A Suitable Boy: A BBC Radio 4 Full Cast Dramatisation

by Vikram Seth

A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, India, Indian Literature, Historical Fiction

6 pages, Audible Audio

Published January 1, 2007

About the author

Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.

During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.

The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.

In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.

An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.

Reviews

[Karen S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This abridged and dramatized audiobook was a disappointment. Hard to discern which character was speaking and there was no context for the multiple family storylines. Had I known it was “too” abridged, I would’ve passed and read the original.

[Bigsna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful dramatisation. Such a rich and well put together production. I am glad to finally be acquainted with this story, and in such an engaging way too.
A Suitable Boy has always daunted me with its length, but I'd always been curious about this modern classic, especially after the Netflix series came out last year (which also, I have avoided watching because I wanted to read the book first). So this year, I finally decided to tackle it in audio format.

Little did I expect the characters and spaces to come alive like they did in this version - a BBC 4 radio adaptation of the novel, and I wanted to know more about how they did it.

Produced in 2003, "it was recorded mainly in the faded elegance of the Maharaja of Dhrangadhara's palace in Pune with a 48-strong Indian cast of stunning vitality. The on-location production adds another dimension, with all those background sounds so characteristic of India: street noise; teasing, high pitched singing - and the cries of parakeets." , writes the Guardian.

It was wonderful to hear familiar names of performers like Rahul Bose, Ayesha Dharker, Kunaal Roy Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Ila Arun, Rajit Kapoor. Splendid performances by all 48.

Will certainly be listening to other productions by this team.

[Akhila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with 1500+ pages , the humongous book that i own. But I started with an audiobook , a dramatized version by BBC4 Radio.
Listening to it was an engrossing listen, different character with familiar voices.

Storywise, I really expected a huge challenging plot with subplots. I feel the plot ended abruptly after a point. I wasnt convinced why she chose Haresh instead of the rest ( May be because of the audiobook) and some more.

This book is a one time read for me.

[Jack Stonecipher]

Ok. Pretty standard drama

[Emmad Mazhari · Rating 3 out of 5]

good but need to read the full book

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This doesn't quite count as reading the book, since the BBC dramatization I listened to was only five hours or so long, when this book is over 1,000 pages and half a million words. But its hard to imagine reading 500,000 words of this story. It was good and I think I'll take a peek at what is left out, but looooordy imagining being with this book for 1,000 pages seems like overkill.

[Booklover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dramatized adaptation and audio performance of the large and epic book I read and loved many years ago. Excellent performances but hard to keep some of the characters straight. Great music. 3.5 stars overall: sometimes 4 stars, but often 3 stars.

[Ameya Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose this is a kinda like cheating considering I heard the audiobook of a dramtized version and not the original book. Kinda like reading the abridged version instead of the classic.

But it is so so good....

[Chitban · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the intent of this was to make it feel like you were listening to a play which is completely achieved. I thought the actors were great at bringing their characters to life which is tough I think when you're completely going off of audio.
My problem with this was the material itself, i appreciate the insight into 1950s India where tradition is holding strong but there is also a new wave of change post independence. That being said, it was extremely dissapointing that the author then doesn't actually deliver on the ending in the same tone. I also had a hard time liking the main characters which is why I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

[Lubna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending? What was that? So much build up to who she will chose and then it comes out of nowhere.

[Eliza Hirschi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how I feel about this one…the narration was amazing and I loved the music etc. but it was often so hard to follow and understand even who was talking. I didn’t realize this was a super abridged version, the full story is probably worth reading, might get to it in the future.

[Att · Rating 2 out of 5]

BBC abridged audio performance of the 1500 page book. My overall rating is "meh". Nothing new or interesting in this book about India and Indian families and culture. I can't even imagine wading through 1500 pages of the book.

[Jyotika Aggarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a tragic end to such a fascinating story. Life came a full circle! Loved all it's characters.

[Sudha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Highly confused by all the great reviews about this story. I listened to the 6-hour audiobook, and I was not a fan of this immersive-style podcast turned into an audiobook. The music was too loud and overshadowed the dialogue. It was confusing who was who, and I still don't understand how Lata's family was connected to the politician family (or why the other family was even needed in the story). Even if I had read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook, I just don't see myself enjoying this story. It was boring, I couldn't get drawn into it, and I very much considered not finishing it.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “reading list” pointed me toward “a suitable boy” and after reading a few reviews, I decided that I wasn’t interested in listening to hours and hours of the intricacies of searching for a suitable boy with the culture and constraints of India. This BBC adaptation was a perfect fit.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I might enjoy this in book format, the audio version was over produced with jarring background noise and uneven levels. I’d crank it loud to make out dialogue, then have discordant music blast my ear drums. Very disappointing.
I’ll try again in paper or ebook.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not near as good as reading the actual book, which was incredible, but enjoyable and substantially less time consuming. An easy way to re-enjoy this excellent book.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, not what I was expecting and definitely delivered on all fronts. Trying to find the book to actually read now but the BBC4 version was entertaining no doubt.

[Amy S. Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciate the full cast and glad I listened to the abridged version of this incredibly long novel.

[Ferdouse Akhter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never listened to a book like this and it’s an experience - it’s like you’re in India. 4 stars because it seemed like they cut a bit too much in the abridged version?

[Lorrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't bring myself to read a 1,400-page book, so I opted for this instead. It was interesting and I enjoyed listening to it.

[Lawana Sisam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy it at all! I don't like dramatizations! Just give me words!

[Shruti · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up to 3 mainly for the cast, loved all of them! but the story and esp how it ended was very abrupt!

[KatieK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audio was confusing at times. Overall it's a 2.5 🌟

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this title on my "to read" list because it was one of the books featured in "The Reading List". However, instead of getting the audiobook, I received a "dramatization" from the library. It just glossed over the story and the characters' motivations were hard to discern (and at times it was difficult to determine which character was speaking). Plus the background music and noises were often so loud it was hard to follow the dialogue.

Perhaps this is a good book but I wouldn't know after listening to the radio play.

[Monica Shastri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 /5
Just finished the BBC version audiobook. And OMG. I can't recommend it enough. What a brilliant job done. Especially the background noises and all.
She did not end up with the one I was hoping for and it broke my heart. This is not acceptable 😪
But the book does have a realistic ending. The way it is in India. 😅 so well can't argue on that. It does hit you with a sour reality check.

This book takes place in 1950 India and even though its 2020 this book still seems so relevant. A timeless classic. If you are an Indian or know about Indian culture..you would definitely be nostalgic or resonate with the characters.

People do have objections between a hindu muslim wedding ... you still have to marry the boy your parents like and all the shenanigans that come with being a girl of suitable girl of married age. Unless your westernised but there will still be an aunty in the wedding looking down on you lol

It perfectly captures the essence of India as it spans from different religions and classes of people in India.
I am so pleased to have started this year with a book as beautiful as this.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m glad I didn’t read the whole book

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the review of the BBC Radio production of the book in Audible.

While it's not the audio version of the book itself, this dramatized version is pleasant to hear. The narration and the story was well put and kept you engaged. I am not sure how true to text the this version was but it was gripping and very well crafted. It was fun to hear this and motivated me to read the book given the fact that this version lacked character arcs may be because of the time constraint. There seemed to be lot of background stories going on but were not covered. However, this radio production has encouraged decent pace and enthusiasm needed to read the actual text. Overall the hours spent in listening to this were well spent.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

After trying, and failing so many times, to finish reading this enormous tome, I decided to try the 'award winning BBC radio play' audio version, and managed to finish that. The story has a big cast of characters and covers a number of large and complex themes including family relationships, culture and major changes in India post independence. It is very ambitious in its scope and perhaps would have been easier to digest if it was more tightly edited. While it was interesting, I really did struggle with it as I was never able to effectively connect with the characters and events. I enjoyed Vikram Seth's Golden Gate, a story told in verse, but this work of prose was not as effective or accessible for me.