Kevin Sutton responded to Philip Peters:

>>The book by Vikram Seth sort of describe the functioning of a string
>>quartet in credible terms but as a novel it's actually quite bad IMO (as
>>was his earlier one in which Indian music plays a role). If you wish to
>>read good literature I wouldn't try Mr.Seth's works.
>
>What is it that makes it bad literature?  ...

That book came highly recommended, but I found it disappointing.
Admittedly, I'm not a fan of modern fiction, so the source of the
disappointment may rest there.  It's been a while, but it seemed to me
that Seth went so far into the world of music making and no further--as
if he understood his subject well, but only so well.  And as seems to
happen with some of these books, the framing story of other aspects of
the character's life didn't command the same interest.  I wouldn't call
the book outright bad by any means.  Disappointing will do fine.

Roger Hecht