Rating: 
Summary: A Suitable Book
Review: Ever since i saw this book it took me long to gather courage to read such a book. And much longer to complete it. The moment i completed the last page of throwing oranges to a group of monkeys, it made me feel that it was worth reading. The characters pictured here are really amazing. How all the varities of human life can be stored in a single brain of Mr.Seth. That wonders me. Till now. I can't escape the thoughts of Lata, Maan, Kabir, Haresh, Varun , Meehakshi, Kakoli, Mrs Rupa Mehra, Arun, Pran and all those. I liked Maan's heart, Lata's sensibilities, Malati's companionship, Mrs Mehra's responsibilities, Pran's arguments, Kabir's Passion, Haresh's practicability, Amit's poetry, Firoz's friendship, Arun's angriness, Varun's simplicity, Mahesh Kapoor's politics, Saeeda Bai's Ghazals, Meenakshi's cleverness, Bhaskar's calculations, Priya's talks, Kedarnath's efforts and in the end Seth's picturisation of the whole of it. In the end what wonders me more than anything else is the way it's composed. While reading it if someone asks you where in the world are you ? You can't escape unaswering it as Brahmpur, Cawnpur or in Saeeda Bai's concert no matter wherever you are.That's sure. Definitely it's going to help one socialise, and take life as it is. Thank you Seth. You have managed it to get what you have wanted out of it, perhaps. Thank You. Rupesh
Rating: 
Summary: An enrapturing novel and thorough social critique
Review: Seth's novel has all the elements of a page-turner: love and loss, political and personal scandals, familial conflict, birth and death, and even two crucial court cases. The interwoven stories at times seem to drag on, but when they build to a climax, readers realize that the extended introductions and seemingly-insignificant details of daily life serve to make us truly care about the fortunate and shocking fates of the characters.
While it has all the elements of an intriguing soap-opera, the wealth of information about Indian society and the stinging social critiques Seth offers should not be underscored. Indeed, his novel gives us at least a taste of virtually everything that is beautiful, fascinating, troubling, and disgusting about India.
My only criticism of the book is that without quite a bit of prior knowledge about North and East Indian culture, the reader is bound notice several important puzzle pieces missing that would otherwise make for a more fulfilling read. I've spent several months in the country, and I was still missing bits and pieces. My suggestion would be to travel the country first- if finances don't permit, buy the reader's guide.
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Summary: Wonderful characters make this well worth the effort
Review: While I found "A Suitable Boy" hard work to get into, after a few chapters I was completely involved. At first, the huge array of characters is overwhelming, but each one is so individual and colourful that they all become unforgettable. I found myself not wanting the story to end, as I had become so attached to every character. Can't wait to read it again with a different outlook!
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Summary: My favorite book in the world!
Review: I have never loved a book and its characters so much, that I was horrified; just so so sooo sad when I was approaching the end of the book. I didn't want it to end; yet, I couldn't stop reading! I'll never forget that feeling -- and it was what, almost four years ago, that I read it? Seth was on a book tour when the book was just released, and I attended a reading. Bought the book that night (got it signed) and didn't put it down for days. . .I've never fallen so in love with people in a book; gotten so engrossed in "their" world that became so real and thus "my" world! I felt like something was missing from my life when the story was over! Unbelievable! I was majorly bummed when I'd finished it and had no more Lata and Kabir to go back to. . .I honestly felt like I'd just lost a friend. . .The book is packed at a friend's house, half way around the world now; but seeing all these reviews again, makes me think that as soon as I have the chance and get back to the USA I want to get that book out and read it again. . .
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Summary: You too will marry a boy she chooses
Review: My love for this book is made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is not a style of book I would generally enjoy. But the many characters involved are so wonderfully likable that you are drawn in almost despite yourself. Beautifully written, entertainingly driven and heart-achingly resolved, I can't imagine anyone regretting choosing to read this novel.
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Summary: The Whole of Life in an Indian Microcosm
Review: I think I have become a connoisseur of everything Indian.I first became interested in the writings of Indian authors when I read, "What the Body Remembers" by Shauna Singh Baldwin. I realized there was a whole culture about which I knew very little. I went on to seek out other books by Indian authors and have never been let down.
Vikram Seth writes beautifully of people whose culture seems so different from American or modern European cultures.Again, as in the book by Singh Baldwin, each member of a family has their place and their specific duties to each other. Daughters marry men chosen for them and sons, whose fathers have died, support mothers and younger siblings. Pain, frustration and unhappiness fester below the surface of each person's heart but most do not let their feelings show.
Mr. Seth goes back and forth between traditional older family members set in their ways, and the younger generation who have strong desires to be thought of as modern and not tied down by superstition or the religious beliefs and subsequent prejudices of their parents.
His characters stay with you and you may almost find yourself wondering how the newlyweds, Lata and Haresh, make out in life, if Meenakshi will ever settle down in her marriage, and if the sensible Pran and Savita can, by their example, help the varied members of their extended families to stop worrying and enjoy what the Gods have given them.
It is a long read but a very full and enjoyable one. As with any good author, Vikram Seth makes his characters live in your mind (you'll find yourself imagining what they look like and how they're dressed)and become people you would want as friends and neighbours. My advice? Buy it and take a mental trip to India.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful characters make this well worth the effort
Review: While I found "A Suitable Boy" hard work to get into, after a few chapters I was completely involved. At first, the huge array of characters is overwhelming, but each one is so individual and colourful that they all become unforgettable. I found myself not wanting the story to end, as I had become so attached to every character. Can't wait to read it again with a different outlook!
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Summary: A novel of epic proportions!
Review: The length, the size, the number of characters, the descriptions; Vikram Seth here succeeds in re-creating life of several characters into a highly acclaimed and engrossing novel. The story is simple, as is his narration, so the reading fast forwards through various people and several episodes that span nearly all human emotions. I would not discuss the characters here, for I would recommend just about everyone to commit himself to this book and see them for himself. The characters are people drawn from common lives, and he creates very vivid personas, describing in picturesque detail their houses, streets, odors, colors and both successes and failings. The sheer volume of labor that author must have put in to create this masterful epic is mind boggling. The story is set in India, and for anyone who searches for words while describing his country and people, Vikram Seth sets a defining example.
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Summary: Just like life
Review: The book is really great. In terms of the variety and range of characters it, in a way, reminds me of Dickens " David Copperfield". Seth has dexterously got the reader so involved with his characters that after having finished reading I feel something missing from my own life....the reader kind of becomes a part of the family and doesn't mind going on and on about its affairs. Since there are so many characters, every reader gets a chance to relate with some character or the other. Lata , Mrs Rupa Mehra, Savita, Veena, old Mrs Tandon, Mrs Mahesh Kapoor, Malati, Kabir, Pran, all these characters are so real. There are some parts which aren't very interesting and one wants to avoid reading, but isn't life like this, there are so many moments which are not liked by us, which are not up to our expectations and yet they exist. I think Seth's style of writing makes you flow with the events in the book just like life takes you along with its ups and downs.... Was this review helpful to you?
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Summary: Fathers and Sons
Review: It is a few years after independence and partition in India. Meet the members of the middle class, you will recognize them, and this book will give you a chance to consider them in a tale of the caliber of BUDDENBROOKS or WAR AND PEACE. The quality of the book is extraordinarily high, hence the comparisons. This family saga sprawls and there are a lot of exotic names to identify. Fortunately there is a chart at the beginning of the book. The story opens with the wedding of Pran and Savita. Savita is the daughter of Mrs. Rupa Mehra, a widow. Her sons are Arun and Varun. There is another daughter, Lata. The new wife arranges to melt down the ceremonial medals of her father-in-law. The jeweler and everyone else counsel caution, but she persists in her wish to liquidate the gift of her mother-in-law, the widow. Arun writes of the catastrophe and the family is duly horrified. The title, A SUITABLE BOY, derives from an expression for a marriage partner in the context of arranged marriages. Mrs. Rupa Mehra is seeking a suitable boy for her daughter Lata. This requires a good deal of investigation on her part, and the consent of Lata who is becoming a modern sort of person-- she attends the university, while remaining a dutiful sort of daughter. Lata learns a boy she knows at the university is a Muslim. Her friend tells her to read P.G. Wodehouse by way of solace. Lata's friend, the boy Kabir, is a distinctly unsuitable boy in her mother's eyes, and so they leave Brahmpur and go to Calcutta. One of the families fell from wealth in Lahore to virtual destitution after 1947 following the partition. In the nascent democracy there is a struggle of form over substance. There is a parliamentary debate over the compensation scheme employed for the taking of private lands and residences. We are reminded of attributes carried over from colonialism in education, sport, and the exercise of democratic political values. Excellent and colorful speeches are presented covering the details of land reform. Mrs. Rupa Mehra now travels from Calcutta to Delhi. Meanwhile the son of a politician, the Revenue Minister, participates in a wolf hunt while visiting his Urdu teacher Abdur Rasheed. The two had traveled from Brahmpur to the house of Rasheed's father near Baitar. The father is a zamindar, a landlord. The area of Muslim League activism is filled with landlords resorting to coercion to overcome the effects of land reform. Maan, the minister's son, acts with such rage that he nearly murders an agent of the Nawab Sahib. During the visit Maan becomes a sort of universal confidant. The constitutionality of the Zamindari Act, the land reform measure, is litigated. British, Indian, and American precedents are cited since India, as distinguished from Britain and as is the case in the United States, has a written constitution. A major issue is the delegation of powers. A Raja is removed from the courtroom. The watch and ward staff is called. The law is upheld as constitutionally valid. Dipankur Chatterji makes a pilgrimage to the Ganges for Pul Mela. A holy man, Sanaki Baba becomes interested in him and seeks his company. A tent city is formed on the sands. Unfortunately at the festival in the crush of people there is a stampede and deaths and injuries result. A Kapoor grandson, Maan's nephew, is injured. Mrs. Mahesh Kapoor is a prize-winning gardener. Mr. Mahesh Kapoor resigns from the ministry and from the Congress Party. At the time it is hoped that Nehru will do the same and form a new party. This does not happen and later Mr. Mahesh Kapoor rejoins the Congress Party. Maan returns to Brahmpur, and Pran, Savita's husband, falls ill with asthma and a heart condition. Both Lata and Kabir are to appear in a Shakespeare play at the university. In a complication of emotions and familial ties and loves Maan is faced with a serious charge of assault and his Urdu teacher disintegrates mentally. Maan's conduct has poltical consequences for his father and his mother dies seemingly from the shock of the events. The story ends, a Tolstoyan touch, with another marriage. The novel is about four families, Muslim and Hindu, in Calcutta, Brahmpur, and Delhi who plan for the careers, education, and marriages of their sons and daughters. All of the families are bound by ties of obligation and expectation to their respective communities, and seek to enable and persuade the children to step into their shoes. This does not always happen for reason the younger people oftentimes seek freedom and adventure and desire to obtain the means of artistic expression. Both C.P. Snow and Jane Austen have written about the career moves of youth, and this book, in some respects, resembles their work. It is marvelous and energetic.
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