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A Suitable Boy

THE CLASSIC BESTSELLER AND MAJOR BBC DRAMA

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A Suitable Boy

By: Vikram Seth
Narrated by: Sagar Arya
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About this listen

 THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND MODERN CLASSIC: NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES

'A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel' Evening Standard

ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD

A modern classic, this epic tale of families, romance and political intrigue, set in India, never loses its power to delight and enchant readers.

At its core, A Suitable Boy is a love story: the tale of Lata - and her mother's - attempts to find her a suitable husband, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. At the same time, it is the story of India, newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis as a sixth of the world's population faces its first great general election and the chance to map its own destiny.

'Seth is the best writer of his generation' The Times

'Fiction on a grand scale. By the time you reach the last page you will have absorbed a splendid story, full of the tangle and perfume of India' Sunday Telegraph

'The greatness of the novel, its unassailable truthfulness, owes less to research than to imagination, an instinctive knowledge of the human heart' Observer

'You should make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life' The Times©1993 Vikram Seth Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins South Asian Creators Fiction

Critic Reviews

The best writer of his generation
This novel, so vast and so amiably peopled, is a long, sweet, sleepless pilgrimage to life . . . His novel deserves thousands of long marriages and suitable readers
No one, surely, could wish this novel shorter . . . the greatness of the novel, its unassailable truthfulness, owes less to research than to imagination, an instinctive knowledge of the human heart
Not merely one of the longest novels in English; it may also prove to be the most fecund as well as the most prodigious work of the latter half of [the twentieth] century
A quietly monumental novel . . . [Seth] has given that unlikeliest of hybrids, a modest tour de force
An immensely enjoyable novel which describes with unhurried pace the panorama of India . . . Everything appears familiar to us, yet in fact it is newly minted by a master artist
Conceived on a grand scale of the great 19th century novels - War and Peace, Middlemarch - A Suitable Boy grows to match them in breadth and depth . . . [A] massive and magnificent book
A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel of 19th century storytelling in the language of today . . . It is hard to believe that Seth is only one man. He writes with the omniscience and authority of a large, orderly committee of experts on Indian politics, law, medicine, crowd psychology, urban and rural social customs, dress, cuisine, horticulture, funerary rites, cricket and even the technicalities of shoe manufacture
All stars
Most relevant
This is well worth the listen. For one credit, it’ll likely be the biggest, longest, largest download, most glorious listen of your life.

Second time of listening

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Loved it all. Huge book but this was my second read. Was sad when it was over. Really well narrated

Wonderful,

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Absolutely loved this novel.What a wonderful insight into the Indian culture,and their political world. I will look forward to reading other novels by this author.

Great read

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I already knew and valued Vikram Seth's novel but listening to this excellent audiobook version, with authentic accents and pronunciation of names and places, has enhanced my appreciation of the book, the story and the themes even more. Highly recommended, both for the content and the narration.

Quantity AND Quality

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Beautifully crafted, the story rolls off the page with the inexorable ease of the Ganga and the complex beauty of a Moghul monument. Seth’s construction of character and narrative places him firmly in the pantheon of the best English-language writers. His love of language is patent and poetic. I’m reading the audiobook, for which I have waited nearly 30 years, and Sagar Arya’s narration is truly, truly masterful. Providing a beautifully sonorous and mellifluous narrative voice, Arya also brings to life God-knows-how many speaking parts, from the anxious and manipulative Mrs Rupa Mehra, through the bumptious anglophile Arun Mehra, to British Raj leftovers Basil and Patricia Cox and fellow storyteller The Guppi. I read this book in the mid ‘90s and immediately elevated it into my top 10 novels. The audiobook brings it to life again.

Rolls off the page with the inexorable ease of the Ganga and the complex beauty of a Moghul monument

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