don't even know where to begin gushing about this one, so panoramic is its scope and so delightful its literary charms, Vikram Seth's,word magnum opus is lengthier than War and Peace and more compulsively readable than a wellpaced soap opera, It is an event in one's life, I call it a soap opera, because fundamentally, the plot is a family drama, revolving around the wooers of its principal character, Lata Mehra,
Set in the earlys and written with a forceful simplicity akin to R K Narayan, it coversmonths in the entwined lives of four families the Mehras, Kapoors, Chatterjis, and Khans and through these characters proffers an intricate peek into a most fascinating and neglected period in Indian history.
It is an uncertain era the subcontinent has been Partitioned on religious grounds and India is making its wobbly transition from feudalism to democracy, The First Great General Elections are to be held inand the central legislative event is the abolition of the oppressive zamindari system, and with it, an entire way of life: courtesans, Hindustani classical musicians and purana khidmatgars.
Caste is beginning to make itself felt in electoral calculations, and Nehru remains a force to be reckoned with, On this level, A Suitable Boy is painstakingly researched historical fiction, Seth writes with a level of detail that is unreal, As one reviewer notes, "he writes with the omniscience and authority of a large, orderly committee of experts on Indian politics, law, medicine, crowd psychology, urban and rural social customs, dress, cuisine, horticulture, funerary rites, cricket and even the technicalities of shoe manufacture.
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A Suitable Boy is undoubtedly one of the biggest achievements of world literature and will remain one of my alltime favourites, I feel lucky to have read it at this point in time since I can't wait for its sequel coming out next year, the appropriately titled A Suitable Girl.
EDIT: It's been over four years since I wrote this review, Seth still hasn't finished A Suitable Girl, though I'm pretty sure it's going to be worth the wait, Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy is one of the best books I've ever read in my entire life, It's a long book. But it is very engaging I managed to read it in one stretch, with a break to sleep, while I awaited the movers to take me and my belongings across the country.
To my chagrin I had completed it before my flight, and when it finished I didn't want the book to be over, I wanted to go back and reread it from the beginning.
It is one of the best books about life in India I've ever read, it is the antiKite Runner book, There is nothing trite or stereotyped about the characterization it believably describes elements of society that are even oblique to people within the mainstream of modern Indian society the plot is not simple, nor is it a convoluted mystery story.
Writing this up I think I should go get it and read it again, Like most of my favorite books I gave it away a long time ago, It definitely feels like an accomplishment now that I've finished it,
Omg. Spoiler alert
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finally finished reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, For some reason, I used to avoid picking it up and kept putting it off, I suppose it was mainly the size its one thick book approximatelypages! but I also think it had to do with this misconception I had that it would be a tough read, that Seths writing would be pompous and saturated with flowery descriptions of rivers winding through the green and yellow village of GraamNagar.
Imagine my surprise when I find that the language is smooth, his tone light and his narrative interesting, The fact that Seth managed to keep the threads of the numerous plots and subplots clear in his head is an accomplishment in itself, but even more impressive is how each characters of his story is real they are people we recognize, with mannerisms weve noticed in ourselves and others, and dialogues weve heard, thought or spoken.
The title might suggest that its the story of finding the perfect marriage candidate for the central character but that would be belittling the grand work that is A Suitable Boy.
It is the story of the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Khans, the Chatterjis and a myriad of other characters, such as Saeeda Bai and Kakoli, many of whom are fleshed out substantially, even when their appearance is minimal.
The beauty of the story arises from their interactions with each other, their thoughts and their ups and downs, Little details that create vivid images of a decaying courtesans world, a cosmopolitan Calcutta, the shoemakers rank as in rancid neighbourhoods and so on, The story covers about a year of the characters lives, detailing the day to day mundanity, Little decisions a smile here, a letter there, a glass of nimbu pani lemonwater every now and then are what makes the story, Yet these little decisions, these microsteps that are taken, culminate in huge changes that are noticed only in hindsight,
Im probably not giving away any surprises when I say that I was thoroughly pissed off at Lata Mehras decision to marry Haresh Khanna, I shouldnt have been surprised because Lata does say in the first few pages, ” I always obey my mother” and so the ending wasnt so much a surprise as it was a disappointment.
I did understand why she did it, but I couldnt help my acute disappointment in her all the same, I was genuinely frustrated at her pigheadedness, her thought process that led her to this decision, I was angry because I am afraid that her reasoning resonated with the coward in everyone, especially south asian girls who have had to, or will have to, at least discuss the concept of arranged marriage at some point in their lives.
Ironically, her mother later suffered a number of qualms herself about whether Haresh would be the right boy for her daughter, Had Lata decided against the marriage, Mrs, Mehra would have been perfectly amenable, especially since Latas yuppie brother Arun did not condone the marriage either, So why did Lata decide to snub both Kabir, the Muslim she fell in love with, or Amit, the Bengali poet she could fall in love with easily Her reasoning in the last few pages was scary because it reminded me of how we would rather our lives be a smooth ride of mediocrity than a roller coaster of brilliance that plummets from time to time.
We choose to be mediocrely happy the utilitarian idea that the “aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number” sitelink mw. com.
She says, “Im not myself when Im with him Kabir, I ask myself, who is this this jealous, obsessed woman, I dont want to passionately love him, I dont know want to, If thats what passion means, I dont want it, ”
Once Lata makes her decision, we know that she will lead her life contently enough, It upset me because I saw Lata in a number of people I know in real life, including myself, Mind you, I am not advocating against arranged marriage as a whole because I know they can work, Latas sister Savita, who marries Pran after meeting him only once in front of her elders, does genuinely fall in love with him and go on to lead a happy life.
So its not that arranged marriages are wrong, I just felt that Lata was wrong in her decision to marry Haresh, Even if he was considered fair and good looking, confident and ambitious, Ironically, from Hareshs side, its not exactly a traditional arranged marriage, He arranges his nuptials himself because he doesnt like the parents getting involved in this matter his parents already know that he will run away metaphorically speaking if they try to set him up.
So to Haresh, this is a decision hes making by himself for his own benefit, Haresh had already been in love with someone else before, had neatly folded away his Devdas romanticism for that girl and was ready now to live a contented life with someone else it just happened to be Lata.
He is oh so bloody honest about his feelings for this girl, and that he knows it wont ever happen and so must move on Lata wanted his practicality, his forceful ability to get things done, his willingness to help out her family members.
What angered me was the underlying assumption that Kabir/Amit couldnt be all those things, that they would be selfish beings simply because they would also love her, and she would have to him either him back.
My favourite characters in the book are Amit Chatterji and Pran Kapoor, I know Vikram Seth denies fashioning Amit after him, but to be honest, for some reason while I was reading about Amits tendencies for the necessary inactivity that comes with being a writer, I thought of Seth.
What I liked about Amit was that he was the uber intellectual: his tone was oftsardonic, his amusement frequent, his observations of people accepting and piercing, He talked a lot and said very little, He was cryptic in his cynicism, I loved him. Lata rejects him on the basis of his being "highmaintenance" type someone who needs his meals laid out for him, who wouldnt have time for her if he was working on a novel, and whose moodswings are as frequent as her own.
I dont buy that completely, He did make the time for her, he knew how to be charming and behave in society he wasnt an absentminded intellectual, he knew what he wanted and he knew how to get what he wants.
Lata was right in that he wouldnt fall apart at her rejection, but I think its not his insensitivity that would allow him to be friends with her after her marriage, but his excessive civility, his sophistication and his writers acceptance of life.
My other favourite character, Pran Kapoor a thin, dark quiet professor is a sweetheart, The kind of nice guy who doesnt begrudge his motherinlaws long vacations with them, who plays April Fools Day jokes on people because “those who arent conscious of the date must take the consequences”.
He is the ultimate good son, who quietly accepts his arranged marriage and falls in love with his wife, His was the real arranged marriage, in the true sense of the word, and yet you cannot dislike him or his wife Savita because they are both so lovable people, that you just know that they were destined to be together, no matter how they got together.
For those of you who havent read it, do, Trust me, I cant begin to describe the many shades there are to each character and how nothing I say will completely do justice to them, I got mad at one characters one decision, not at the book, Seth is amazing. His voice is uninstrusive and style very graceful, Thats the word: graceful. Despite its size, you get a soft feeling reading it, True it is a tad tedious at times, Some of the political parts and some of the characters could have been done without, But in the end, you cant get angry at someone who gives you the whole cake when all you asked for was a slice,
Un buen partido es una novela que transcurre entreyunos pocos años tras la independencia de la India, un pais multiétnico en pleno cambio y preparándose para sus primeras elecciones y Vikram Seth, su autor, para contarnos todos estos cambios sociales y politicos, nos la sitúa en la ciudad ficticia de Brahmpur alrededor de cuatro familias: los Kapoor, Khan, Chatterjis y finalmente los Mehra.
Tres de estas familias están relacionadas por lazos familiares a través del matrimonio, los Khan, musulmanes, por lazos de amistad, Hindúes y musulmanes unidos y desunidos continuamente por esos lazos familiares y de amistad en una India inmersa en un continuo conflicto religioso y social,
"Mide,. Es alta, de piel no muy clara, pero atractiva e inteligente al estilo indio, Creo que su aspiración es llevar una vida tranquila, sin sobresaltos, "
Es la matriarca de los Mehra, Rupa Mehra, el personaje central y el hilo conductor que aúna los cuatro núcleos familiares, La búsqueda de un buen partido para su hija Lata por parte de su madre, Rupa Mehra, es la excusa para mostrarnos a la India de aquella época, un microcosmos en plena ebullición que ha dado el paso de la independencia y que sin embargo todavía está firmemente asentada en un colonianismo traumático, del cual se ven trazas muy firmes en algunos personajes de esta espléndida novela.
Quizás pueden echar para atrás suspáginas, todo un tocho, y sin embargo, sin esa cantidad de páginas hubiera sido completamente imposible hacerse una idea del personaje principal de la novela, que realmente es la India.
Hay muchos personajes pero la claridad en el estilo de Vikram Seth no hace complicado reconocerlos, todo lo contrario, poco a poco los vas reconociendo y te vas encariñando, incluso algunos más secundarios, los reconoces enseguida en cuanto aparecen tras varios cientos de páginas sin aparecer.
Un consejo para leerla podría ser tomándotela como una serie de tv la novela está dividida enpartes, cada parte como un capitulo de una serie y leer esa parte como un todo al igual que vemos un capitulo de una serie del tirón.
En fin, una tonteria pero podría ayudar para emprender una novela de estas características,
"Cuando hay que hacer una cosa, hay que hacerla y punto, Un tio mío de Delhi cree que estoy contaminado, que he perdido la casta por trabajar con el cuero, Casta!"
Es una novela además sobre raza y clases sociales, muy marcadas y diferenciadas y sin embargo, algunos personajes sirven como interconexión entre las diferentes clases sociales, personajes que al igual que el pais en pleno cambio, intentan evolucionar y ajustarse a los nuevos tiempos.
En ese aspecto me parece espléndido el retrato que hace el autor de Arun, el hermano de Lata, que de alguna forma retrata ese colonianismo mental sofisticado y clasista de algunos indios incluso después de haberse independizado de los británicos, y por otra parte Haresh, un hombre hecho a si mismo, no perteneciente a a la élite clasista, y que de alguna forma demuestra lo que significan los nuevos tiempos por venir.
"Lata se asombraba de que Haresh hubiera podido sacar tan buenas notas en la universidad y ganarse la vida al mismo tiempo, Pero su acento seguía molestándola, . . Reflexionó que Haresh, en sentido estricto, no estaba occidentalizado: percibía que en sus modales y su manera de expresarse se hallaban un poco a medio camino entre lo hindú y lo europeo.
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Es cierto que en este libro hay partes algo áridas referidas a la politica, al cricket y a la industria zapatera, pero es un problema completamente menor porque una vez que terminas esos capitulos explicativos, vuelves a disfrutar con las redes sociales que se van tejiendo en torno a todos estos personajes maravillosos y que una vez terminada la novela echas de menos como si hubieran formado parte de tu entorno más real.
Savita, Maan, Pran, Amit, Kabir, Haresh, Rasheed, Firoz, Meenkashi, Malati, Mahesh Kapoor, Lata, Saeeda Bai , . . por nombrar a algunos, todos y cada uno de ellos muestran un rasgo identificativo de la India, Épica e inmensa novela.
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