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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
One of the most beautiful books I have ever read! Complex characters, stunning Onegin stanza structure, emotional and philosophical highs and lows, and nuanced meditations on love, death, and friendship, make The Golden Gate a profoundly moving read. Easily a favorite on mine.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unique structure
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing book. What control Seth has of the language. It amazes me.
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This week-and-change's reading matter:
the novel-poem THE GOLDEN GATE,
a structural marvel, fit to flatter -
the masterpiece of Vikram Seth,
patchwork, vivid, pensive, vital.
(His surname's said to rhyme the title.)
Six hundred stanzas' worth depicts
San Fran in 1986:
a friend-group, Liz, Phil, John and Janet,
Ed, Sue, their pets, lives interleaved -
loved-up, rebuffed, beset, bereaved,
and fearful for a fragile planet.
It's Reagan's nukes that haunt their stage -
but still rhymes with the present age.
Seth's yuppies haven't met the iPhone,
but there's some questions never date:
is this the one to spend your life on,
or have you left a change too late?
They stumble through six hundred stanzas,
and find more questions, and few answers.
John gets more screen time than the rest,
and mostly shows he's not the best -
all fragile privilege and temper;
(he starts to change, perhaps, in time.)
It's the supporting cast who shine,
off from the straight-white-male centre.
Read it for Ed, Phil, Liz, the cat;
and Jan, who deserved more than that.
the novel-poem THE GOLDEN GATE,
a structural marvel, fit to flatter -
the masterpiece of Vikram Seth,
patchwork, vivid, pensive, vital.
(His surname's said to rhyme the title.)
Six hundred stanzas' worth depicts
San Fran in 1986:
a friend-group, Liz, Phil, John and Janet,
Ed, Sue, their pets, lives interleaved -
loved-up, rebuffed, beset, bereaved,
and fearful for a fragile planet.
It's Reagan's nukes that haunt their stage -
but still rhymes with the present age.
Seth's yuppies haven't met the iPhone,
but there's some questions never date:
is this the one to spend your life on,
or have you left a change too late?
They stumble through six hundred stanzas,
and find more questions, and few answers.
John gets more screen time than the rest,
and mostly shows he's not the best -
all fragile privilege and temper;
(he starts to change, perhaps, in time.)
It's the supporting cast who shine,
off from the straight-white-male centre.
Read it for Ed, Phil, Liz, the cat;
and Jan, who deserved more than that.
I have read and enjoyed other books by this author. I find I am conflicted by this one. I have to admit that creating a work in verse like this must have taken an immense amount of time. Certainly for the first hard I was immersed in its rhythm and toe narrative it was unwinding. However I found that I could not keep apace with the rhymes. I began to feel like they broke in the wrong places or I was missing something obvious.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
genuinely exquisite.
a novel written entirely in sonnet form. sounds like an absolute headache, I know, but it falls nothing sort of incredible and justifies (in its quality) vikram seth having undoubtedly sold his soul in 1986 in order to have birthed such an art form.
defo have a break every now and then though or you might pass out :)
a novel written entirely in sonnet form. sounds like an absolute headache, I know, but it falls nothing sort of incredible and justifies (in its quality) vikram seth having undoubtedly sold his soul in 1986 in order to have birthed such an art form.
defo have a break every now and then though or you might pass out :)