The Humble Administrator's Garden [Paperback]

Vikram Seth (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0856355836 | ISBN-13: 978-0856355837 | Publication Date: October 1985 | Edition: First Edition

'Vikram Seth's poems...should have an impact far beyond much noisier pieces; for when did we last see a volume in which the poet's eye is on what is objectively before him, rather than on the intricacies of his own sensibility? Seth knows (not as a tourist, but from the inside) four cultures: his native India; England; California; communist China. Here he inspects them all respectfully and eagerly, and without partisanship or facile ironies balances each of them against the others.' - Donald Davie

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Calcutta in 1952, Vikram Seth studied at Oxford, Stanford University and in China. He is a noted travel writer. From Heaven Lake, an account of his walk through Sinkiang and Tibet, received the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1983. The Humble Administrator's Garden, first published in 1985, won a commonwealth Poetry Prize and his best-selling verse novel, The Golden Gate, was widely acclaimed when it appeared in 1986. His subsequent novel, A Suitable Boy, was a worldwide bestseller.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Carcanet Pr; First Edition edition (October 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0856355836
• ISBN-13: 978-0856355837
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,970,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical imagery from China, India and California!, May 19, 2004

By 

Vivek Sharma "Kavi" (Cambridge / Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Humble Administrator's Garden (Paperback)

Research in Jiangsu Province

The Yangtse flows on like brown tape.
The research forms take final shape,
Each figure like a laden boat
With white or madder sails afloat.

Float on, float on, O facts and facts,
Distilled compendia of past acts,
Reveal the Grand Design to me,
Flotilla of my PhD.

In this collection, Vikram Seth has poetry and imagery from China, India and America. The poetry is heartfelt and marked by Vikram Seth's penchant for using simple words to recreate truth, beauty and magic!