Scan barcode
cainrdc's review against another edition
4.0
After the first few hundred pages, I forgot how long (and heavy...) the book was because I was just so immersed in the lives of the characters. Where is the miniseries? Also felt like I didn't know nearly as much as I should about India/Pakistani history. Excellent- but looong - read.
thaurisil's review against another edition
5.0
It took me three months, but I did it. I finished reading A Suitable Boy.
Not that it was a difficult or boring book to read; on the contrary, I was surprised that such a long book managed to hold my attention. I read every word, never finding the need to skim through any of it. Seth's writing is engaging and easy to read, even when he writes about politics or history. The plot, with all its ups and downs, is at times dramatic but never unrealistic, and very seldom mundane.
Although the premise of the book is about a girl and her mother looking for a suitable husband, this is really a book that has everything that can happen in India. There is history and politics, with India gearing up for its first General Election. There is religion, with constant tension and occasionally violence between the Hindus and the Muslims, and India and Pakistan. There is love, lots of it – passionate romance, steady love, budding romance, unrequited love, infatuation, fading feelings, doting love, wild uncontrollable love and sex, familial affection, forbidden love, homosexual love, adultery, overprotective love, arranged marriages, wistful love for the dead, and several other types. There are social norms and discrimination and class differences, between the rich and the poor, the Europeans (particularly the English) and the Indians, the educated and uneducated, the urban and rural dwellers, people from different castes, and people of different skin colours. There is birth and death and illness. There is nature and architecture. English literature, traditional Indian music, and Czech shoes all play a part. There is something for everyone in this book, and Seth's ability to weave it all together shows a great amount of research and an impressive understanding of all things related to India, and clarity of thought and writing as well.
But it was the characters that really drew me in. There are two main plotlines, one of Lata, stubborn yet shy, looking for a husband amongst her three suitors, with her dramatically emotional and controlling mother Mrs Rupa Mehra insisting on her choosing a suitable one, and one of Maan, son of the minister Mahesh Kapoor, and his torrid affair with the courtesan Saeeda Bai. Each of them has their own families with their own plotlines, and everyone in their families have their friends, acquaintances and enemies, many of whom interact with an even wider web of people. Yet Seth manages to give everyone in the novel a distinct personality, and when minor characters reappeared I seldom had any difficulty remembering who they were and what they had done. The characters were realistic, with all the major characters and some of the minor ones having both good and bad traits, and even the unlikeable characters had moments where the reader sympathised with them.
There are too many characters to mention in detail, but my favourites were Amit and Maan. Amit Chatterji, son of the judge Justice Chatterji, eldest of five eccentric children, brother of Lata's vain sister-in-law and one of Lata's suitors, attracted me with his sardonic wit, self-deprecation, humility, and genuine feelings for Lata. A famous Cambridge-educated lawyer-turned-poet, he had few friends, preferring to remain at home making fun of his siblings and writing under influence of his Muse. He was humorous and easygoing, but there was something darker in his poetry that never quite emerged in character. Lata eventually rejected him, and despite his disappointment he took it magnanimously, in keeping with his personality. Maan was a totally different character. Wild and unmanageable, he spent the greater part of the book courting Saeeda Bai to the distress of his family, drinking, gambling, and irresponsibly avoiding his business and fiancee in Banaras. Despite this, I liked his natural generosity and impulsive carefreeness, and even came to hope that good things would come out of his impossible relatioship with Saeeda Bai. I was touched when he reconnected with his father during the election campaigns, distraught when he was tormented at stabbing his friend Firoz in a drunken rage, and relieved when he was eventually acquitted and made up with Firoz. I admit that I initially disapproved of him, but he grew on me and in the end I was heartened by his maturation.
Much has been made of Lata eventually choosing the pompous yet down-to-earth Haresh. Certainly, he was the most boring of the three suitors, and many would have preferred her to choose Kabir, the Muslim (and thus forbidden) boy with whom she had a passionate relationship, or Amit, who was reserved about his unrequited feelings for her. But when I read her explanations to Malati at the end, I could understand why she chose Haresh. Amit was always out of the question, with Lata never returning his feelings. But Kabir? He may seem the perfect choice for those who believe in love above everything else, but in Lata's words, she was "out of control" with him, "utterly useless for anything". Her passion for him was too strong and too dangerous, and didn't gel with her usual restrained personality. She became someone else when she was with Kabir. Haresh, on the other hand, didn't impress Lata initially, but his steadiness, honesty, kind-heartedness and faithfulness to Lata eventually won her over, and she saw him as someone that she liked and might even love. He was someone that Lata could live peacefully and build a stable relationship with.
I enjoyed the poetry as well. My favourites were the Kakoli couplets, humourous and frivolous rhyming couplets that the Chatterji siblings, and especially Kakoli, spouted at inappropriate events. Amit's haunting poetry was nice, the bad poetry recited at the Brahmpur Literary Society was funny, and the lyrics of Indian songs were used to great effect. Even the acknowledgements and content pages were rhymed poems.
I cannot do this book justice. There is too much to say about it. I will probably never read it again as it is too long, but I urge you to read it if you haven't done so yet.
Not that it was a difficult or boring book to read; on the contrary, I was surprised that such a long book managed to hold my attention. I read every word, never finding the need to skim through any of it. Seth's writing is engaging and easy to read, even when he writes about politics or history. The plot, with all its ups and downs, is at times dramatic but never unrealistic, and very seldom mundane.
Although the premise of the book is about a girl and her mother looking for a suitable husband, this is really a book that has everything that can happen in India. There is history and politics, with India gearing up for its first General Election. There is religion, with constant tension and occasionally violence between the Hindus and the Muslims, and India and Pakistan. There is love, lots of it – passionate romance, steady love, budding romance, unrequited love, infatuation, fading feelings, doting love, wild uncontrollable love and sex, familial affection, forbidden love, homosexual love, adultery, overprotective love, arranged marriages, wistful love for the dead, and several other types. There are social norms and discrimination and class differences, between the rich and the poor, the Europeans (particularly the English) and the Indians, the educated and uneducated, the urban and rural dwellers, people from different castes, and people of different skin colours. There is birth and death and illness. There is nature and architecture. English literature, traditional Indian music, and Czech shoes all play a part. There is something for everyone in this book, and Seth's ability to weave it all together shows a great amount of research and an impressive understanding of all things related to India, and clarity of thought and writing as well.
But it was the characters that really drew me in. There are two main plotlines, one of Lata, stubborn yet shy, looking for a husband amongst her three suitors, with her dramatically emotional and controlling mother Mrs Rupa Mehra insisting on her choosing a suitable one, and one of Maan, son of the minister Mahesh Kapoor, and his torrid affair with the courtesan Saeeda Bai. Each of them has their own families with their own plotlines, and everyone in their families have their friends, acquaintances and enemies, many of whom interact with an even wider web of people. Yet Seth manages to give everyone in the novel a distinct personality, and when minor characters reappeared I seldom had any difficulty remembering who they were and what they had done. The characters were realistic, with all the major characters and some of the minor ones having both good and bad traits, and even the unlikeable characters had moments where the reader sympathised with them.
There are too many characters to mention in detail, but my favourites were Amit and Maan. Amit Chatterji, son of the judge Justice Chatterji, eldest of five eccentric children, brother of Lata's vain sister-in-law and one of Lata's suitors, attracted me with his sardonic wit, self-deprecation, humility, and genuine feelings for Lata. A famous Cambridge-educated lawyer-turned-poet, he had few friends, preferring to remain at home making fun of his siblings and writing under influence of his Muse. He was humorous and easygoing, but there was something darker in his poetry that never quite emerged in character. Lata eventually rejected him, and despite his disappointment he took it magnanimously, in keeping with his personality. Maan was a totally different character. Wild and unmanageable, he spent the greater part of the book courting Saeeda Bai to the distress of his family, drinking, gambling, and irresponsibly avoiding his business and fiancee in Banaras. Despite this, I liked his natural generosity and impulsive carefreeness, and even came to hope that good things would come out of his impossible relatioship with Saeeda Bai. I was touched when he reconnected with his father during the election campaigns, distraught when he was tormented at stabbing his friend Firoz in a drunken rage, and relieved when he was eventually acquitted and made up with Firoz. I admit that I initially disapproved of him, but he grew on me and in the end I was heartened by his maturation.
Much has been made of Lata eventually choosing the pompous yet down-to-earth Haresh. Certainly, he was the most boring of the three suitors, and many would have preferred her to choose Kabir, the Muslim (and thus forbidden) boy with whom she had a passionate relationship, or Amit, who was reserved about his unrequited feelings for her. But when I read her explanations to Malati at the end, I could understand why she chose Haresh. Amit was always out of the question, with Lata never returning his feelings. But Kabir? He may seem the perfect choice for those who believe in love above everything else, but in Lata's words, she was "out of control" with him, "utterly useless for anything". Her passion for him was too strong and too dangerous, and didn't gel with her usual restrained personality. She became someone else when she was with Kabir. Haresh, on the other hand, didn't impress Lata initially, but his steadiness, honesty, kind-heartedness and faithfulness to Lata eventually won her over, and she saw him as someone that she liked and might even love. He was someone that Lata could live peacefully and build a stable relationship with.
I enjoyed the poetry as well. My favourites were the Kakoli couplets, humourous and frivolous rhyming couplets that the Chatterji siblings, and especially Kakoli, spouted at inappropriate events. Amit's haunting poetry was nice, the bad poetry recited at the Brahmpur Literary Society was funny, and the lyrics of Indian songs were used to great effect. Even the acknowledgements and content pages were rhymed poems.
I cannot do this book justice. There is too much to say about it. I will probably never read it again as it is too long, but I urge you to read it if you haven't done so yet.
jujudepamplemousse's review against another edition
5.0
Do not plan on reading A Suitable Boy if you don’t like details. The novel starts by two citations by Voltaire that set the tone for the story ahead « The superfluous, that very necessary thing… » and « The secret of being a bore is to say everything ». That being said, the details created a wonder. All the little details put together contributed to creating an incredibly rich, vivid and epic story.
A Suitable Boy is a fully documented record of one year in the lives of four interconnected middle class Indian families. Vikram Seth pulled the amazing feat of both capturing perfectly the essence of the early 1950’s, post-independence and post-Partition India and creating a magnificent set of authentic and consistent characters.
Contrary to my preconception, the writing was very smooth and I was hooked up from the first page to the last one. It is the longest novel I’ve ever read but still, I couldn’t help feeling dismay as the remaining pages started to thin out.
The novel was so immensely enjoyable that despite its massiveness I know that I am bound to read it again. Without doubt it is the best novel that I've read so far in 2021.
A Suitable Boy is a fully documented record of one year in the lives of four interconnected middle class Indian families. Vikram Seth pulled the amazing feat of both capturing perfectly the essence of the early 1950’s, post-independence and post-Partition India and creating a magnificent set of authentic and consistent characters.
Contrary to my preconception, the writing was very smooth and I was hooked up from the first page to the last one. It is the longest novel I’ve ever read but still, I couldn’t help feeling dismay as the remaining pages started to thin out.
The novel was so immensely enjoyable that despite its massiveness I know that I am bound to read it again. Without doubt it is the best novel that I've read so far in 2021.
lemon_drop's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
wilde_woolf's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.75
Would have been five stars if the ending was different
rociovoncina's review against another edition
5.0
Titulo: A Suitable Boy
Autor: Vikram Seth
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Tapa blanda, 1474 paginas, Harper Perennial.
Puntuacion: 5/5
No es la primera vez que leo a Vikram Seth, ya estoy familiarizada con su prosa descriptiva y hermosa, pero siempre me resisti a leer este libro por una simple razon. Este es el primer libro de lo que podria ser una bilogia, y por la extension de este primer libro no queria llegar al final y que este fuera abierto.
Alguien podria decir "si ese fuera el caso, podrias leer el segundo libro", y aqui es donde tenemos un pequeño problema. Aquellos que piensan que George R.R. Martin se esta tomando demasiado tiempo en continuar "A Song of Ice and Fire" claramente no conocen a Vikram Seth.
"A Suitable Boy" fue publicado en 1993, y durante algunas entrevistas durante años, el autor dijo que habria una secuela, que estaba trabajando en el manuscrito. Hasta que en el 2009 se anuncio que "A Suitable Girl" era oficial..bravo!! Todos felices, no? Nahh..esperen..Estamos en el 2013, y entonces se anuncia que "A Suitable Girl" sera publicada en el 2016..bravoooo!!..pero..lamento traerles malas noticias, en el 2016 no hubo libro. Otro anuncio para 2017..que al final tampoco se cumplio ese año. Haciendo una busqueda encontre que amazon UK anuncia el libro para 2025: A Suitable Girl
..pero como dicen por ahi..
Bueno, ahora si, adentremonos en esta obra monumental. "A Suitable Boy" esta situada en la India, en la decada de 1950 (a tres años de la particion y liberacion de Inglaterra, despues de haber sido colonia por 250 años), es un pais convulso y paradojico, donde el centro es la politica y como todo intenta reacomodarse. Vikram Seth relata mucho detalle sobre la vida politica y social, donde por momentos estos elementos no pueden separarse.
En mi caso es una cultura de la cual conozco muchisimo, dicho esto considero que esta obra no seria apropiada para alguien que tenga cero idea sobre el pais/cultura. Habria demasiados detalles que se perderian, y podria hasta aburrir a cierta clase de lectores.
Esta obra abarca mucha descripcion de lo que es la vida familiar, la posicion que tiene cada integrante dentro del hogar. Si se mira con ojos occidentales, la libertad es algo cuestionable, ya que ser "dueño de uno mismo" no es algo palpable dentro de la cultura. Desde la eleccion del conyuge, hasta no poder pasear sola por la calle (por el que diran, porque esto puede afectar el honor familiar), la presion por el estatus social, la presion por el sistema de castas (la mezcla de castas podria llevar a un desenlace fatal si se da el caso que las familias fueran ultra conservadoras).
El sostener las apariencias lo es todo, el tener el honor inmaculado lo es todo. Sera mejor que aceptes lo que dicen tus padres, un simple "Haan, Qubool Hai" (si, acepto) podria ser la diferencia entre sobrevivir o condenar tu vida al desastre. En casi todas las situaciones un " Ji Nahi" (no) ni siquiera es una posibilidad.
En la trama seguimos a varias famillias que se van entrelazando/relacionando. Como mencione el asunto de la politica esta muy presente, y esto se balancea entre la vida familiar, la perdida, el nacimiento, la amistad, el amor, las espectativas, los sueños rotos.
Por el titulo del libro alguien podria creer que la busqueda de un pretendiente "correcto" es la genesis y el centro de la trama, pero no realmente, este asunto se aborda cerca del final. Y sinceramente la eleccion me dejo un sabor a conformismo (esto no es una critica negativa), a veces la vida se da asi, y algunas personas deben hacer lo mejor que pueden con lo que finalmente eligen.
Como ultimo punto, pero no menos importante, una vez mas resaltar la prosa de Vikram Seth, es una belleza, junto a su capacidad de capturar el sentimiento y el estado animico de la ambientacion hace que este libro para mi sea perfecto! :)
Pss..quiero que sepan algo..el final no es abierto!
Autor: Vikram Seth
Motivo de lectura: Letras Macabras (Isla Macabra 2023)
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Tapa blanda, 1474 paginas, Harper Perennial.
Puntuacion: 5/5
No es la primera vez que leo a Vikram Seth, ya estoy familiarizada con su prosa descriptiva y hermosa, pero siempre me resisti a leer este libro por una simple razon. Este es el primer libro de lo que podria ser una bilogia, y por la extension de este primer libro no queria llegar al final y que este fuera abierto.
Alguien podria decir "si ese fuera el caso, podrias leer el segundo libro", y aqui es donde tenemos un pequeño problema. Aquellos que piensan que George R.R. Martin se esta tomando demasiado tiempo en continuar "A Song of Ice and Fire" claramente no conocen a Vikram Seth.
"A Suitable Boy" fue publicado en 1993, y durante algunas entrevistas durante años, el autor dijo que habria una secuela, que estaba trabajando en el manuscrito. Hasta que en el 2009 se anuncio que "A Suitable Girl" era oficial..bravo!! Todos felices, no? Nahh..esperen..Estamos en el 2013, y entonces se anuncia que "A Suitable Girl" sera publicada en el 2016..bravoooo!!..pero..lamento traerles malas noticias, en el 2016 no hubo libro. Otro anuncio para 2017..que al final tampoco se cumplio ese año. Haciendo una busqueda encontre que amazon UK anuncia el libro para 2025: A Suitable Girl
..pero como dicen por ahi..
Bueno, ahora si, adentremonos en esta obra monumental. "A Suitable Boy" esta situada en la India, en la decada de 1950 (a tres años de la particion y liberacion de Inglaterra, despues de haber sido colonia por 250 años), es un pais convulso y paradojico, donde el centro es la politica y como todo intenta reacomodarse. Vikram Seth relata mucho detalle sobre la vida politica y social, donde por momentos estos elementos no pueden separarse.
En mi caso es una cultura de la cual conozco muchisimo, dicho esto considero que esta obra no seria apropiada para alguien que tenga cero idea sobre el pais/cultura. Habria demasiados detalles que se perderian, y podria hasta aburrir a cierta clase de lectores.
Esta obra abarca mucha descripcion de lo que es la vida familiar, la posicion que tiene cada integrante dentro del hogar. Si se mira con ojos occidentales, la libertad es algo cuestionable, ya que ser "dueño de uno mismo" no es algo palpable dentro de la cultura. Desde la eleccion del conyuge, hasta no poder pasear sola por la calle (por el que diran, porque esto puede afectar el honor familiar), la presion por el estatus social, la presion por el sistema de castas (la mezcla de castas podria llevar a un desenlace fatal si se da el caso que las familias fueran ultra conservadoras).
El sostener las apariencias lo es todo, el tener el honor inmaculado lo es todo. Sera mejor que aceptes lo que dicen tus padres, un simple "Haan, Qubool Hai" (si, acepto) podria ser la diferencia entre sobrevivir o condenar tu vida al desastre. En casi todas las situaciones un " Ji Nahi" (no) ni siquiera es una posibilidad.
En la trama seguimos a varias famillias que se van entrelazando/relacionando. Como mencione el asunto de la politica esta muy presente, y esto se balancea entre la vida familiar, la perdida, el nacimiento, la amistad, el amor, las espectativas, los sueños rotos.
Por el titulo del libro alguien podria creer que la busqueda de un pretendiente "correcto" es la genesis y el centro de la trama, pero no realmente, este asunto se aborda cerca del final. Y sinceramente la eleccion me dejo un sabor a conformismo (esto no es una critica negativa), a veces la vida se da asi, y algunas personas deben hacer lo mejor que pueden con lo que finalmente eligen.
Como ultimo punto, pero no menos importante, una vez mas resaltar la prosa de Vikram Seth, es una belleza, junto a su capacidad de capturar el sentimiento y el estado animico de la ambientacion hace que este libro para mi sea perfecto! :)
Pss..quiero que sepan algo..el final no es abierto!
harmonictempest's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful writing, captivating characters.
Extremely long, and don’t read it for a hugely satisfying and well-tied up overall plot line.
Extremely long, and don’t read it for a hugely satisfying and well-tied up overall plot line.
mastersal's review against another edition
4.0
This book was my introduction to Mr Seth and I loved it. I probably read it too early but it was great to see India come across so authentically and not be treated as an exotic oddity. The length was great since there was time to meander and get to know this family slowly.
The Calcutta setting was important to my grandfather who gave this book to me. I started reading this book to get what he found so interesting and stayed for the book. Still one of my sharpest memories of the book was the affair mentioned in the book and the clandestine sex. Not graphic but I was scandalized. Ah youth!!
I have to go back and reeead this behemoth. Perhaps listen to the audio and see how this has held up.
The Calcutta setting was important to my grandfather who gave this book to me. I started reading this book to get what he found so interesting and stayed for the book. Still one of my sharpest memories of the book was the affair mentioned in the book and the clandestine sex. Not graphic but I was scandalized. Ah youth!!
I have to go back and reeead this behemoth. Perhaps listen to the audio and see how this has held up.
fiberreader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0