On Tuesday, I posted my list of Top Ten books I have been meaning to read for years, and one of them was Vikram Seth's masterpiece about India, A Suitable Boy. It turns out that I'm not the only one who has wanted to read this book for a while as Jo from JoV's Book Pyramid got in touch and we decided to read the book together for encouragement. Soon Aths (Reading on a Rainy Day) and Ana (What I Have Been Reading) were also involved and it turned into a proper read-a-long.
Here's the Goodreads synopsis:
"Vikram Seth's novel is, at its core, a love story: Lata and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, are both trying to find -- through love or through exacting maternal appraisal -- a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Set in the early 1950s, in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, A Suitable Boy takes us into the richly imagined world of four large extended families and spins a compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves. A sweeping panoramic portrait of a complex, multi ethnic society in flux, A Suitable Boy remains the story of ordinary people caught up in a web of love and ambition, humor and sadness, prejudice and reconciliation, the most delicate social etiquette and the most appalling violence."
Sounds good, right? We're reading the book on a schedule that works out to roughly 500 pages each month.
Starting Date: Monday 23rd July 2012.
Schedule:
Book 1 : 1.1 to 7.46 (July to August)
Book 2 : 8.1 to 13.38 (August to September)
Book 3 : 14.1 to 19.16 (September to October).
After each book, we'll all be posting an update on our impressions of the book so far and our reading experience. I'm excited to start as the book contains many themes that I love to read about; the Indian setting, the establishment of post-Partition India, the personal lives of the characters contrasted with the life of society, romance and family life, politics etc.
This is going to be a very casual read-a-long so you're all welcome to join us if you like the sound of the book. Although there is a schedule for reading, you can post as little or as much as you like and just join in whenever you feel like it. All you need to do to join is drop me or any of the other bloggers a comment and then repost the image on your blog to advertise (you can find it on my flickr stream here). I'd love to get as many people involved as possible, this is a big book so it's perfect for the encouragement that a read-a-long offers.
Will you join us?
I'm halfway through the book right now (EXACTLY 50%!), but it took me quite a while to get there, so it's quite possibly that you guys will catch up with me and I'll be able to join in for the tail part of this group read :-)
ReplyDeleteWe would love to have you join in Aarti, the whole thing is quite relaxed so I'm sure our posts will tally up at some point!
DeleteThis sounds like a very organized plan! I read the Suitable Boy a long time back ---I don't remember how I finished it, or even much of the story, but it read very fast, I must say. Would be interesting to see how you feel about it.
ReplyDeleteIt is organised, I have to admit that the schedule wasn't designed by me as I'm not that organised myself! I'm excited to finally start the book :)
DeleteI thought it's great that I have you, Aths and Ana joining me in the journey. I could have signed up for a tighter schedule but not knowing if I can meet the deadline as there are so many things going on in summer! But I am very sure it is going to be a wonderful experience for us all!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to read this with you Sam!
I think we'll have to have a bit of flexibility with scheduling, I can already picture myself racing through the first 500 pages and then desperate to read on :P
DeleteCool! This one has been on my shelves staring at me for far too long. I would love to jump in and participate!
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you join in too, Andi :)
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ReplyDeleteI would love to participate! I've been wanting to read ASB for many years now, but never got around to doing it :)
ReplyDeletehttp://riversihaveknown.com/
Great to have you join in! :)
DeleteHave fun! I enjoyed this book so much...
ReplyDeleteCrossing my fingers that you'll do better with this than with Clarissa ;-P
ReplyDeleteArgh - sorry. Got confused. Was commenting late last night and suddenly thought I was on another blog... My apologies. But I do hope you will enjoy the readalong! :-)
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