the book 'The fever bird' is a must read even if you do not want to read the book. Its simply great.

What struck me odd was the expertise and authority with which the author could write about the subjects of a time when he was probably a newborn. Also the professions of the characters has been discussed in detail. The author could, in the same book, give a detail account of everything from court proceedings to medicine to even leather manufacture and trade.

It is, as mentioned earlier the longest single volume work in english and so it takes time to finish. But, as the pages on the right side starts thinning, you shall be dismayed that the book will finish off soon.

It took me a month to finish the book. But, I'm sure there are many who'd do a better job.

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If you think that 1500 pages novel is something not worth spending time, this novel can definitely prove you wrong. Vikram Seth's book is a real masterpiece. you feel like you are reading several novels and several stories going together yet related to each other.

It is the story of the search for a suitable match for Lata. Both Lata and her mother are having different ideas yet having lots of common things between them. But this narrative recedes into the background for long stretches, as we follow the fortunes of various members of three families, including Lata's own, in the years immediately after the partition of India.

Two of the families are Hindu, one is Moslem, and the three are linked to one another by marriage or friendship. There are the Kapoors, whose most prominent member, the charming if rather feckless Maan Kapoor, falls deeply in love with a Moslem singer and courtesan.

There are the Khans, who are Moslem, and whose son Firoz is a close friend of Maan's, a friendship which eventually results in near-tragedy. And there are the Chatterjis, a family of brilliant and highly Anglicised young men and womem: Amit, the poet and novelist, Dipankar the would-be mystic, and Meenakshi and Kakoli, two beautiful and amoral sisters who continually exchange verse couplets with each other in a sort of verbal tennis match of wit. Politics runs through the story as well, and Nehru himself appears occasionally; I have to say that for me these sections were less successful and I was tempted to skip some of the set speeches.

Another minor problem at times was a certain vagueness about which language the characters were speaking. This matters, because the characters themselves make a lot of it; Lata's pompous brother Arun, for example, who is a yuppy before his time, is scornful of Haresh, Lata's husband-to-be, because his English is less than perfect (although, in a delightully ironic passage, he is eventually forced to admit that he, Arun, has never been to England while Haresh has lived and studied there). Mostly, however, Seth manages these linguistic transitions adroitly. Long though this book is, I wouldn't wish it shorter.

In fact, it's so rich that when I reached the end I felt like rereading it; and I'm sure I will.

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When I read this book, it had already become very famous. Since it was so acclaimed and it had won some prestigious awards, I had high expectations. Now, all I can say is-

Basically, whether you read it or not, it doesn’t make any difference.

Now, let me tell you about the book.

The good points first-

First of all, it is a novel. Secondly, it has a ‘HUGE’ canvass. There are so many characters, all with their own unique stories and problems, that it is not a story of anyone in particular. So, the title, ‘a suitable boy’ is kind of misleading. This boy and his bride are two characters in the novel, but they are not really ‘main’ characters. Basically, the story is not focused on any one in particular. The period is early 50s. It is the ‘post-independence’ era. It is a magnificent all-encompassing sketch of northern India from Punjab to Bengal.

The storyline has many facets- it covers everything from the aspirations of the first young generation of independent India, the communal harmony and tension, politics, north Indian culture, social problems, etc.

Obviously, the book is thick, and I took one week to read it. I was having vacations and so had a lot of free time to read lengthy books.I didn't even purchase the book,I took it from my friend and returned it later. I don't have any plans to buy it.It did make an interesting reading sometimes.I was basically impressed by the vastness. But, it got boring at some stages. Especially, the ‘masala’ bollywood style parts were over stretched. So, there was nothing ‘new’ or ‘special’! The ‘formula stuff ’ is nothing new for people like me who have seen bollywood films regularly.

Just see the plots in the novel- girl’s family opposing the marriage of girl and boy, a hindu and a muslim being best friends who misunderstand each other due to communal violence and later patch up, a woman who dislikes her daughter in law (This is actually similar to TV serials!).

So, basically it is a novel based on the social and political situation in north India in late 40s and early 50s.

I have heard that the novel is very popular outside India. That’s possible, I can’t comment on that.

But what is its significance in India?

Well, the problems those are present in the novel (communal tensions, the marital system, generation gap, etc) are still present in India, so one doesn’t get to read anything ‘new’ or ‘different’. Besides, it’s a novel, so it just states the problems, and it doesn’t provide any solutions.

There were some really ‘bad’ traditions and unhealthy social practices at that time. The author describes them in detail- but what I find disappointing is the fact that he doesn’t condemn this stuff.

He doesn’t criticize the wrong things. He makes this into an interesting package and ‘presents’ it for the people who are curious to know about ‘exotic India’. And packaging can be misleading.

There was an attempt to glorify wrong traditions, which was disappointing. Yes, it’s a great thing that Mr. Seth has written such a remarkable novel with interesting plot. I hope somebody writes about the good side of India someday….

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Vikram Seth is an author I can only marvel at. This book- my first of Seth's- is a gigantic work- over a 1000 pages. It chronicles the search for a 'suitable boy' for the main protagonist. The canvas is India post independence, the first flush of euphoria beginning to wear off. The cast is large and superbly characterised- from the extremely anglicised ('choota peg' and 'tiffin!') to the totally rural.

The scenes are so reminiscent of the India I grew up in the early 70's as to be uncanny! Some of the descriptions- such as that of a winter wedding scene- will stay with you long after the book is read and done with.

Suffice to say, India has an author who can handle huge canvases with great aplomb- and write superbly in simple english! Move over Naipaul- we have a new king!

The size of the book is a bit daunting, but once you get into it (took me nearly 50 pages), it is seriously addictive. After the first read, you will find yourself mentally regurgitating and re-digesting bits and pieces of the book for days!

Seth's other books are equally impressive- they demonstrate a mastery of his craft. This title still remains my favourite simply for sentimental reasons.

All in all, a really good read. Very interesting. The one book I would pack for an 18 hour flight that would make Economy class travel enjoyable!

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