Vikram Seth is an Indian writer who was born in Calcutta in June 1952. He was educated in both India and England. As far as I am aware, he writes professionally only in English. A writer of great versatility, he has published several volumes of poetry, including translations of Chinese poems, a travel book, a children’s book, a libretto, a novel in verse, two novels in prose and a biography/memoir. It is with the last three works that I am concerned here.
A Suitable Boy (1993)
Although the earliest of the works, I only got round to reading it this year. This was partly because I was deterred by its size. It is reputed to be the longest novel ever written in the English language. The paperback edition I read was 1,349 pages long. Other editions have even more pages. It took the author almost ten years to write. Because of its size and the number of characters, this is not a novel for reading just a few pages at a time last thing at night. Nevertheless, despite its length, A Suitable Boy reads very easily, thanks to Seth’s flowing style and humour. It is set in India shortly after Partition, in the period leading up to the country’s first election following independence. The title refers to the search by a mother for a suitable husband for her daughter for whom there are a number of potential suitors. This, however, is but one theme in a saga involving the affairs of four families. The writer addresses a host of issues that were of importance at the time (several of which remain so), including arranged marriages, sectarian animosity, the caste system and land reform. Not only is this a truly great novel, it also provides the reader with a fascinating insight into Indian society and history at a critical time for the country.
An Equal Music (1999)
This is the story of a love affair between two classical musicians, written with great sensitivity and poignancy by a writer who clearly is himself a lover of, and highly knowledgable about, music. Another masterpiece.
Two Lives (2005)
When he was seventeen, Vikram Seth left India to come to England to continue his education. He went to stay with his great-uncle Shanti and great-aunt Henny who lived in Hendon. Theirs are the two lives of the title of this biography. Shanti was Indian and Henny a German Jew. They met in Germany, where Shanti had gone to study dentistry in the 1930s. They were not famous people but they lived through some terrible times. The book encompasses the India of Shanti’s early life, Germany before and during the Second World War, the fighting in Africa and Italy, the Holocaust and post-war Germany and Britain. It is written with great affection and is a moving family memoir. I do, however, think it could have done with some vigorous editing in that too much of Henny’s correspondence is quoted and, frankly, some of it is rather tedious.
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