Over a decade ago, I walked up and down the aisles of the local Barnes and Noble because of an all-consuming curiosity which was ignited by some now-forgotten book review. (I would later work at that very BN during my senior year of college, in case you are unbelievably bored). I had picked up a torch for brown-ish fiction which burns just as brightly today as it did when I was a teenager. I found my quarry, picked it up very carefully and took it to the cash-wrap, where the clerk, on second thought, double-bagged it.
I went home and didn’t emerge from my room for two days; I waved away meals, plugged my ears to my father’s indignant screams about how I was missing class, I think I forgot to bathe, who knows. I couldn’t leave this tome, whose protagonist shared MY nickname. Upon reflection, I think I understand why you Potter-heads do what you do…oh, wait. I don’t. 😉
Vikram Seth’s “Suitable Boy” changed my life. It altered my expectations for literature, my perceptions of my parents’ histories, my conception of myself and what I wanted out of my future. Suddenly, I had a thousand things to ask my delighted father, about newly-free India in the 1950s. I looked at my mother, a freedom baby who was born right after India gained her independence with a new affection and appreciation; if Aparna were alive, she’d be my Mother’s age. I regarded all the other books on my shelves with a supercilious disdain.
I’ve read SB three-and-a-half times. It never left my bedside table; it’s been there for over a decade. My most cherished ritual involved briefly immersing myself in it before falling asleep every night; as soon as I finished the entire tome, I’d gingerly turn the book over and start it again the next night. Suddenly, I’m sad that my treasured font of comfort is dusty and untouched. When you summoned the oneiroi, Suitable Boy, I never wanted to wake. How many nights did I spend in that liminal space between dream and reality, feeling like I was with Meenakshi or Malati as they went about their lives, the lives you divinely conceived and described? Hell, sometimes during those nocturnal sojourns I WAS Meenakshi or Malati. No book has owned me so completely since you, I don’t know if one ever will.
Though I am astonished that almost no one “gets” that you are what I’m referring to (TWO people in four years = no one, okay?), my entire “online empire” is a tribute to you– fotolog.net/suitablegirl, www.suitablegirl.com, flickr~suitablegirl, etc etc. No other book captured my heart or injured my wrists like you.
Lo, somewhere in New York, someone utters your name, saying one who shall come will put thee to shame? Blasphemy!
“Hunger’s Brides” puts other behemoths to shame, including Michel Faber’s “Crimson Petal and the White,” (848 pages, 3 pounds); Neal Stephenson’s “Quicksilver” (944 pages, 3.3 pounds) and the recent reigning champ, Vikram Seth’s “Suitable Boy” (1,349 pages, 4.1 pounds).
The plot of “Hunger’s Brides” revolves around Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the 17th-century Mexican poet and nun whose vow of silence at the age of 40 was signed in her own blood. Her life and work have inspired writings by Octavio Paz, Robert Graves and Diane Ackerman.
But the book is more – much, much more – than an extended piece of historical fiction. It is also the story of Beulah Limosneros, a graduate student who immerses herself in the study of Sor Juana, and Donald Gregory, her professor and a serial adulterer. And in addition to narrative fiction, it is told in the form of poetry, dramatic plays, letters and notes in the margins.
Looks like they heard my wrists screaming for help:
But there is no escaping its size…To aid readers, the author himself has contributed some helpful hints. The book’s elaborate Web site (www.hungersbrides.com) features a slide show of “safe reading positions.”
Harrumph. Fret not, my long-adored lover, I glower at this uppity newcomer. That he should tempt my loyal heart is “INCONCEIVABLE“!
Why do you guys think that Seth does not give us an idea of what happens to Maan and Firoz? To me the end of the book seemed so sad because of Lata and HAresh(instead of Kabir) and then leaving us hanging with the Maan and Firoz plot! aagh! 🙂
Oooh… I have another question, I know that I am bombarding you guys, but I just finished the book. If Maan and Firoz were lovers when they were younger, why then could FIroz not tell him “everything that was in his heart” because it might be too disturbing? Or was he not referring to his feelings for Maan? I know you guys aren’t the authors, but I am just curious about your thoughts, cuz I have no one else to talk about the book to.
uh…guess it’s time to start that SM reading group (better-vetted-than-Oprah’s!) and crack open ASB again. 🙂 four or five weeks of reading and discussing? vat say you all?
Does that mean I should write my memoirs?
well, it depends on the meaning of the word
is“memoirs”. because if you’re going to slightly fictionalize situations which are “based on a true story”, then i’d want to know that in advance, since i’m all about the truthiness.four or five weeks of reading and discussing? vat say you all?
Ms. Anna,
I am up for it. However, my reading tastes are not at all in tune with the “good people” who frequent SM and write for SM. Therefore, I will be a bystander.
I did rencently buy Mahabartha but I’ll read once I have finished: a) Chronicle of Death Foretold, b) Shantaram, c) Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, and d) A Geologist’s Memior of the Kalahari. Reading Mahabartha will be preparation for my Pakistan visit. Are you going don Oprah’s role here?
Isn’t Colbert the best neologist in town?
You mean like Higgins in “Magnum” ?
I guess that makes Manish Tom Selleck, Vinod T.C (the guy with the chopper), Ennis is Rick (shifty dude, always with some scheme up his sleeve), and Anna’s the weekly hot “guest star” who hires Magnum for a case, and who is introduced to his tasteful collection of Hawaiian shirts at the end of the story.
*Incidentally, the very last episode hinted strongly that Higgins was multi-millionaire writer “Robin Masters” all along…..So he was actually writing his novels when he was locked away in his study, not his memoirs, and both the house and that red Ferrari actually belonged to him…..
PS I couldn’t think of anything to say about “A Suitable Boy” (which I read a very long time ago — completely loved it), except for the fact that I had absolutely no idea it had gay characters in it. Which shows you what a homely and innocent type I was underneath the gangster image. Or maybe I was too busy imagining what a hottie that other “bad girl” female character was (Meenakshi ?).
It’s a shame the plans to turn the novel into a TV mini-series didn’t come to fruition.
Ok Anna…I am in. I completely missed the gay-bi insinuation the first time around. I definitely need to look for it this time!
Also, am I the only one who thought that the ending in ASB was happier then An Equal Music? I was heart broken throughout the AEM.
I’m in. It’s one of my favorite books.
Count me in 🙂 Anna, I can so relate to your post. I’ve met my Kabir and Amit..I suppose I’m waiting for my Haresh sniff
Btw, has anyone read From Heaven Lake? Any comments on it?
I just finished reading it and loved it. Would be great to discuss it.
Anna, count me in!! I’d love a reread as well.
please humour me in allowing me to post that reading a suitable boy as a teenager portended in a way me finding and marrying my other half (who is indian whereas i am not-no big deal i know…but it was my first taste of anything set in india so its very special to me) thank you xxx
Hey guys,how is the rerading of a suitable boy going? The board has been quite for a while now.
I just finished reading ASB, i didnt want Lata to end up with Haresh either, he was soooo the wrong guy!
But i was telling my mum about the three different suitors as i was reading the book and she was totally happy that she ended up with Haresh! She said it was the right thing to do, lol!!
who wants to be with the suitable boy, an unsuitable boy is always more exciting. But we’ll see.
Hey guys am going to open the book again after years ! Reading this page flooded me with memories .This is seriously the best treat for this summer.am going to read ASB again !!!!!!! love marco
Hi
love marco
I think that this would be a splendid idea! Considering the time that we have all spent discussing Kaavya-gate and how indian chick lit always has sari borders and mangoes etc. It’d be so cool if people could come to Sepia Mutiny to check what the mutineers are currently reading. I for one have taken some advice and kept away from callous ramblings that have been passed off as books that were in turn exposed for what they truly are on this site.
BTW…I finished ASB and am waiting for a discussion on it. This time, the ‘love’ between Maan and Firoz was jumped right at me.
Is it normal in India for guys to go round holding hands in public? Maan and Firoz do this in the book.
Yes, it’s pretty common. In contrast, men and women hold hands (with each other) much less often in india than in the west.
does that mean a lot of indian men are bi-sexual or are they platonically holding hands?
Oh My Goodness Me! I came across the post via links from a Two Lives Review and I cannot believe there are so many people who feel for this book like me!
Anna! When I read your initial post it was verbatim what I say to myself in my head! I read the book just over a decade ago, I was 15 years old and had returned from my first ever India trip a few months earlier. Although an experience I came away hating many aspects of it…. Then ASB came along.
I read the book and suddenly India made sense to me, Indians made sense to me, my mother’s worries made sense to me. Whilst reading the book I could smell my trip – and suddenly it didn’t smell so bad!! Three years later I read the book again and picked up on so many things I missed out before – the zameenwallah’s, the politics and so on.
It’s funny though, my mother is desperately introducing me to suitable boys and I hear Lata’s Mother in her all the time…. Infact in my mobile phone I have “ASB” followed follwed by a digit next to each guys name that I have been introduced to. Funny living in London, I have met the Hari’s, the Kabir’s…..
Yes it’s time to read it again… It’s been far too long.
Reen (London, UK)
Well, i just finished reading the book(ASB) and was searching the net for what people thought of the book’s ending. I tried finding people who had read the book but to no avail. Finally, i found SM and it is absolutely GREAT to know that there are soooooo many(ok, maybe not so many) people who love this book so much. As for, the ending, I suppose Vikram Seth should have thought of the readers if nobody else. I so wish Lata had married Kabir. I mean, come on, after all those times where she disobeys Mrs. Rupa Mehra(right from opening letters in front of her to going to the party for the play’s cast), she could have done it once more, for the sake of the ending, for the sake of the readers. OK, enough bashing, I still loved it and will soon start reading it again.
I also just finished reading ASB a couple of months ago (thanks Anna, I would never have read it otherwise!).
I think it would be typical for people in their 20’s and 30’s to think that Lata should have married Kabir. I’m now in my 40’s and you won’t believe the feeling of sheer relief I felt when she actually chose Haresh. I particularly loved the reason she gave for her choice. It could well have been the mundane and obvious hindu/muslim thing but it wasn’t. And as I look back on my own life, and how completely and totally it has been guided (if that’s an appropriate word) by passion, I can totally relate to the sentiments expressed by Lata. I’m surprised, however, that a young woman in her 20’s could have figured all this out. It took all of four decades before I realized that passion is not where it’s necessarily at. There are rock solid and dependable people in one’s life who may not necessarily be exciting, but, believe me all you disappointed ones, they are worth their weight in gold. I probably sound like your mommies already, but there you have it.
As for the Maan-Firoz connection, perhaps there’s something there, but if I hadn’t read these comments I would never have known. In any case, it would probably have been a passing escapade and not something that can be defined as a relationship. It’s quite common, specially in boarding schools, to have such affairs but no-one considers it being gay and by the time people get to college it becomes all about women. Except, I didn’t quite get why Maan so totally lost his cool the night of the stabbing – was it jealousy from the remnants of the suggested relationship between them? Nevertheless, it seems like it was meant to hover just under the radar but now that I’m aware of it, it somehow adds to the “realism” of the book. I’m a product of indian boarding schools and most of my friends are too and I can pick a couple of Maan-Firoz types from among them – specially when I think back on the kinds of fights they have had. The hurt feelings, jealousies etc. are perhaps more than what you’d see among run-of-the-mill heteros.
Nice explanation of generational differences in the perception of Lata’s (un)suitable boy. I loved every chapter, until i had a brain wave after Mrs Rupa Verma discovers. So I skip some 1000 odd pages and realise she’s marrying..no MARRIED that Harish fellow. Sorry..I just couldnt believe the unbelievable and counter-climatic ending, and although I’d have loved to follow Maan and Saeda Bai’s story…the ending was just too bugging. The only book I loved and dropped halfway…strange
I was even worse…
I read until like the second to last chapter…
and then I just couldn’t take the suspense any longer, I broke down and read the last page! I have NEVER been so mad at myself because it destroys the point of that long, luxuriously told novel…
Now I’m gonna start all over again…so I can be suitably loyal too…:)
oh wow … I am reading ASB right now for the first time and personally I found the maan-firoz relationship to be completely unsubtle, and totally erotic! Actually I found this page by googling “maan firoz” to see if anyone was talking about it 🙂
The most overt part comes when they are in bed together at the Fort, and Firoz is coyly jealous of the Raja’s son, who has been described previously as preferring men to women … Maan reassures him and wraps his arms around him. But there are just so many tender scenes between them. I want to know what they look like so I can fantasize properly! 🙂
Wow! People like ME ;D Anna, I totally identify with the keeping it by the bed and reading a bit each night – Chapter 7 was usually it for me. I really, really wish I was a member of the Chatterjee family!
Maan and Firoz I didn’t notice the first time I read it, then when I went back to reading chunks of it, it seemed fairly obvious and added another dimension to the whole knife incident. That’s SO interesting about characters being modelled on his family – I assumed Tapan, getting abused at boarding school, was a reference to his own experience, and I also thought Amit and Dipankar were partly modelled on himself for some reason. So many characters in this book reminded me of people I know – especially Mrs Rupa Mehra who in parts was totally my own sentimental mother, and Dipankar who reminded me scarily of myself on a bad day.
Am I the only one who thinks Malati and Amit would totally suit each other?? When Lata reads her Amit’s ‘modest proposal’ and she goes ‘I think if a man wrote something like that to me I could never refuse him’, I was like YES! HAH! And also, how great was the part with Kalpana Gaur and Varun? When Mrs Rupa Mehra sees them at the wedding and gets anxious was another YES! HAH! moment for me 😉
Totally obsessed with ASB. Have read it 7 times, from cover to cover. Am so glad I discovered this site to feed my obsession. Loved the part with Kalpana Gaur and Varun.
I was laughing so hard when I red the comments…for example:
“I was even worse…
I read until like the second to last chapter…
and then I just couldn’t take the suspense any longer, I broke down and read the last page! I have NEVER been so mad at myself because it destroys the point of that long, luxuriously told novel…” or… “Wow! People like ME” or.. “Actually I found this page by googling “maan firoz” to see if anyone was talking about it :)” Which is how I founded this site…
…and of curse all stuff about Mann and Firoz.. I just love them so much and all I wish for is Seth to give a normal ending for their story (and they lived happly ever after or somthing..)! I just didn
t really understand what happened to them at the end- did Frioz told Mann the truth about him and Saeida Bai and..and I kinda would like to see Mann reaction when Firoz tells Mann that he doesnt love Saeida..I imagine Mann would be very upset, so upset in fact, than Firoz would go to comfort him..and all that stuff would end with a kiss…ah…yes, I would like to konw hat happened to them..indeed…