My Take - A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

 Reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth was one of the best decisions I ever took. A Suitable Boy, a humungous novel of approximately 1500 pages can confidently be claimed as one of the longest novels in English, if not the longest. As the blurb of the book says, at its core it is a love story, it portrays the young protagonist’s journey of finding love and its meaning. But, it will be a gross understatement to label it as merely a love story because the scope of this immense novel extends beyond all such conventional labelling. It explores every spectrum of life, or to be precise Indian life, encompassing within its ambit politics, law, religion, academia, Nawabi culture, geography, etc. I doubt whether there is any aspect of everyday life that doesn’t find mention in this book. The novel leisurely unfolds before the readers a panoramic view of India, including the marvellous and praiseworthy as well as the abdominal and ugly.

 The novel is set in the 1950s; it covers the years 1950- 1952 with a particular emphasis on the year 1951. Though set almost 70 years ago and written almost 30 years ago, the characters, plots and themes of the novel feel extremely relevant and contemporary as if 70 long years have not elapsed between the characters’ lives and ours. Though, A Suitable Boy chiefly focuses on the 19 years old Lata Mehra, yet it also allows the reader to plunge into the depths of other characters’ lives. Indeed, each and every character, even the seemingly minor ones are so well drawn that they threaten to come out of the pages and take a life of their own.

 The novel is narrated by an unknown omniscient narrator who takes the reader across different segments of Indian society throughout the book. Each and every sentence in the novel, no matter however inane or edifying, enhances the richness of the novel. Though the novel can at times strongly resemble soap operas yet it presents a realistic portrayal of every character as well as state, religious and academic institutions with all their flaws and imperfections. Indeed, realism and staying true to the social mores of the 1950s are the strongest merits of A Suitable Boy. Though, I was disappointed by the ending yet I knew that any alternative ending would not have been as grounded in reality as the one Seth has presented, thereby disrupting the consistency of the novel. For me the ending also serves as a reminder that life is not a wish granting factory; life has its own way and it is better to know when one should bend to its ways. Too much rigidity will doom one to snap, just like Rasheed.

 Throughout the course of my reading A Suitable Boy, I experienced a whirlwind of emotions. I empathised so strongly with the characters that long after I had completed reading it I couldn’t bring myself out of their worlds. Though it is an immense book with around 591,552 words yet it doesn’t tell its story in a bland and explicit manner. Even with such a humungous bulk of words Seth adroitly manages to tell the story in a subtle, insinuating manner just like the ghazals of Mir, Ghalib and Dagh Sahib.

 It is worth all the time it takes to be read. Reading it is such a pleasant and moving experience that no one should be deprived of experiencing. I would go as far as to say reading A Suitable Boy is a once in a lifetime experience (of course you can repeat it) and everyone should experience it.

A few of my favourite quotes from A Suitable Boy are:

“One never knows anyone in this world, one cannot read anyone’s heart, no one ever knows whom to believe and whom to trust.”

My Rating - 5 glittering ⭐