Book Description
Vikram Seth's novel is, at its core, a love story: Lata and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, are both trying to find -- through love or through exacting maternal appraisal -- a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Set in the early 1950s, in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, A Suitable Boy takes us into the richly imagined world of four large extended families and spins a compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves. A sweeping panoramic portrait of a complex, multiethnic society in flux, A Suitable Boy remains the story of ordinary people caught up in a web of love and ambition, humor and sadness, prejudice and reconciliation, the most delicate social etiquette and the most appalling violence.
Customer Reviews:
Sumitra.......2007-09-27
A 1500 page book. What a read! Only third of the way through it so far, but a diverse mixture of family life, Indian politics, spirituality, drama. Truely something for everyone who enjoys a good long read. Extremely well written.
Big book - a good read.......2007-09-09
A Suitable Boy, set in India of 1950s, is about finding a good boy for the central character of this book - Lata Mehra. In doing so, Vikram Seth - the author - weaves this story around four families and how these families are inter-connected.
This book also looks into the newly independent India and the environment around that time.
This book begins with one marriage and ends with another. Do read to find out who Lata marries - Kabir, Amit, or Haresh..
should be read by anyone with an interest in India........2007-03-11
amazing book. I really enjoyed Golden Gate, and here I'm reading 'A Suitable Boy' 20 years later. Same deep narrative, same incredibly good dialogue, same themes.
The weird part is that this book could be academically taken on. No matter what happens I will tell my friends about it, & it will be sold.
Ron Skurat
[...]
415-218-4781
Flawed Masterpiece.......2007-03-05
Considered to be one of the seminal works of fiction in the Indian literary space, by sheer size this book definitely is foreboding to the average reader. It took me a few weeks to get through this tome. With all the hype and hoopla surrounding this book during the release about 10 years back , the end result was a marginal let down. To the authors credit, the reader never has to go through the page 15 syndrome, the reading is light throughout , the characters are well etched and there never is a moment when the events are overdrawn. There are very few books which describe post independence India very well and the choice of the period is definitely interesting, also rather than get stuck in a quagmire of "explaining" the depth of poverty, this book deals with a cross section of individuals who cut across various levels. Centered on a lady in a middle class family in small town India, the book comes a good circle from a family marriage to the marriage of the central character. You have a view of the cross section of society in Purva Pradesh (a fictional state in India - this could well have been Uttar Pradesh) , the upper echelons of society in Calcutta with a few characters from Delhi, Kanpur
The author tries hard at providing each character the depth and each chapter by itself stands out as a lesson in history with a backdrop of India struggling to live up to the ideals with which it had been conceived . We have a set of principled politicians , communal harmony and discord, the workings in a colonial firm bereft of the British, poetry, feudalism struggling against empowerment, nepotism and bureaucracy. Per-se this by itself is a fantastic achievement as somehow this is weaved into the core tale of finding a groom for Lata, and inevitably the links can be drawn back to the main theme.
You get a sense of the let down in the final pages of the book wherein I did feel that some of the events which led to the final outcome were a bit forced. For a book that was meandering for most like the river which is the thread to most of the settings , the last few events are a rush - a half baked assault , a choice of a groom which is badly explained and a lot of loose hanging threads. Had a strong feeling of fatigue in the storyline by the end. There are some unnecessary references to senior leaders like Nehru which seem to have been cut short and rather than lending to the storyline , stand out as unnecessary distractions
Nevertheless much of the book has ample charm and as I have already stated, this is a setting that is marked by optimism rather than pathos (which is the theme of most of the post-independence novels) and it does give a lot of insight into the society of the period. I'd still recommend the book in spite of the ending
It's a Book, Not an Elephant.......2007-01-06
A contemporary critic reacted to War and Peace with the exclamation, "It's not a book, but an elephant!" A Suitable Boy is a lengthier book of similar scope (although more tightly-structured, I think). Tolstoy is a genius because He Did It First, but that does not take away from the fact that with A Suitable Boy, Seth has earned his place in the Canon alongside War and Peace, Anna Karenina and other nineteenth-century greats, for every reason one can name.
Let me get it over with. Yes, this is a big book. It is a very long book. It is 1,488 pages long. Yes, let us all say it again: That makes it a Very Long Book. Those readers whose attention spans have been permanently shrunken by 30-second commercials and 50-minute TV programs will have a hard time with this book. There are also lots of important characters, too, just as in Anna Karenina, where you have three families closely depicted. So there are lots of people to keep straight. The good news is that Seth's characterizations are such that you can tell who's speaking, often, merely with the dialogue. You very often don't need the tags, "Arun said," or "Kakoli said." But yes, there are lots of characters, lots of things happening, and it takes a long time to read because it's yes, Very Long. To those whose major complaint is the length: Don't be afraid -- it won't bite. Open it up and read it, one page at a time.
And let us get this out of the way, too: No, this is not a Sweeping Tumutuous Saga. If you loved Kristin Lavransdatter, you will not like A Suitable Boy. It is not a romance novel, even though it begins and ends with weddings. It has a similar feel to Anna Karenina, but with a little more hilarity and a lot less heartbreaking tragedy (in the literary sense). There are political speeches in it, just like in War and Peace, and Vikram Seth takes the trouble to quote speeches and Parliamentary minutes verbatim. He has done his homework. But no bodices are ripped.
The book is a snapshot of life in India in the 1950's. The chronicling of the lives of the Mehra, Kapoor, Chatterji, families is a feast because of delectable prose, excellent characterization, delicious Indian food, and the exciting life of newly-Independent India on the heels of the partition of India and Pakistan. The writing within is nothing if not versatile: Seth does write poetry, but even his novel in verse, The Golden Gate, while equally delicious and fragrant, does contain stanzas of the merest doggerel. Similarly, in A Suitable Boy, the couplets that the Chatterjis fling back and forth are frequently funny, but will not be appearing in any anthologies any time soon. Still, anyone who has been to poetry readings will appreciate the poetry reading scene that Lata attends at the beginning of the book, and one doesn't have to be an expert in 1950's Indian poetry to find Seth's parodies very entertaining. The poems of the character Amit Chatterji are striking, but I admit it will take me a fourth reading to truly appreciate them.
The only complaint I have is an observation: Seth needs a glossary. While most readers won't have trouble with food-related terms like "gulab jamun" or "nimbu pani," they may not precisely know what a khatri is (although they may guess it has something to do with caste), or a Pathan. And with regard to one vocabulary word, the knowledge of it has the potential to affect the reader's perception of Lata and Haresh.
From the first, as soon as Lata meets Haresh, she dislikes his "co-respondent shoes." She makes other observations about his dress, as well. And about his English. But throughout the rest of the book, Lata goes back to those co-respondent shoes. The reference is repeated so it seems to be important -- at least to Lata. But what are co-respondent shoes? It matters: Some manners of dress can reflect negatively on the wearer's good taste, judgment or even sanity, and some complaints about dress reflect only a frivolous snobbery on the part of the viewer. So that if one is rushing a beloved relative into the emergency room for a life-saving appendectomy, the viewer might reasonably demand a change of physicians if the doctor walked in wearing a pair of women's underpants on his head; however, if someone accompanies a beloved family member who is bent double with agony to the doors of the operating room and has nothing better to do than take note that the shirt beneath the surgeon's lab coat is of inferior quality, then he deserves to be flogged. Without knowing what co-respondent shoes are, it could appear that Lata is being juvenile and just looking for reasons to complain because she's angry at her mother for coming between herself and Kabir.
But it turns out that "co-respondent shoes" are a flashy kind of two-toned shoe worn by swingers during the 1930s. They're called "co-respondent" shoes because, as a curator of a shoe museum said, a "co-respondent in a divorce case is the man who has committed adultery with one's wife--'a swinger, so to speak'--yet another association well-suited to the flash and daring of the hot jazz era (think Gatsby, think Moveable Feast). A gentleman rake could count on adding a snap in his step with a pair of flashy two-tones."
So Haresh's shoes were flashy bordering on vulgar but they were also twenty years out of fashion, so the shoes were a lot to overcome.
A reader shouldn't have to resort to a search engine in order to learn such a pivotal point. Please,Vikram Seth, the book is a delightful jewel, so please, help out your readers with a glossary!
The book is delightful in every way, and it is one of those books where you close the book with regret that the book is over. But if you reread this memorable book again, you will keep making new discoveries.
The remainder of this review is devoted to the ending. Please do not proceed any further unless you have read the book.
SPOILER ALERT. SPOILER ALERT. SPOILER ALERT.
Some observations about Lata's ultimate choice: The first time I read this book I thought that Lata had made a terrible mistake, and that her choice was inconsistent with her character, and I felt that Seth had forced the choice against the will of the character to make some kind of heavy-handed point. However, upon re-reading the book, I re-read Haresh's letters, and re-thought the time-line of her romance with Kabir, and her decision makes perfect sense. Lata picked a good man for precisely the right reasons. Kabir is a decent guy, and handsome and witty. But Lata and Kabir really don't develop the friendship that is essential for a good marriage. He's handsome, and he and Lata are intellectually compatible, but for all of that, their romance is an infatuation. In contrast, Haresh grows on Lata, and his fundamental decency and flexibility are more important than what is clearly an infatuation.
Mrs. Rupa Mehra's objection to Lata's relationship with Kabir is that Kabir is a Muslim and Lata is a Hindu. On the surface, the basis for this objection might be considered to be flawed - based on bigotry or stereotyping, but Lata has friends who are in purdah, so her mother's worries are not academic. And one must consider the violence that had just afflicted Hindu and Muslim alike in the time surrounding the Partition - wounds are still raw. In fact, Kedarnath Tandon bears the scars of it on his hands. However, it is clear on a close reading that Mrs. Rupa Mehra is not just indulging in mindless prejudice, but approaches marriage as most likely to be successful when it is a union of two people who have a lot in common. She doesn't just want Lata to marry a Hindu, she wants Lata to marry a khatri boy. She is just as horrified to hear that the brahmin Amit Chatterji is courting Lata, and has the impulse to remove Lata to another town, but realizes that it is not realistic to reduce Lata to an intinerant state because she attracts some unsuitable boys. Reasonable people might debate whether marrying someone who is like you is a good thing or a bad thing, but attributing Lata's family's objections to bigotry or religious closed-mindedness or some other bad trait is simplistic and disingenuous.
More to the point, Lata does not acquiesce to her mother's wishes, she follows her own. Haresh Khanna's misunderstanding of the word "mean," his reaction to it, his apology, and his wish for future guidance from Lata, immediately precede Lata's decision to marry him. Yes, he wears "co-respondent shoes" and doesn't seem to be as handsome as Kabir, speaks thickly-accented English and not well, but looks and shoes are not a good basis for choosing a life partner. Since Lata and Haresh speak several languages, his lack of total fluency in English is not as relevant here. And Lata wants to marry him anyway. This shows her growth, as well. Lata is depicted throughout as an independent-minded, intelligent girl, and the basis for her decision is consistent with her character, for all on first reading it might be tempting to root for Lata-and- Kabir. Furthermore, the outcome demonstrates Seth's ability to write plots and not cliches.
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Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)
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A Suitable Boy : A Novel (Perennial Classics)
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Two Lives
ASIN: 082645707X |
Book Description
This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years - from `The Remains of the Day' to `White Teeth'. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.
Average customer rating:
- This book is the best book in the world
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Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy' Search for Indian Identity
Shyam S. Agarwalla
Manufacturer: Prestige Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 8185218978 |
Customer Reviews:
This book is the best book in the world.......1999-06-24
I think Vikram Seth is the best author in this whole of world. This novel is just terrific and i am tempted to read it again and again. I think everybody ought to read it atleast once.
Book Description
MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.
Customer Reviews:
better than most other high school book notes.......2005-05-27
Like most other high school book notes, this book spends much of the time on plot summary.
There are, however, a few theories and insights which I have not found anywhere else:
--Breath is a symbol of the spirit. Holden is out of breath from smoking, Hold accidentally blows cigarette smoke into the nuns' faces, and the maid breathes on the family food.
--The cap is a consolation prize for failure.
--Holden has greater respect for those whose religious beliefs are inconvenient. That's why he thinks highly of the nuns, but comments disparagingly of the philanthropist undertaker, "I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs."
tha catcher in the rye.......2000-11-23
The catcher in the rye is a great book teenage people should read, This book is a classic for many reasons. One important is the fact how easily people can relate to the character (Holden) in the book Holden often expresses his confusion and loneliness throughout the story, which many teens can look back on and relate. The story happens in new York city in a period of 4 days .I truly recommend this book because I loved the way Sallinger wrote it making everything so real and the way he describes everything .He makes the reader relate to the story that is what makes it so special.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, J.D. SALINGER.......2000-06-15
I FOUND THE BOOK RELATEABLE TO REAL LIFE SITUTAIONS.THE LANGUAGE USED WAS INTRESTING BECAUSE MANY TEENAGERS DO SPEAK THIS WAY, AND CAN UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF VIEW HE IS COMIMG OUT WITH. THE BOOK IS VERY STRONG, THE POINTS THAT ARE BEING MADE ARE VERY HARD HITTING, IN DEPTH, AND THE MESSAGE WAS WRITTEN TO GET THE POINT STRAIGHT ACROSS. I DON'T READ BOOKS I FIND THEM TO BE BORING, I READ PORTRY AND PLAYS. BUT I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE SO INSPIRING ALSO ON TARGET WITH TODAY'S SOCIETY. I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANY FRIST TIME READERS, OR PEOPLE THAT ARE LOOKING FOR EXCITMENT, COMEDEY, AND ACTION. WITH A HARD HITTING MEANING BEHIND THE BOOK THAT COINSIDES WITH REAL LIFE.
Pretty good.......2000-05-18
I was in despepate need for help reading "The Catcher in the Rye" even though it was a good book. I read Cliffs note and I read this. Personally I thought this helped me out more.
The Real Deal.......1999-03-21
I am fifteen years old and I was honestly shocked at how realistic the character of Holden is as a teenager. I noticed that a lot of times he would say something that would be considered bad grammar or something like that, but it's really how people talk! I'm banned from using that kind of talk when I write essays or stories or something, but I love it that someone finally had enough sense to make something real. I also love it that Holden saw everything for what it really is. He's not like most other people. But you know what? Neither am I.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Commonweal, published by Commonweal Foundation on December 3, 2004. The length of the article is 814 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Critics' choices for Christmas.(Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress)(A Suitable Boy)(Miracle Maker: The Selected Poems of Fadhil Al-Azzawi)(Book Review)
Author: Clare Collins Gunther
Publication:
Commonweal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 3, 2004
Publisher: Commonweal Foundation
Volume: 131
Issue: 21
Page: 30(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Former nun Christine Bennett is looking forward to the christening of her friend Maddie's baby. But when she goes to the church basement of the town that was flooded out thirty years before, Christine stumbles upon the skeletel remains of a body--the grim result of a thirty-year old murder. Trying to sort out the sordid puzzle from the past, Christine manages to unravel the dark secets of the once close-knit community, and also reveals a killer who's not afraid to kill again....
Customer Reviews:
What detectives are really this stupid?.......2003-04-26
i thought that this book was a great comfort read, but one thing about it really bothered me - they were trying to figure out who the miraculous medal with the initials A.M. belonged to, and the only person in the town they could think of was a young girl at the time of the murder. well, what about Adele McCormick, the schoolteacher? she has the right initials, she would've been the right age, and working in the same place as candy would've given her plenty of opportunity to somehow get in a huge fight. i just think that it's really sad that a reader noticed a possible lead that the detective (and therefore author) didn't.
ANOTHER GREAT READ.......2000-08-14
In this, the 3rd Christine Bennett mystery (ex-nun, now teacher/sleuth) she travels to the town where she grew up, to attend her friend's baby's christening.......while walking the the basement of the church, she stumbles upon the skeletal remains of a body.....the town had been buried under water for the last 30 years due to a flooding.... This is my favorite book in the series.......well, actually, EACH Christine Bennett book is my favorite! However, I strongly suggest you get your own copy and sit down for a few hours....once you start this, you won't be making dinner or cleaning the house till you finish!! I suggest reading the series in order if you can, as the author develops the relationship between Christine and Jack Brooks, a policeman, so realistically that you won't want to wait long before reading the next one!! My oldest daughter is reading this series along with me and we've spent many an hour over a cup of tea, discussing Christine Bennett!!! I hope Lee Harris continues this series forever!!
Another Harris mystery that really held my interest........2000-02-08
I really enjoyed the first two mysteries in this series, and this one was even better than the those two. This makes two "old" mysteries that Christine Bennett solves, but I like how she digs down and works at finding the facts she needs. I also like the fact that this character can hold onto the good parts of the life she led as a nun. And that she still feels close to the sisters she lived with for so many years. Again, Christine Bennett comes across as intelligent and caring.
Great.......1998-02-09
Love all Lee Harris Books. Does anyone know her real name. Would like to read her other books.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Book Description
Christmas in Camelot
It begins with a simple invitation to spend Christmas Eve in Camelot, a magical place that exists only in myth and fantasy. What Jack and Annie don’t know is that the invitation will send them on a quest to save Camelot itself — not from destruction, but from being forgotten forever.
Haunted Castle on Hallow’s Eve
The castle looms dark against the light of the moon. Giant ravens circle in the sky. Merlin the magician needs someone to find out what has happened. But who is brave enough to brush the cobwebs aside and go through the heavy doors? Merlin thinks he knows the answer to these questions–Jack and Annie.
Summer of the Sea Serpent
Jack and Annie are off on another mythical mission at the request of Merlin the magician. Luckily, they have a young sorcerer, Teddy, to help them. From underwater caves to a Spider Queen, from mystical selkies to a magical sword, this is a Magic Tree House adventure kids won’t want to miss!
Winter of the Ice Wizard
Jack and Annie, joined by Teddy and Kathleen travel in the Magic Tree House to a land of snow where the Ice Wizard has captured Morgan and Merlin. The four friends must find the Ice Wizard’s missing eye . . . or is it really his heart that is missing?
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4 Med Sz PBs
Customer Reviews:
Cool Knights.......2000-12-01
This book was very entertaining. You can be a Wizard or Warrior, similar to an computer role playing game. If you are a wizard, you can cast spells like invisibilty. If youre the warrior you can have awesome weapons like a sword. Its like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book. You decide the outcome.
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The Wizard of Camelot
Manufacturer: Questar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HIRXEG |
Book Description
Dr. Nixon, editor-in-chief of the journal Cancer Prevention, cuts through the hype to explain the latest scientific findings on food and cancer. He presents individualized eating plans according to the type of cancer and offers a three-month plan to benefit the person with cancer. Over 100 recipes help put the plan into action.
Customer Reviews:
Not for cancer recovery.......2000-11-22
This book was a huge disappointment to someone trying to take care of a cancer patient. It is, in essence, a re-hash of the familiar food pyramid guidelines that advise low-fat, low-protein and high-carbohydrate diets, organized around specific cancers. The scientific basis, if there is one, relates to epidemiologic studies of cancer risk. It might be helpful to someone who is trying to reduce their risk of various cancers by altering their dietary habits, but I doubt if this book has much more to offer than most of what has been published on that topic over the past several years. It has no scientific grounding for those who already have cancer, and may in fact suggest dietary patterns that would undermine the nutritional needs of those who are already in treatment, when fats and proteins may be friends. For someone undergoing cancer treatment, or in recovery from that ordeal, it has very little to offer that the hand-outs in your doctor's office don't already tell you.
Best book of its kind.......2000-08-25
This is an excellent book. It allows cancer patients and their caregivers to understand why certain foods and eating styles may help or hurt. It also provides sample recipes to start the patient along in modifying his/her diet.
A LIFETIME PLAN FOR WELLNESS........1999-03-31
GREAT RECIPES AND INFORMATION FROM YEARS OF RESEARCH. A "MUST READ" PUBLICATION FOR US ALL.
best book on the subject.......1998-04-10
Most of the books written on this subject are not reliable sources of reasonable advice and guidance. This book stands out as the best on the subject... and the recipes are great!
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