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Lisa of Troy's Reviews > A Suitable Boy
A Suitable Boy (A Bridge of Leaves, #1)
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A Mess of A Story That Could Have Been Great
A Suitable Boy is a behemoth book of approximately 1,500 pages by Vikram Seth which is allegedly about a young woman named Lata who is trying to find a suitable boy to marry. The book centers on four different families as well as various political and social movements in India in the 1950’s.
Never have I encountered a book that was more in need of an editor. There were far, far, far too many characters. The book starts off by displaying family trees, four family trees. However, that would not even cover all of the characters by a long shot. There were friends, politicians, teachers, sisters, musicians, and many more. The author really should have focused on a smaller set of characters and written several books rather than this mess.
Additionally, this book was boring. It was like watching paint dry. If you want to read a great book set in India, I would highly recommend A Fine Balance. With so many characters in A Suitable Boy, it was difficult to connect with anyone. After the first one hundred pages, I thought that the pacing would pick up, but it didn’t. As if following 4 families wasn’t enough, this book was also some type of historical fiction. However, it didn’t work for me. The author would talk in excruciating detail about certain religious and political moments, but the reader wasn’t given enough information to put the moments into context. It would have been helpful to summarize the historical context or even hint at some of the context so that the reader could look it up. But I felt like I was thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool, drowning.
After nearly 1,500 pages, the ending felt rather rushed and non-eventful. Lata makes her choice suddenly and with very little fanfare. This was rather disappointing after slogging through so much. The other disappointment with this book is that I could not find an audiobook for this book that was not unabridged, and the prose was not very smooth.
The most interesting part about this book was Cuddles the dog who went around and bit everyone.
Well, another one to cross off the 100 Books To Read Before You Die According the BBC….(62/100)
https://www.listchallenges.com/bbcs-t...
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
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A Suitable Boy is a behemoth book of approximately 1,500 pages by Vikram Seth which is allegedly about a young woman named Lata who is trying to find a suitable boy to marry. The book centers on four different families as well as various political and social movements in India in the 1950’s.
Never have I encountered a book that was more in need of an editor. There were far, far, far too many characters. The book starts off by displaying family trees, four family trees. However, that would not even cover all of the characters by a long shot. There were friends, politicians, teachers, sisters, musicians, and many more. The author really should have focused on a smaller set of characters and written several books rather than this mess.
Additionally, this book was boring. It was like watching paint dry. If you want to read a great book set in India, I would highly recommend A Fine Balance. With so many characters in A Suitable Boy, it was difficult to connect with anyone. After the first one hundred pages, I thought that the pacing would pick up, but it didn’t. As if following 4 families wasn’t enough, this book was also some type of historical fiction. However, it didn’t work for me. The author would talk in excruciating detail about certain religious and political moments, but the reader wasn’t given enough information to put the moments into context. It would have been helpful to summarize the historical context or even hint at some of the context so that the reader could look it up. But I felt like I was thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool, drowning.
After nearly 1,500 pages, the ending felt rather rushed and non-eventful. Lata makes her choice suddenly and with very little fanfare. This was rather disappointing after slogging through so much. The other disappointment with this book is that I could not find an audiobook for this book that was not unabridged, and the prose was not very smooth.
The most interesting part about this book was Cuddles the dog who went around and bit everyone.
Well, another one to cross off the 100 Books To Read Before You Die According the BBC….(62/100)
https://www.listchallenges.com/bbcs-t...
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
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Reading Progress
November 5, 2020
– Shelved
December 10, 2021
–
Started Reading
December 31, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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message 1:
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Fran
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Dec 13, 2021 06:32AM
Happy reading, Lisa!
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Hang in there, Lisa!
On page 825? Wow, that book is a big ‘un (it could be classified as a blunt instrument). Hope you’re enjoying the read (I hear good things about it). You are my reading idol, Lisa!
Thank you for the crystal clear review, Lisa! I'm taking this book off my reading list. A Happy New Year to you! 💞
Wonderful review, Lisa! Disappointing though, I have this TBR because it's on THE list. I second the recommendation for A Fine Balance as it has been on my favorites list for years. Gasp, I didn't realize this book had that many pages. That's a lot of time spent watching paint dry. 🙄
geez that is a big book. sorry you put in so much effort for little reward from this book. Your 2022, reading calendar has some that I have been meaning to get to for a while and it will be fun to see your opinions!
I also found this book a disappointment, mostly from Lata's choice. Did you find her choice for husband odd?
Great review, Lisa! Yeah, there were a LOT of parts that could have been pruned out! And I agree, A Fine Balance is a much better read re: India!
I like long books (just finished Proust), but I think it's become axiomatic that such books are not particularly welcome on GR. This is NOT a criticism, simply the acceptance of reality. Certainly if one is a writer then it's very important to keep this in mind, given that there's so much that demands our attention these days.
Mark wrote: "On page 825? Wow, that book is a big ‘un (it could be classified as a blunt instrument). Hope you’re enjoying the read (I hear good things about it). You are my reading idol, Lisa!"Thanks, Mark! Hope you are enjoying your week of reading!
RoshReviews wrote: "Thank you for the crystal clear review, Lisa! I'm taking this book off my reading list. A Happy New Year to you! 💞"
Thanks, Rosh! Happy New Year!
Anne wrote: "Wonderful review, Lisa! Disappointing though, I have this TBR because it's on THE list. I second the recommendation for A Fine Balance as it has been on my favorites list for years. Gas..."Thanks, Anne! Hope you are enjoying your week of reading!
Lindsay wrote: "geez that is a big book. sorry you put in so much effort for little reward from this book. Your 2022, reading calendar has some that I have been meaning to get to for a while and it will be fun to ..."Thanks, Lindsay! 2022 should be an exciting year! Hope you got to enjoy the holiday break!
Beverly wrote: "I also found this book a disappointment, mostly from Lata's choice. Did you find her choice for husband odd?"Yes!!!!!! Lata didn't really even seem to like her final selection, and the decision seemed to be made instantly instead of a careful selection. I bet she is disappointed after 2 weeks.
Debbie wrote: "Great review, Lisa! Yeah, there were a LOT of parts that could have been pruned out! And I agree, A Fine Balance is a much better read re: India!"Thanks, Debbie! Hope you are enjoying your week of reading!
Michael wrote: "I like long books (just finished Proust), but I think it's become axiomatic that such books are not particularly welcome on GR. This is NOT a criticism, simply the acceptance of reality. Certainly ..."Michael, I could not agree with you more! Recently, I saw someone on Twitter stating that they were dissatisfied with the GoodReads reading goals because it solely focuses on number of books rather than page count.
Lisa, I have to admit that when you wrote, “Thanks, Mark! Hope you are enjoying your week of reading!” I felt like a school boy who neglected turning in his homework. (I’ve been so busy that I haven’t cracked a book in a while). I wish I had the time to re-read Animal Farm this month with you and your group. (One of these days I’m going to time the freight train just right and hop on, so I can join one of your reading adventures). Wishing you a wonderful 2022, my reading idol! -Mark
I read Seth's 'An Equal Music', Lisa, and had a similar experience...
Sorry 1500 pages?!?!? Absolutely not lmao. Congrats on finishing, you're a G.
Oh, that's good to know, Kevin. This is my only read by Seth, and after 1,500+ pages, probably my last.
Thanks! Some of the longer books are amazing (like David Copperfield), but one long boring book can derail an entire year's worth of reading plans.
Lisa of Troy wrote: "Thanks! Some of the longer books are amazing (like David Copperfield), but one long boring book can derail an entire year's worth of reading plans."Oh! I love David Copperfield, it's my favorite Dickens Lisa of Troy, but you're right about a long, boring book.
Oh! Sorry. I don’t care for so many characters either and I can keep up with quite the cast. David Copperfield is in my list to read. Thanks for the reminder.
The point of this book wasn't merely about Lata but those around her and the way the families interacted with each other. You claim that there were too many characters... But, isn't life of minor characters that help support the actions of the main characters. People who build illusions that every single character must have a major role should really look at their own lives. Do all the people that you interactive with possess equal amount of importance or do they weave in and out of our lives, merely adding depth to the major characters and their actions. And by the way...it's a four-family saga... Of course, it's long! there's so much to talk about. I've never read a saga that wasn't long. I don't think the novel is perfect. in fact, I agree with you that more detail should have been put into the parts about history, politics, and religion. As you said, the reader is "thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool." However, I hardly think that that is just reason to assert that this was boring and like "watching paint dry" tells a lot about you and less about the book unfortunately. Maybe try coming back to it after your reading tastes have had a chance to mature over time.
You certainly have stamina. I have attempted this but gave up.
Great review, Lisa, and what an effort completing this monster. I did buy this at my 2nd hand bookshop - I think I might exchange it now!
I have this book but haven’t read it yet. I LOVED A Fine Balance. It’s one of those books that you feel invested in and can’t walk away from.
I wish I had found this review 400 pages ago! I have made the decision to give up today. I am so glad to find someone else who found the novel as disjointed as me 😅 Love your review, it really made me laugh. I am also trying to work through the BBC 100 - I will keep an eye out for more of your reviews.
I agree ! I was disappointed there was no audio version.
