Posted by Steven
on 9/6/2009, 7:58:15, in reply to "Re: A Suitable Boy"
76.187.110.226
I would certainly like to read a sequel as well. Maybe he is working on one. Seth is still just a kid (i.e. younger than I am) and hasn't published any fiction in ten years.
The novel against passion idea is very apt. What an unexpected theme from a poet!
I think Lata's choice of Haresh has a feminist element. She wants to be her own person. Kabir wouldn't love her as much as she loved him, and Amit's celebrity would put her in the background. Instead, she marries a man who will be in her shadow socially and, she hopes, professionally. Lata makes a safe choice just as a man might choose a "good homemaker" over a flashy or independent mate. I don't particularly like her choice, however. His mannerisms and affectations would get on my nerves in no time.
Maan's bisexuality surprised me as well. Apparently it was an attachment to Firoz only, as there are no clues that he has any sexual attraction to other men. I could never warm up to Maan. He could never master his emotions and desires, no matter how much damage he was doing to his family. (The opposite of Lata, of course.)
Another theme is that of religious conflict. Seth appears to want to demonstrate that there is no natural hostility between Hindu and Muslim. The greatest friendships and loves in the novel are those that cross religious lines.
I would love to be a member of the Chatterji household.
--Previous Message--
: I found, to my amazement, that I wanted the book to be
: longer! (Or for there to be a sequel.) I wanted to
: know if Pran's illness returns and whether Savita
: becomes a lawyer. Kabir is simply abandoned. What
: becomes of him? Thank heavens the charges against
: Maan were dropped, but what now? What of poor
: Tasneem? Suicide, incest, attempted murder all swirl
: around her. Does she reach a safe harbor? And so on.
:
: In his little rhyming couplets for each chapter in the
: table of contents, Seth coyly implies that the book is
: ended "--at least for now." I hope there
: is more to come.
:
: I agree with most of your assessments, Guillermo,
: although I wanted Lata to marry Kabir, because he is
: her passion. Obviously the religiously mixed marriage
: is a problem, but they may have the strength to be
: able to cope.
:
: Mrs. Rupa Mehra is pretty scary. However, I
: thought Seth opened a touching window into her heart
: in the passages following her receipt from Meenakshi
: of the hated lacquer box.
:
: I, too, was shocked by the revelation of the affair
: between Maan and Firoz. Maan seemed to have healthy
: (or, as may be, unhealthy) heterosexual drives.
: However, it certainly paid off in the stabbing scene.
: It is as if Maan is betrayed by two lovers at once.
:
: And yes, I would like to hang out with the Chatterjis.
: Obnoxious, true, but definitely fun.
:
: -
:
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