The Golden Gate, by Vikram Seth (A Dynamic Duo Dual Review)
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This is an online dialogue about The Golden Gate, written by Vikram Seth. Published in 1986 to substantial critical and commercial acclaim, the book is now, unfortunately, out of print, but can typically be found second-hand or at your local library (I found my copy there).
The novel is set in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area in the mid-80s, but has an unusual twist: it's written entirely in verse (more on that below).
Inspired by Russian author Vladimir Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, the novel comprises 690 tetrameter sonnets. In fact, Seth found Pushkin's novel at a second-hand book sale at Stanford University, where some of the scenes in the novel take place.
Vikram Seth Biography
Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1952. His father, Prem, was an executive at a shoe company, and his mother, Laila, was a judge. Vikram has a younger brother and a younger sister.
Seth left India after completing his primary education to study at Oxford University, completing his degree in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). Afterwards, he enrolled in graduate school at Stanford University, to pursue a PhD in Economics. Seth was also a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing from 1977-1978 at Stanford. Explaining why he never completed his doctorate degree in economics: "never had any passion for economics, not what I felt for writing poetry".
Vikram Seth has published eight notable works - two novels, and six collections of poetry. During the period before and after Seth published his first novel, he contributed poetic works for more than a decade. Seth's books of poetry include Mappings (1980), From Heaven Lake (1983), which discusses a hitchhiking trip through Nepal into India that Seth took while studying in China in the early 1980s, The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990), Beastly Tales (1991), and Three Chinese Poets (1992).
*Spoiler alert*
Jason: Worth the effort at reading
I also liked the fact that the used tetrameter; the novel's strongest points to me, his vivid expression of love and grief, were, I think, accentuated by his deft use of the poetic form. Each of the book's 690 verses follows an ABABCCDDEFFEGG pattern, which you can see has some irregularities in its pattern. This made it more difficult to establish the flow in my head while I was reading, and I often found myself switching to reading it as prose if I was in a rush or impatient. But slowing down and reading as it was written, in poetic form, gave it a lot of beauty. Here's an example from the book:
As Phil talks on, his eyes grow radiant.
Ed thinks of the first time they met.
The weeks have warped the placid gradient
On which his even wheels were set.
Neither the sense, at every meeting,
Of his heart's full and rapid beating,
Nor the abrupt and scalding rush
Of redness to his face, the flush
When he feels Phil's eyes resting on him,
But something infinite and slow
And tide-like holds his life in tow.
The salt of human love upon him,
To it his leached will yields control,
Whether it stings or heals his soul.
I did not, however, find myself thinking in verse after reading it. ;-)
Njoke: What is tetrameter and why should you care!
Okay so I am going to reveal myself for the geek I really am with this comment but I am so impressed that this whole book including the preface and acknowledgments is written in verse. Vikram Seth may be setting himself up as the Chaucer of our time with this one. After a few days of reading I found myself thinking in rhyme. Fortunately, I did not share my melodic thoughts with others.
Tetrameter is the ugly step-sister of imabic pentameter ( if you ever want to be thrilled by iambic pentameter might I recommend Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbuty Tales). Most notable among tetrameter's advantages is its usefulness in songs and poems that, like songs, make a direct appeal to emotion.
How can you tell if a poem is in tetrameter? If you can sing it to the tune of "Hernando's Hideaway," it is in tetrameter.
Just knock three times and whisper low
That you and I were sent by Joe
Then strike a match and you will know
That you're in Hernando's Hideaway...OLE
Jason: Are all of our conversations going to rhyme now?
I don't agree with the idea that you should settle down just with a buddy, although I mentioned at our book club meeting that Seth's Indian heritage and its tradition of arranged marriage might have more favorably inclined him towards practical considerations of marriage than romantic notions. I do think too many women (not trying to be Dear Abby here!) have been raised with stories of Prince Charming, and expect a man to provide and give more than mortals can. At any rate, for the book, you could infer that Phil & Liz had the makings for romantic love when they got married, and they did grow into it over time. Maybe not...
Njoke: Is marriage better when two people love each other but are not in love?
Talk about a shocker when Liz and Phil get married. First of all, to marry your brother's lover...this book was written pre-Jerry Spinger, right?...but also your boyfriend's best friend! What's that all about? There may have been some urgency for her to start a family but come on!
And yet they seem so happy together, even Charlemagne (the cat that all but evicted her last lover) seems to approve. So it got me to thinking about my husbandless state of affairs. I have spent 15 odd years "looking for love in all the wrong places". Should I just be trying to domesticate a good buddy. Ironically, as I write this, an episode of Sex in the City is on where Carrie ponders the exact same question. One of her very gay friends (played by Nathan Lane) has a ginourmous Hampton wedding to his very female beard Muffy Von something or the other. Carrie wonders can a marriage work without the "zsa zsa zsu!" Jason I ask you! (oh that rhymed!)
Jason: Pets can go either way
Njoke: Either that cat goes or I go!
Njoke: Yes but aren't pets part of the package?
Jason: Yes, but there are 2 issues
Njoke:
"Those who are born are too young, those
Who die too silent, to disclose
What lies across the occluded borders"
Genius as far as I am concerned. This what I liked best about the book that he was able to use the simplest of sentence constructions to convey some really heavy stuff. It also just occured to me, I wonder what tune he might have had in his head when he was writing these verses.
Jason: Not sure
Jason: On the subject of mourning and grief
By far, the most moving parts of the book were at the end, when the accident tore away loved ones from both John and Chuck (the little boy). I think Seth captures the intense emotions of these characters' grief so beautifully, and it was at this point that you really get to feel for John's humanity (I know not everyone agrees with me). What do you think of John's life post-Liz, and how he handled singlehood and the loss of his love? Here's a verse that I really resonated with:
13.10
Are the dead, too, defiled by sorrow,
Remorse, or anguish? We who live
Clutch at our porous myths to borrow
Belief to ease us, to forgive
Those who by dying have bereft us
Of themselves, of ourselves, and left us
Prey to this spirit-baffling pain.
The countries round our lives maintain
No memoirists and no recorders.
Those who are born are too young, those
Who die too silent, to disclose
What lies across the occluded borders
Of this bright tract, where we can see
Each other evanescently.
Jason: Her reasons seemed valid to me
Njoke: The relationship that wasn't
So let's talk about that: why did Liz and John's relationship suddenly go kaput? I mean I know they had their issues but her hesitation when he proposed kind of puzzled me. I mean, I'll be the first to admit, the guy was a bit of a tyrant and I was a bit put off by the way he morphed from a seemingly easy going guy who simply despaired of finding a partner to an obnoxous overbearing bull. Oddly enough Liz seemed to be the one who understood him the most. So what gives?
This brings to mind another thing I dont really get, if you are in a relationship and somebody proposes to you and you say no...shouldnt it be over? I mean seriously, unless they propose within the first month of dating ( in which case they may just be crazy) don't you have a pretty good idea of who that person is by the time they get around to proposing? Sooo shouldn't you know whether this relationship can make it in the long haul or not? So what is really left to say after turning down their proposal? (Umm ask me again in a month and I'll see how i feel!) Color me confused!
Jason: I didn't find Phil that puzzling
Njoke: So what is Phil's deal?
So Phil's sexual ambivalence seemed to have sparked off an interesting discussion about sexuality in our book club.One minute he is interested in women and the next day it is men and then back to women. Was Phil just settling for the security of friendship? Was he considering that his young child would need a mother and thus the practical thing to do is find himself a wife?
Perhaps the answer is that Phil is truly bisexual? We found out last night that the author himself is bisexual...or at least his mom says so. Perhaps Seth infused this character with some of his own perspectives on intimate relationships.
Njoke: Marriage forecasting
I read in I think it was "Blink" about a study that was conducted on several married couples to gauge their interactions and it turns out that contempt is the highest indicator of divorce. Couples can seem happy and loving but if there is even the slighest evidence that one or both parties feels any kind of superiority or disdain for the other then its all over. Based on these findings I would imagine that any relationship that John had would be doomed. But your question was about Liz and Phil. I actually think that they have a pretty good chance primarily because they got married for very practical reasons and were honest with each other about it. No rose tinted glasses! And they seem to really like and enjoy each other friends. Practicality, honesty and frienship, those are the master ingredients for a successful marriage. I think!
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Comments
(Jason here) I'm not sure John was meant to be vilified. I think his relationship with Jan, and the very human mourning of her death, made him a far more multidimensional person than we would have thought at first glance. I think the entire cat interaction just underscored the fact that Liz & John were not meant to be; it wasn't in the cards for them. About Phil's sudden proposal: it did seem odd, and we did discuss this in our book club. It seems to suggest he figured it all out, very Goldilocks-like. "This porridge (Claire) is too hot, this porridge (Ed) is too cold, and this porridge (Liz) is just right".
Then again, maybe it's just the rhyming, lyrical cadence that makes me think Seth was after a pat, fairy-tale ending to Phil's story.
won't be buying this book for any friends to read
A Reader from India says:
3 years ago
Hi Njoke and Jason,
Thanks for you comment on my blog and the link to your interesting conversation on The Golden Gate.
One point that puzzled me was the way Phil instantly proposed to Liz when she mentioned that she could never marry John. It seemed unlikely that an otherwise sensitive and sensible person like Phil would propose at short notice to his best friend's lover. Also, I thought John was not completely to blame, except for his rigid views. To be fair, he did make attempts to make friends with Liz's cat!