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natoasty's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Abortion
liaandersson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Islamophobia, Violence, Classism, Grief, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Dementia, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Medical content, Mental illness, Gore, and Hate crime
Minor: Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Abortion, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Pedophilia
jaredpence's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
When you read a book this long (1474 pages), you can start to get so comfortable with the writing and with the world and with the characters that it becomes a pleasure every time you pick it up. That's what happened to me. When I got near the end, I wanted to put off reading because I didn't want the story to end. The ending was absolutely shocking to me because I could not believe that she married Haresh when she was clearly in love with Kabir. The way she chose a safe, expected husband that pleased her mother went against everything literature has been telling a Western reader like me for centuries, so it shocked me that she made the choice she did. Perhaps that is part of the joy of reading of book from a culture different from mine: the characters make decisions I wouldn't make and don't even necessarily understand. In that sense, the book was highly educational for me.
In a book of nearly 1500 pages, there are course many characters and plots, but I found nearly all of them engaging, complex, and worth reading about. The central plot focuses on Lata Mehra, an English literature student in Brahmpur, Purva Pradesh and her mother's search for a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Over the course of the novel we encounter Lata's suitors and get to enjoy her reactions to these men, as well as the reactions of her mother and the rest of her family. Alongside Lata's plot towards marriage, we follow the lives of her family members, the families of both her married siblings, and several other families with more distant connections. There is a pretty hefty engagement with some of the politics of 1950s India, with the 1952 election playing a key role in several of the characters' lives. I cried at characters deaths, at beautiful scenes of family and love, and at some of the hilarious moments. I was pleasantly surprised that same-sex relationships were explicitly acknowledged and even described once, particularly because the novel is set in the 1950s (Wikipedia says the author is bi-sexual, so perhaps it is not surprising). The book deftly takes you through conflicts of family, religion, gender, misunderstandings, love, class and caste, shoe company politics, and violence, including several scenes of crowded violent events. I've heard that Seth compared his book to Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin, but it reminded me most of George Eliot's Middlemarch in scope and style (it's even directly alluded to when one of the characters describes writing a very long novel against their better judgement because they still "carry the scars of Middlemarch.")
Despite (or maybe because) some of the plotlines did not unfold as I would have expected or even wanted, I found the book irresistible. It challenged my expectations and assumptions about literature, about love, and certainly about India. I would highly recommend the book to anyone, especially those unfamiliar with Indian culture. However, it is perhaps best recommended to those with a fierce commitment to finishing long books. I was lucky to be reading the book with others for a book club, and that accountability was helpful to push me to keep reading and finish the book.
In a book of nearly 1500 pages, there are course many characters and plots, but I found nearly all of them engaging, complex, and worth reading about. The central plot focuses on Lata Mehra, an English literature student in Brahmpur, Purva Pradesh and her mother's search for a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Over the course of the novel we encounter Lata's suitors and get to enjoy her reactions to these men, as well as the reactions of her mother and the rest of her family. Alongside Lata's plot towards marriage, we follow the lives of her family members, the families of both her married siblings, and several other families with more distant connections. There is a pretty hefty engagement with some of the politics of 1950s India, with the 1952 election playing a key role in several of the characters' lives. I cried at characters deaths, at beautiful scenes of family and love, and at some of the hilarious moments. I was pleasantly surprised that same-sex relationships were explicitly acknowledged and even described once, particularly because the novel is set in the 1950s (Wikipedia says the author is bi-sexual, so perhaps it is not surprising). The book deftly takes you through conflicts of family, religion, gender, misunderstandings, love, class and caste, shoe company politics, and violence, including several scenes of crowded violent events. I've heard that Seth compared his book to Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone by Cao Xuequin, but it reminded me most of George Eliot's Middlemarch in scope and style (it's even directly alluded to when one of the characters describes writing a very long novel against their better judgement because they still "carry the scars of Middlemarch.")
Despite (or maybe because) some of the plotlines did not unfold as I would have expected or even wanted, I found the book irresistible. It challenged my expectations and assumptions about literature, about love, and certainly about India. I would highly recommend the book to anyone, especially those unfamiliar with Indian culture. However, it is perhaps best recommended to those with a fierce commitment to finishing long books. I was lucky to be reading the book with others for a book club, and that accountability was helpful to push me to keep reading and finish the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
anushareflects's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Suicide
amyvl93's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Honestly think finishing this book may rank in my 2023 achievements. A Suitable Boy is one of the longest novels in the English language, clocking in at just under 1500 pages and, to be brutally honest, really, really doesn't need to be.
Set in 1951 and 1952 in post-colonial and post-Partition India, A Suitable Boy technically follows the story of Lata, a young female student whose mother is set on finding 'a suitable boy' for her to marry. Alongside Lata's search to find a husband we also dip into the life of her brother-in-law Pran's attempts to modernise the curriculum at the university, his brother Maan's romantic entaglement with the courtesan Saaeda Bai, his father Mahesh's career in Indian politics during an especially turbulent time along with Lata's other in-laws the Chatterji's irrevent and snobby lives in Calcutta and Maan's family friends the Khans, grappling with being both Muslim and landowners at a time of significant change for both these groups. We also get detailed sidebars from musicians, tutors along with local and national politicians.
It is a truly sprawling narrative and there's much to enjoy here. Seth's prose is - usually - entertaining and humerous, especially when it comes to following the lives of his characters. When we're with Lata and her slightly ridiculous mother (think Mrs Bennet from Pride & Prejudice), the chaotic Chatterjis and generally exploring relationships; this feels very well drawn. These characters feel vibrant and their homes seemingly leap off the page. However, other characterisation is not as solid, surprisingly Lata's love interests all come across as fairly flat, and largely defined by one characteristic (Muslim, Poet, Shoemaker respectively). Given that this is the plot hook, I did expect to be slightly more interested in these characters and in Lata's ultimate choice.
Whilst the characterisation is generally strong, I felt that this novel felt at its most bloated when Seth attempts to zoom out and provide wider context; or goes on random side quests with minor characters to give us, for instance, detailed views of a local music scene, spirituality or the history of shoemaker in India. I feel that Seth was probably trying to draw comparisons with authors like Tolstoy but I just found these sections an absolute slog. Indeed, I was rarely motivated to pick up this book because I wanted to know what happened, but because I just wanted to finish the thing. It did feel to me that Seth's points could have been made with far less detail, and I wish he'd had an editor who'd trimmed some of this excess. The decades he's spent writing A Suitable Girl makes me think this won't have changed.
It's undeniable that this novel provides a detailed insight to life in India in the 1950s, to a society that is trying to work out what its identity is after colonial rule and hints at the rifts that form part of Indian society today. I would say it is worth a read if you want to get this detailed, detailed insight.
Set in 1951 and 1952 in post-colonial and post-Partition India, A Suitable Boy technically follows the story of Lata, a young female student whose mother is set on finding 'a suitable boy' for her to marry. Alongside Lata's search to find a husband we also dip into the life of her brother-in-law Pran's attempts to modernise the curriculum at the university, his brother Maan's romantic entaglement with the courtesan Saaeda Bai, his father Mahesh's career in Indian politics during an especially turbulent time along with Lata's other in-laws the Chatterji's irrevent and snobby lives in Calcutta and Maan's family friends the Khans, grappling with being both Muslim and landowners at a time of significant change for both these groups. We also get detailed sidebars from musicians, tutors along with local and national politicians.
It is a truly sprawling narrative and there's much to enjoy here. Seth's prose is - usually - entertaining and humerous, especially when it comes to following the lives of his characters. When we're with Lata and her slightly ridiculous mother (think Mrs Bennet from Pride & Prejudice), the chaotic Chatterjis and generally exploring relationships; this feels very well drawn. These characters feel vibrant and their homes seemingly leap off the page. However, other characterisation is not as solid, surprisingly Lata's love interests all come across as fairly flat, and largely defined by one characteristic (Muslim, Poet, Shoemaker respectively). Given that this is the plot hook, I did expect to be slightly more interested in these characters and in Lata's ultimate choice.
Whilst the characterisation is generally strong, I felt that this novel felt at its most bloated when Seth attempts to zoom out and provide wider context; or goes on random side quests with minor characters to give us, for instance, detailed views of a local music scene, spirituality or the history of shoemaker in India. I feel that Seth was probably trying to draw comparisons with authors like Tolstoy but I just found these sections an absolute slog. Indeed, I was rarely motivated to pick up this book because I wanted to know what happened, but because I just wanted to finish the thing. It did feel to me that Seth's points could have been made with far less detail, and I wish he'd had an editor who'd trimmed some of this excess. The decades he's spent writing A Suitable Girl makes me think this won't have changed.
It's undeniable that this novel provides a detailed insight to life in India in the 1950s, to a society that is trying to work out what its identity is after colonial rule and hints at the rifts that form part of Indian society today. I would say it is worth a read if you want to get this detailed, detailed insight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Classism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, and Islamophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
readingelli's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: War
Partitionsherbertwells's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Four families in the fictional Indian city of Brahmpur juggle familial expectations, post-partition politics, and their own desires in the search for suitable matches. After spending 1350 pages with Seth’s sparkling, multifaceted characters, I cannot help but long for a few more pages.
“Every man’s love life is interesting. If he doesn’t have one that’s interesting. If he has one, that’s interesting. And if he has two, that’s twice as interesting” (516)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, Violence, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Suicide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Colonisation
divyashreesalvi's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
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