- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; Reissue edition (Jun 18 1991)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0679734570
- ISBN-13: 978-0679734574
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 1.7 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 227 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #216,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Can 690 sonnets, rhyming a-b-a-b-c-c-d-d-e-f-f-e-g-g, be a novel? Definitely! First published in 1986 and still fresh (the sole sign of its publication date being the frequent use of the word yuppie), Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate will turn the verse-fearing into admiring acolytes. Janet Hayakawa, a yet-to-be-discovered sculptor and drummer in the Liquid Sheep, secretly places a personal ad for her friend John, even though she too is single. "Only her cats provide distraction,/Twin paradigms of lazy action." The seventh letter does the trick. Lawyer Liz Donati's submission is two sonnets in toto and disarms John into meeting her. Soon they fall into brief bliss, as do her brother, Ed, and John's old college roommate, Phil. Unfortunately, the first couple's love is too soon destroyed, partly by a pet, partly by politics; and the second is rent by religion. Ed pulls away thanks to the Bible: "I have to trust my faith's decisions, / Not batten on my own volitions."
The rest of the novel leads less to the traditional comic ending--rapprochement and marriage all around--than to surprising sadness. But in between there is wit, wordplay, abounding allusion, and some marvelous animals, among them the iguana Schwarzenegger. The author even steps onto the stage on occasion: at a frou-frou publishing party a powerful editor accosts him, curious to hear about his new novel. When Seth tells him it's in verse, the temperature plummets. "'How marvelously quaint,' he said, / And subsequently cut me dead." Luckily, Seth's real editor did anything but.
From Publishers Weekly
While the idea of a novel in verse may be initially off-putting, readers of this tour de force are in for a treat. Using the sonnet form throughout, and varying his language from lyrical elegance to timely vernacular, Seth's tale of four California Yuppies is as fully dimensional as a good novel, and twice as diverting. In this witty, compressed style, he gives us fully delineated characters: John, a Silicon Valley executive seeking solace in a meaningful amatory relationship; his friend and ex-lover Janet, an artist and musician in a raucous rock band; Liz, a vivacious Stanford law grad whose parents produce superior California wine; her brother Ed, floundering between sin and religion; and John's pal Phil, abandoned by his wife and left with his son, his moral vision and his scientific career at Lungless Labs, a scene of antinuclear protests and rallies. It is an engaging story of the pangs and passions of love, interlaced with serious ruminations on homosexuality and religion and on the future of the earth in the atomic age; and some comic sallies on feline behavior, bumper stickers, responses to "personals" ads, and other facets of the contemporary scene as refracted through the California lifestyle. The bard does not hesitate to interrupt his story from time to time, to explain a change in the course of events or to comment upon the structure of his narration, as he defends himself against critics who would accuse him of folly in writing an entire novel in the sonnet form. Inspired by "the marvelous swift meter of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin," Seth (From Heaven's Lake performs imaginative acrobatic jests, quips and puns, delivering his social commentary with spirit and verve. In spite of some passages where he veers toward the maudlin and bathetic,Seth's experiment is a resounding success. 25,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Tribute to The Golden Gate,
By Maheen Mohammed (Karachi, Pakistan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Golden Gate (Paperback)
"Imitation is," they say, "the bestForm of flattery." And so my Short and humble poem does attest To my having heaved a sad sigh On the last page - No more Golden Gate! Oh What a genius, that Vikram Seth! He wrote of friendship, love, and life, Betrayals, love affairs, and strife. Sex, politics, and other issues- Yet all the while maintaining rhyme. So read this book, it's worth the time. It's sad - you might just need some tissues. If you liked my rhyme even a bit Hear this: Compared to Vik's it's ****!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious, touching and brilliant,
By Zeeshan Hasan (Dhaka, Bangladesh) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Golden Gate (Paperback)
The first page always reminds me of the Paul Simon song, "Call me Al". If that's not enough to hook you, I don't know what is. =)
5.0 out of 5 stars
what friends should have been,
By
This review is from: The Golden Gate (Paperback)
the philosophy of romanticism has definitely moved into the twentieth century in operas and to a lesser degree in romantic comedies. it's also been in sitcoms, such as friends which will come into an end fortunately. but is there any way to write a novel in sonnets after eugene onegin? if you're vikram seth, the answer is "yes" and romanticism blends with twentieth century values. seth's epic poem "golden gate" honors, yuppie life, the search for love and economic strife, philosophy amd politics and the san fransisco lifestyle.the novel begins with john brown, a twenty something single looking for love. with the help of his old time friend jan he meets lizz dorati, runs into phil, his old roommate phil, and lizz's brother ed. these characters will date each other with varying intensities throughout the next two years. golden gate surveys the beauty of san fransisco, and these educated ordinary people with maturity on their sides and poetry in their hearts. while lizz and john hook up, we get a feeling that the romance may have triumphed too soon. and the readers are right. but seth keeps us guessing as to who will be happy with whom. what made me care most about these yuppies are their problems. most novels and comedies place fake crises in front of charcters so they can break up so they can be happy. but we get the feeling they have real problems and must come to a real solution. some are solved, while others are not. one couple break up because of politics and a cat- the other ceassefire because of religion. there's so much in this book, it's hard to say all that is included. it's all about philosophy and politics, and strange to say- this "golden gate" is as relevant now as it was when first published, in '86. a lot of golden gate reminds me of another non american author who wrote about the californian lifestyle- anyone know william sorayan? there' s a lot to be discussed because we care so much about these characters, who they are and how they drudge through the primer of the daily life. i liked the first half of the book better than the latter, but both are sufficient. one may think that with such a comic ending there may be a full cricle with a likely ending, but seth drives home the loneliness and glory of the yuppie life with tragedy. even though it's been over a hundred years since eugene onegin, i'm glad there has been a relative rendition. highly recommended, even if you hate poetry.
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