A Suitable Boy

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Summary: A delightful read, indian emotions vented like never before
Review: What spurred me on on this read, was the surfacing of emotions which many of us share but has never actually been put onto paper, and so exquisitely so. I'm awfully happy the indian perspective on the indians has been shown, and so pleasurably at that. I, myself, have never lived in the indian subcontinent living in the UK all my life, but this book really hit home. I can relate to Lata in some ways and to Malati aswell, if not in more ways. Mrs Rupa Mehra is a classic character and though she annoyed me at first (as the mother obsessed in hitching her daughter off asap, it hit too close to home!). But she grew on me. Kabir is definitely a typical occurence, the 'forbidden' being especially common in the West. I hate Haresh, even if I am supposed to, and I lost sympathy for Lata when she chose him over Kabir and Amit. But I'm sure I'll get over it. I first thought she was weak, in taking the easy way out which kept most parties happy, but maybe she was strong in choosing the loud Haresh over the dashing Kabir, or the intelligent poet; she looked to her future and chose the path which would give her most happiness- a strength which I still need to discover in myself. My mother has not read the book, but I'm sure she will approve of it! Mr. Seth, thank for such a truly fab read, and if I may use a cliche, "Why, you're Tolstoy reborn!"

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Summary: What a creation!
Review: Ostensibly a novel about a mother's search to find a suitable husband for her youngest daughter in 1950's India, in reality this is a book as huge and complex as India itself. The historical facts about life after Partition are fascinating, and so much more interesting when read as part of a novel than they ever would be as a textbook. The characters, with all their flaws, are generally sympathetic, and the book is vividly written. This book has it all - drama, humour, pathos, history, religion and an insight into a world that most in the West would never experience. A highly recommended book for those times that you want to escape deep into another world but still want to keep your mind active.

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Summary: An Unparalleled Guide to India (History and Culture)
Review: This book so engrossed me (after getting past the first 100 pages ... yes it is slightly long) that I was obsessed with India thereafter. Seth is able to put characters to life like few others and gives a truly realistic impression of what this vast, diverse and magical country is about. I would not hesitate to read anything put out by Seth (and am currently reading An Equal Music).

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Summary: A Great Soap Opera, even if you hate soap operas
Review: Anything this long that keeps my attention has got to be rated with five stars. I really admire Seth for his ability to pull it off. Although I've only spent six years of my adult life in India, Seth seems to have captured all social classes and situations, from political to cultural, and weaves many stories into one. I especially liked the part about the musicians, which shows he certainly knows something about Hindustani music. And the final marital choice was obvious and easy to guess, pick "Mr. Dull Nice Guy," for the sake of security. It's been a while since I read it, and perhaps one needs a familiarity with India and its culture to completely appreciate it, but friends of mine who have never been there, still enjoyed it and were anxious to discuss it. A very good read.

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Summary: Maan Maan Maan.....
Review: hey everyone! okay so this is my first ever book review...boy am i excited. so i just finished a suitable boy...and ill say i liked some parts...the ones that actually followed the story...but the other parts about the political situations...they didn't appeal to me. but i came to comment on the characters. i read everyone elses reviews and a lot of people sympathized with lata. i for one didn't...i didn't even like her character all that much. however, i loved malati, her best friend, and i sympathized with kabir...seemed like a decent goodlooking fellow if a bit immature. i didn't like haresh one bit...i could not understand why/how lata married him. but the character iloved the most was...you guess right..MAAN! he was awesome! so young and fresh and lively and complex and sweet and mean and lovable,....if you find yoursef in the middle of the book wondering whether to continue reading it...i suggest you do that just for Maan. okay im signing off...bye! janki ps i actually wish lata and maan got together,,,maybe i wouldve liked/sympatized more with her then.

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Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I have a lot of Indian friends who recommended this book to me. Even so, I was daunted by the sheer number of pages when I first started. Then I found that the more I read of this book, the more I wanted to read. It definitely reflects the attitudes and conventions of Indian life that few books I have read have been able to do.

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Summary: Writing at its best
Review: This book...is as good as it gets. It's just the sort of thing that can actually ANGER you when it's over...you want it go on. It'll appeal most to people of "indian" descent...pakistanis and bangladeshis inclusive...but I think anyone could enjoy it. I'd ask for a sequel, but the work is practically perfect as it is. You're bound to end up identifying your life with at least one of the characters in the story...enjoy!

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Summary: an ultimate book from the ultimate author
Review: Inspite of the lengh of the book and the time it took me to finish it i FEEL EVERBODT OUGHT TO READ IT ATLEAST ONCE. A great saga told in the backdrop of India it connects Vikram Seth to his Indian roots very strongly

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Summary: best
Review: i have a list, in my head, of five books i re-read every year and, every year, i think over the new books i've read and wonder whether to add them to said list (which would necessitate removing one already there). a suitable boy has been on that list since i first read it in ?1994. that fact can really only matter to someone who knows me and cares about my opinion, but cussedly, i force it on you anyway. as for the ending, i wonder, tritely, i'm sure, whether that'a cultural thing; that lata married haresh was precisely the point, i thought, and eminently the proper, though unexpected, even for me, ending.

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Summary: A Lush and Vivid Epic
Review: Vikram Seth shows his tremendous talent in carving out the lives of characters that become very real to the reader. Set in the years after partition, he poetically dwells on the parallel identity crisis of a people and a place. Following the lives of four families in this epic, he uncovers the nuances of the younger generation's struggle to "do the right thing" while attempting to strive for self-satisfaction.