The Golden Gate [Paperback]

"Imitation is," they say, "the best
Form 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 ****!

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. =)

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.