SOURCE: "Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate: A Quick Look," in The Literary Criterion, Vol. XXI, No. 4, 1986, pp. 87-90.

In the following review, Hill complains that the values in The Golden Gate are flawed but praises the novel's balanced structure.

Judging by his novel The Golden Gate, it is hard to see how Vikram Seth can be considered an Indian writer, except by accident of birth. There are a few Indian references in the text, such as the "Taste of Honey" and the charioteer metaphor, and the non-violent attitude of the peace marchers has obvious Gandhian connections ("As evidence of our sincerity / We won't resist"), but there is nothing here that California has not possessed for a long time. The same could be said of the attitude of acceptance of contrasts that the book reveals at moments. This is, in fact, a totally Californian novel. What does perhaps result...