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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
Absolutely magnificent! I read it years ago, but can't get it out of my head. One of my favorite books, ever!
Recommended reading for everyone from upper middle class families who don't understand what the fuss about the Emergency in India was, how deluded our statements of not caring about politics sound from their privileged ivory towers. Recommended reading for everyone who wants to be able to empathize better - who only look at the impact of Demonetization on GDP, or of the Emergency on elections, purely because we are fortunate enough to not experience the visceral impact on our lives. For everyone who believes they are who they are purely because of themselves - if you ever need a reminder of 'bad things happen to good people', this is it.
By empathy, I loved how the characters attitude to each other changes the more they find out about their backgrounds and the more time they spend together, like the proverbial pieces of a quilt stitching together. The four primary characters are terrifically created, but so are all the auxillary ones. We all know a Nusswan, an Inspector Kesar, a BeggarMaster, Mr. Kohlah and so on...
The epilogue and the last few chapters of this book are amongst the saddest work in prose you will ever read without being intentionally tear-jerky. The matter-of-fact writing style plays a vital role in this, that which reminds us to the normality of the events, the every-dayness which we are insulated from in our bubbles. The book does start off with : 'But rest assured: This tragedy is not a fiction. All is True.'
It's a bit of a crying shame that Rohinton Mistry isn't as well known in India as some of his contemporaries in Indian literature world such as Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Vikram Seth et al. Is it purely because of a lack of marketplace-savvy? Nevertheless, that there are three more works of his to be savoured is perhaps the balance to the agonizing denoument of this.
By empathy, I loved how the characters attitude to each other changes the more they find out about their backgrounds and the more time they spend together, like the proverbial pieces of a quilt stitching together. The four primary characters are terrifically created, but so are all the auxillary ones. We all know a Nusswan, an Inspector Kesar, a BeggarMaster, Mr. Kohlah and so on...
The epilogue and the last few chapters of this book are amongst the saddest work in prose you will ever read without being intentionally tear-jerky. The matter-of-fact writing style plays a vital role in this, that which reminds us to the normality of the events, the every-dayness which we are insulated from in our bubbles. The book does start off with : 'But rest assured: This tragedy is not a fiction. All is True.'
It's a bit of a crying shame that Rohinton Mistry isn't as well known in India as some of his contemporaries in Indian literature world such as Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Vikram Seth et al. Is it purely because of a lack of marketplace-savvy? Nevertheless, that there are three more works of his to be savoured is perhaps the balance to the agonizing denoument of this.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wonderful book, sad but wonderful. I was told this book describes the "real" India. It's so sad when you think about such proverty and suffering. This book stayed with me for a very long time, even know I think about it at odd times. I can't anything that has not already been said about this book, if you haven't read it, you should.
I don't have words to describe how great this book is. I strongly recommend this book to everyone out there. This is one powerful Book
I read this when it was first out but don't remember very much just liking it alot. Nothing was catching my fancy and the other two I'm reading weren't beckoning to me. So I thought time for a reread. 5/2-finished reread. It was just as good as I remembered. It was also just as sad. However somehow this time I found the pieces of beauty and happiness sprinkled in between easier. I found more out of the relationships and at the end I wasn't bogged down like the first time. I didn't close the book saying , "Wow their lives sucked." I closed the book and I thought how beautiful it was that these four found each other and loved each other despite everything and also because of everything. It's brought me to the conclusion that this year I will do more rereads. Maybe older me is at least a tiny bit more wise.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love Rohinton Mistry as an author, and this book was my introduction to his work.
These characters are so complex and interesting and every back story is so intriguing that I just got lost in it.
I'd recommend this book to anyone.
These characters are so complex and interesting and every back story is so intriguing that I just got lost in it.
I'd recommend this book to anyone.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A Fine Balance is the third novel I have read this year that is set in India. 3 random works of fiction that have had provided different degrees of enjoyment. The first was very good and one of my best reads this year, the second was average at best and now the third and final one has been an outstandingly brilliant read, so good that I wonder if I will read anything better this year. In all, India has been a good setting for my 2021 fictional reads. To believe that I have had A Fine Balance sitting on the shelf for almost 3 years!
A Fine Balance is a breathtakingly heartbreaking story written by Rohinton Mistry. Its heartbreaking nature is equally matched by the beautiful prose and masterful storytelling. I generally flinch at books that go beyond 350 to 400 pages ( A Fine Balance is a little over 600 pages) as my attention was never that great in my younger days and has gotten worse in recent years. A book that comes in at over 600 pages is a breeze when Rohinton Mistry is the storyteller. A Fine Balance is set in India of the 70s. Most of the story unfolds in 1975 when the famous Emergency rule is in full swing and Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. This was a period of lawlessness and great uncertainty. The dictatorial tendencies of the Emergency rule were used to suppress rights on religious, social and financial divides. A Fine Balance is not a political novel, even with the devastating effects of the dictatorial government policies taking centre stage in the plot, the overarching themes are larger than politics. It is the moving story of four lives that intersect by chance and how their lives are bound together not just by chance but also how macro-political decisions impact individuals in profound long-lasting ways and later their lives forever. With all the suffering in A Fine Balance, one is tempted to see it as a study in theodicy when looked from a philosophical lens but that would be a one-dimensional view of a masterfully told story of human living that employs a panoramic view of ordinary lives that is so relatable that their short-lived happiness gladdens the reader immeasurably and their despair seem so prolonged that you seem to want to hurry up the pages in a bid to quicken their suffering. Such is the bleakness of the circumstances of the characters yet it is so well written that the reader is drawn in and kept glued.
The balance in A Fine Balance is not just between hope and despair but across religion, social class, financial status and gender. The search for balance plays out randomly and indiscriminately to Dina, a Parsi widow, Ishvar and Omprakash, two migrant tailors from the rural areas, along with Manesh a student who has been sent by his parents to study in the city. In coming together to form an unusual family bond in Dina’s tiny flat, each of the four is trying to change their circumstance in the face of the repressive Emergency rule – Dina is seeking independence from her patriarchal elder brother, Manesh is distraught at the changes in his family dynamics and refuses to let go of his childhood, while Ishvar and Omprakash are refusing to accept their lot as ”untouchables” as members of the tanners’ caste. As each of them seeks to change their lot, compromises are made, despair and joy intermingle with the latter in short supply and the former in excess supply. The randomness of hope’s extinguishment is heartbreaking. Therein lies the balance or imbalance at the heart of the story.
A Fine Balance is an exceptionally well-written book that explores ordinary human lives beautifully even when conveying the trauma of being at the receiving end of oppression. The structure is also worthy of commendation – it starts from the point where the lives of all four main characters converge then backs off to their past before returning to their present and proceeding into the future. The present is both collective and individual and the narrative, which is in the second person alternates flawlessly. I still have a few more novels left in my 2021 TBR list but I am almost certain that in A Fine Balance, I have read my best book of 2021. Now I need to find a way to manipulate the settled process of selection in order to get the other Mistry’s novel on the shelf into next year’s pile.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Suicide, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury