Suitable Boy

I loved the book, but I think I would have loved it just as much if it was half the length.

An epic book: it's long, but at the end you feel as if you've lived it. Beautifully written: the English is a joy! expressive, humourous, sad .... very real!

My travelling companion was reading this throughout our month-long jaunt through East Africa. I noticed one of the awful review quotes on the back said something like, "The book is filled not with characters, but with *people*." This set me against the book and I repeatedly took the piss out of my friend for reading it. He countered with, "No, it's pretty good." "Plenty f intrigue." "The characters are well drawn out." "It's quite an epic."

Some time in the last few months, I was reminded of the book, and said to my friend, who was present at the time, "Hey, you read that didn't you? When we were in Africa? You read the whole thing."

"Yeah," he said. "God, it was awful."

OK - so this huge book is good in parts but I am surprisd by such a low scoring. It has many outstanding set pieces and is a tremendous achievement, albeit not his best.

I think this book is wonderful, the various stories and characters weave together so well and by the end you feel they are old friends. I also love novels set in India, but it was more than just the setting that got me through this one!

I love novels set in India - but I think it was my passion for India that got me through the book rather than the book itself. It's good - but it's not that good.