A Suitable Boy (Dramatised)

By: Vikram Seth

Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, full cast

Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Shortlisted for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, 1993
Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, 1994
Winner of the WH Smith Literary Award, 1994

A Suitable Boy is now a major 2020 BBC TV series and one of the BBC's 100 novels that shaped our world.

The award-winning BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Vikram Seth's masterpiece.

A Suitable Boy is Vikram Seth's epic love story set in India. Funny and tragic, with engaging, brilliantly observed characters, it is as close as you can get to Dickens for the 20th century.

The story unfolds through four middle-class families - the Mehras, Kapoors, Khans and Chatterjis. Lata Mehra, a university student, is under pressure from her mother to get married. But not to just anyone she happens to fall in love with. There are standards to be met and finding a husband for Lata becomes a family affair in which all the members are to play a part. The characters struggle, they try to buck the system, to break free of restraint, of interference - but ultimately their strength and sense of being comes from their family and friends. It is a celebration of ordinariness; a beautifully composed story that is an affirmation of family and friendship.

In his sweeping epic, Vikram Seth has created an entire world filled with warmth, humour, pathos, tragedy - in short, life. Recorded on location in India, A Suitable Boy is made by the production team behind the award-winning Bleak House and The Handmaid's Tale.

Dramatised and directed by John Dryden. A Goldhawk Production.

©2002, 2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2002, 2003 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Critic reviews

"The drama highlight of the year... this sumptuous production, wonderfully atmospheric, written with pace and performed, by an all-Indian cast, quite superbly. The novel may be vast but I was convinced by this version right from the start. Magnificent drama." (Radio Times)

Good beginning ... great middle .... unimpressive end!

The novel is written in nicely with incredible conversations. All characters performed good. Felt like watching a movie. Beginning was nice which takes to very high pick middle that makes listeners feel very excited to know the ending but unfortunately the ending dies not feel like complete end. Which takes the overall score drastically down.
The whole novel carry 4 n half hrs the subject of finding suitable boy n at the end the wedding described only in 2 min conversation which is really weak way of representing. Also it seemed like it was not complete ... it left readers with all sorts of questions regarding other family members.
Also it ends with the main character being unhappy at the end.

Short, but good charectors

The charectors were all very well potrayed. The version is too short however to encapsulate vikram seths original book which is very thick. The build up to charectors hence is too short to enjoy the story and the chapters change rather abruptly and sometimes hard to follow.

Mesmerizing

Loved everything about this Drama. The music and dialogue rendition together with the wonderful story create a lasting effect.

Lovely performance!

I'm a great fan of Vikram Seth's big novel, and have read it a couple of times. I have often wished there were a movie of the book. This dramatization brings the novel to life wonderfully, and so far (I'm only an hour in) the radioplay's selection of scenes and dialogue from the novel seems really good. The talented actors, the music, the sounds, all create a vibrant atmosphere. I recommend it highly, especially for people who have read the book. As the several disappointed reviews suggest, it may be difficult to comprehend for a listener who hasn't read Seth's novel, but I wouldn't think it would be impossible to enjoy. The actors fill their readings with sparkle and passion.

Brilliant.

Outstanding performances and production. Nicely edited from the book. I can almost smell the Frangipani trees.

what an annoying radio drama

Would you try another book from Vikram Seth and/or Full Cast?

I was really looking forward to this great read. One of Seth's greatest talents is the way he talks about music. The producers of this drama decided to include the music he talks about, mixed way too loud, rather than include the descriptions of the music. If you try to listen to this in a car it is nearly impossible to make out the dialogue. This might be fine with headphones but I found it quite annoying.

Not my cup of tea...

As a radio play it felt more like listening to the soundtrack of a film (of course, without being able to see what's going on.) From listening to a lot of radioplays, I found that the best ones have scripts written specifically for radio... it felt like this one didn't. And I don't know but I feel like I've heard this kind of story a hundred times before. Not my cup of tea. I get the feeling I'd enjoy reading the book more.

Abridged?

Sound effects made story difficult to follow. I think book was much abridged. Disappointing audio book.

Not a book but a dramatization

I thought I was getting a book, but it was a dramatization so very difficult to follow the characters. I didn’t enjoy it but finished it!!

would prefer unabridged naration

It is my own fault because I didn't know what dramatized meant, but it turns out I don't like that format. I would MUCH prefer the actual book being READ. I don't like the background sound effects. I will probably come back to this one at some point, after I have run out of other things to listen to, but I personally MUCH prefer actual reading of the unabridged book. I wish I had not purchased this now, as I will ultimately need to buy it again as a BOOK. but again, my own fault.