Wait why do you hate Imran Seth? (You donât have to answer idk who Vikram Seth is and Iâm just curious đ )
**DO NOT REBLOG**
he's an indian author!
Well, I just dislike his writing and characters so much. once a uni senior slammed down a copy of his book and exclaimed "we get it, you know BIG WORDS, now shut up?!!!" and that sums up my feelings towards his books. His characters are unsympathetic and unlike Donna tartt's morally skewed but fun-to-read-about cast, they are also unappealing, wallowing in self pity and actively do stuff that makes it difficult to sympathise with them (ref: Michael Holmes in An Equal Music). He dispenses irrelevant information like a documentary catalogue instead of actually putting heart into his story, and that's me being kind. I could skip 5 chapters of ASB without any change to the narrative.
His female characters are incapable of transcending the virgin/whore/nurturer roles and are flat as pancakes in terms of relatability. He slut shames almost every single sex positive woman and depicts them with villainous arcs unless they are primary love interests. His portrayal of Bengalis is pathetic and the resolution he provides to his Muslim characters is worse. In A Suitable Boy, he villainises the FUCK out of meenakshi, who he makes sure to emphasize again and again, is a woman with dark skin and is a Bengali. I'm just sick of book rec lists constantly hyping his weird, self satisfied works as the Bible of modern Indian literature. I'll stop now or desi blogs will find me and roast me.
