Seth says Indian writing as rich as Europe's

FRANKFURT, Oct 4 (Reuters) Vikram Seth doesn't care to listen to critics who accuse him of selling out for writing in English despite being one of India's most celebrated living authors and an unofficial ambassador for Indian literature.

''I couldn't give a damn,'' he said on a recent visit to Frankfurt, where he read from his latest book ''Two Lives'', a portrait of his Jewish-German great aunt and Indian great uncle with whom he lived in London as a teenager.

''If you're taught to play the sarangi, then you can't suddenly start playing the guitar or the piano because people tell you, 'oh you oughtn't to be doing this for politically correct or incorrect reasons','' he said.

Arguably, 54-year-old Seth -- who made his name with the improbably long bestseller ''A Suitable Boy'' in 1993 and received an advance of 1.4 million pounds ( FRANKFURT, Oct 4 (Reuters) Vikram Seth doesn't care to listen to critics who accuse him of selling out for writing in English despite being one of India's most celebrated living authors and an unofficial ambassador for Indian literature.

''I couldn't give a damn,'' he said on a recent visit to Frankfurt, where he read from his latest book ''Two Lives'', a portrait of his Jewish-German great aunt and Indian great uncle with whom he lived in London as a teenager.

''If you're taught to play the sarangi, then you can't suddenly start playing the guitar or the piano because people tell you, 'oh you oughtn't to be doing this for politically correct or incorrect reasons','' he said.

Arguably, 54-year-old Seth -- who made his name with the improbably long bestseller ''A Suitable Boy'' in 1993 and received an advance of 1.4 million pounds ($2.6 million) for ''Two Lives'' -- can afford not to care.

But, like many other Indians, he considers English -- the language of his education -- to be one of India's 18 languages, and he resists the idea of a single school of Indian literature.

''Basically, the great thing is that you can't say there's a school of Indian writing,'' he says. ''Because of the width of references that we can select ... that's what makes Indian literature as rich as the literature of Europe.'' Seth's own writing is influenced by many different genres and nationalities. His verse novel ''The Golden Gate'' was inspired by Pushkin, and he has been compared to Leo Tolstoy, George Eliot and even Goethe.

''When I'm writing in English, I'm referring not only ... to other Indian writers in English, but also to people like Shakespeare and Jane Austen and George Eliot, and I expect a certain catching of reference from those writers,'' he says.

''Language also is a kind of a country.'' NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN Seth's relationship with Germany is close but ambivalent. He is not staying in Frankfurt for the world's largest book fair this week, but says this has nothing to do with Germany as such.

''Large crowds make me nervous -- everyone rushing around purposefully, whereas I have very little purpose in life,'' he said, half joking.

Seth, who speaks excellent German, says his research for the book both drove him away from Germany and drew him to it.

''Particularly archival research into the documents of the Nazi period, and finding these transport lists, and these letters from the Gestapo ... The calm, bureaucratic way in which it was phrased, I couldn't get it out of my mind,'' he said.

''Of course I could see it was illogical to judge an entire culture zone, an entire language for that,'' he added.

''Eventually I came around to it by reading the letters of these ordinary people, these friends of my aunt, and my aunt's own replies.'' ''The crucial thing was if you have a government which encourages the worst prejudices and actions of the people, that they can carry them out with impunity and encouragement, that is the poisonous situation. That has happened again and again.'' Seth said his close involvement with ''Two Lives'' prevented him from taking up new projects.

''I'm writing nothing, thank God. I find it very difficult to work on a book while talking about another book, especially if it's a book that really grips me.'' It is also a book that is important personally.

''I did not want them to be forgotten,'' he said.

REUTERS MS ND1718 .6 million) for ''Two Lives'' -- can afford not to care.

But, like many other Indians, he considers English -- the language of his education -- to be one of India's 18 languages, and he resists the idea of a single school of Indian literature.

''Basically, the great thing is that you can't say there's a school of Indian writing,'' he says. ''Because of the width of references that we can select ... that's what makes Indian literature as rich as the literature of Europe.'' Seth's own writing is influenced by many different genres and nationalities. His verse novel ''The Golden Gate'' was inspired by Pushkin, and he has been compared to Leo Tolstoy, George Eliot and even Goethe.

''When I'm writing in English, I'm referring not only ... to other Indian writers in English, but also to people like Shakespeare and Jane Austen and George Eliot, and I expect a certain catching of reference from those writers,'' he says.

''Language also is a kind of a country.'' NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN Seth's relationship with Germany is close but ambivalent. He is not staying in Frankfurt for the world's largest book fair this week, but says this has nothing to do with Germany as such.

''Large crowds make me nervous -- everyone rushing around purposefully, whereas I have very little purpose in life,'' he said, half joking.

Seth, who speaks excellent German, says his research for the book both drove him away from Germany and drew him to it.

''Particularly archival research into the documents of the Nazi period, and finding these transport lists, and these letters from the Gestapo ... The calm, bureaucratic way in which it was phrased, I couldn't get it out of my mind,'' he said.

''Of course I could see it was illogical to judge an entire culture zone, an entire language for that,'' he added.

''Eventually I came around to it by reading the letters of these ordinary people, these friends of my aunt, and my aunt's own replies.'' ''The crucial thing was if you have a government which encourages the worst prejudices and actions of the people, that they can carry them out with impunity and encouragement, that is the poisonous situation. That has happened again and again.'' Seth said his close involvement with ''Two Lives'' prevented him from taking up new projects.

''I'm writing nothing, thank God. I find it very difficult to work on a book while talking about another book, especially if it's a book that really grips me.'' It is also a book that is important personally.

''I did not want them to be forgotten,'' he said.

REUTERS MS ND1718