I recently re-read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy - its a novel I have read and recommended to so many people that i feel it merits a mention as one of the GREATEST novels ever.
At its heart its a love story - but its so much more then that. Seth is able to cleverly weave together in one novel the stories of so many individuals and families, so many lives, different social strata - a courtesan, a politician, a student, a zamindar, a communist student, a lovable rogue, a professor, a widowed mother, a cobbler, a socialite, a poet, a child genius, - and many more. A Suitable Boy takes the reader on a journey through post partition India, touching on diverse issues raging from politics, land acts and riots to family strife, a musician losing his trade, forbidden love and high society in Calcutta - and a whole plethora of issues in between.
It is a brilliant novel - captivating, interesting and above all beautifully written: I know I'll read it again and again in years to come. And thats why A Suitable Boy is great!
6 comments:
This comment contains a spoiler, so don't read on if you have never read the book.......the shoemaker really?! Why?!!!!
i know i know - and I agree!!! its weird but the ending doesnt detract from the rest of the novel's brilliance.
Lata chooses Haresh because everything about life with him will be completely different, Prahapore is not Brahmpur, its a new place and new begining and he also loved someone else too, the whole Simran thing is sad too. its all heartbreaking but hopeful.
Why do Indian novels talk about marrying the one you don't love with all your heart. I think its a family thing, its that belief that life is easier in a marriage which is "approved"? I suppose if thats your priority?
i don't think she chooses him because its 'approved) I think she chooses him because its a change from everything she already knows.
I mean she had her own weirdly fangled reasons for not choosing kabir (I SO would have) but i don't think she chooses the cobbler because its the approved thing - i think her reasoning is more complex then that.
wow you have really been busy on the blog! Good one. I agree it is more complex, admittedly I have not read the novel as recently as you, but I do think that is definitely part of the reason, the fact he is sanctioned by the family is a reason, as I recall.
yes, unfortunately i agree, its a reason. but its a reason i don't agree with - i guess thats why i am so adamant that there are other reasons she ends up choosing him too!!
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