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Summary: A real glimpse of family life in India
Review: This book was suggested to me by several people when I decided to travel to India. Despite the mammoth size of the book (not easy to fit into a backpack!) I took the advice and began it on the flight over. It was amazing! Maybe reading it while in many of the cities described in the book effected my reading experience, but I think that the story is so wonderful that it would have been the same if I had read it at home. I hope that a talented film maker will attempt to film it someday!
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Summary: Vivid Descriptions but approach with patience!
Review: The characters are delightfully portrayed & most vivid! The description of Indian village life was excellent enough to make you want to visit one!The only things which prevent this from being a 5* review are the lengthy political scenes, which though informative, really did test my patience! I just wanted to get on with the story!! Approach this book with Patience!
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Summary: worth reading once, but won't read it again
Review: Seth's characters are realistic, though somehow shallowly portrayed. Many scenes show great wit and perception. I felt it was almost worth wading through the religious and political tedium (which did, actually, teach me something about India's history) in order to find out what happened to the characters. However, I felt somehow ripped off at the end. In all, a book that's worth reading once quickly, but one I won't read a second time.
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Summary: A Dickensian Delight
Review: To Seth's credit, this mammoth study of four families living through India's growing pains soon after independence is engrossing throughout. With great warmth and humor, he deftly weaves together the personal and political. Never boring (miraculously so for such a long book) this is a good bet for anyone who appreciates historical sagas.
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Summary: The very best book I have ever read.
Review: Mr. Seth, thank you for writing this book. I have read it three times (and yes, I did "strain my wrists.") It is absolutely wonderful, full of great moments of humour and sadness and drama. I love the central love story, the characters. My favourite part of the whole book is a very small bit about "Ma" making a birthday card for her daughter-in-law, I had tears streaming down my cheeks with laughter. I loved the Kakoli couplets. Your poetic table of contents ended with a hint for a sequel. Here is one fan who can't wait to read it!
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Summary: This book should be made into a movie!
Review: Its taken me a long time to read this book, but it was so worth it! It was one of the most enjoyable times of my life (apart from the political factor!), the moments engrossed in the pages of the novel flew like the wind, but the memories of the characters , will stay will me for a very long time to come. It`s almost impossible to comprehend that its all fiction!!!
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Summary: Deeply engrossing, mezmerizing.
Review: The day I completed reading this novel, I felt a great emptiness...I did not want it to end! That a novel of such length takes place in the course of just slightly over one year -- while never bogging down -- is amazing. I have always been fascinated by India's diverse cultures, and enjoyed delving into the era Seth writes about. A glossary would be helpful for those not as familiar with various cultural terms...The funeral scene of Mrs. M.K. was one of the most poignant pieces I've ever read, and it has stayed with me. I bought this book several years ago, but because of its length, held off on reading it. Don't let its length put you off...I couldn't put it down! Thank you, Vikram Seth, for this awesome book.
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Summary: Intricate
Review: This is a wonderful book. It has a simple plot but builds upon it so beautifully and intricately that you almost feel as if you are in post-independence India.
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Summary: Great book - Vikram Seth is a great storyteller
Review: Mr.Seth's book is great. His unique style creates brilliant characters. The best part is - they all are unique and yet easy to relate to. Very plausible. The beauty of the whole thing is that the central story is so simple - of finding a suitable boy. Although many people I know have criticised this work for not being "literary" enough - I don't buy that. It's brilliant in characterization, with every one remaining in the mind for a long time. The humour is excellent - again the kind one can relate to easily. The only place where it falters is that it does not have universal appeal - I feel it is a book primarily of and for Punjabis. There are people who had difficulty in relating to certain characters. The primary reason is that they have not been in that situation so it becomes difficult. This thought got me thinking - I wonder how people who have got nothing to do with India would understand certain typically Indian situations. That apart, it is a great book and I only wish that it was longer.
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Summary: The most enjoyable read I've had in some time
Review: Reading Seth's novel was indescribably pleasurable for me--I felt I just lost myself in the intertwining storylines, and I couldn't think of anything else during the week I read it--I found myself waiting all day until I would get to pick it up again. Multiplot novels can sometimes be frustrating in that you can be absorbed by one of the storylines but not in another (everyone loves the Pierre and Natasha parts of WAR AND PEACE, for example, but most people find themselves getting bored by the "war" sections). But A SUITABLE BOY didn't read that way at all: just when he'd finish with one storyline, Seth would pick up with another equally engrossing so that you'd almost forget what a good time you had reading the previous one (and then be delighted when he picked it up again because you had forgotten how much you had liked the earlier one). The best comparisons of this novel are to MIDDLEMARCH and the finest Trollope novels--its really that enjoyable.
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