Books by Vikram Seth
“Once you get to know the characters, which does take a while, it becomes a book that you just can’t wait to get back to. It’s funny to think that a 1,400-page Victorian-type novel is something you can’t wait to get back to, but that’s exactly my experience of reading it. It takes a while to get a sense of who everyone is and to feel comfortable with the various characters and families. It’s a big cast and it’s like going up a hill to get to know them, and then there is this enormous downhill, this freewheeling period, when you’re enjoying yourself. It’s a fantastically entertaining book.” Read more...
Ed Smith, Sportspersons & Sportswriter
“It’s not a remarkable story, but it’s a universal story of people in their twenties and early thirties. It captures that period of life when you are free and adult but freedom can feel very heavy and frightening, that moment when you are still innocent and vulnerable, open to the world and quite alone as well. You’re also trying to discover yourself and who you are. It’s a kind of fuzzy moment, when you’re anything and everything and nothing at the same time. It’s a very confusing moment. Seth captures that confusion and a certain loneliness of the soul which is why we search for love, beautifully. That is the genius of the book – its universality.” Read more...
Radhika Jha, Novelist
Interviews where books by Vikram Seth were recommended
The Best Indian Novels, recommended by Radhika Jha
Like all great books, India’s best novels are worth reading not just because of what they show about India, but what they reveal about the human condition. Here Radhika Jha, author of four critically acclaimed books, talks us through five important Indian novels and novelists and explains why it’s so important that fiction isn’t just about personal experience.
The Best San Francisco Novels, recommended by Armistead Maupin
The author of the Tales of the City novel series, Armistead Maupin, tells us about San Francisco’s spirit of place, and the books that best capture the city’s sense of possibility and noirish feel. He recommends the best novels set in San Francisco.
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1
Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo -
2
Homeland (Patria)
by Fernando Aramburu and Alfred MacAdam (translator) -
3
Life and Fate
by Vasily Grossman and translated by Robert Chandler -
4
In Search of Lost Time
by Marcel Proust -
5
The Tale of Genji
by Murasaki Shikibu & translated by Edward G. Seidensticker -
6
Clarissa
by Samuel Richardson
Long Novels
Long Novels
Shorter is better is the mantra of the digital age, but for some of us, there is no greater pleasure than reading a really long novel. Here we’ve listed some of the novels recommended on Five Books that are 400,000 words or more long, from literary classics to potboilers.
Ed Smith on My Life and Luck
The former international cricketer, author of a book on luck, and England’s national selector tells us about the chance happenings that have helped shape his life, for better or worse
