Mappings

By Vikram Seth

Categories: Literature & Fiction

Mappings (1980) was Vikram Seth's debut book of poems, published years before his novel in verse, The Golden Gate, made his name. Most of the poems are short lyrics written during his years of study abroad. They deal with travel, love, family and solitude, and several look back at India from a distance. Already they show the formal control of rhyme and meter that runs through his later work.

Recommended by 1 person

• Fareed Zakaria: “And Vikram Seth, whose most astonishing work is a novel in verse, “The Golden Gate,” written in iambic tetrameter and modeled on Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin.” As you read it, you are charmed by the story while still aware and in awe of Seth’s talent.”