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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
When I started reading this book, it all looked boring and very verbose. Bus as the story progressed I came to know that it was to build the characters to be put in the later pages, one character's interaction with other was like butterfly opening its wings.
Mistry's style doesn't deal with evoking emotions and all that. He is straightforward at depicting the lives of four characters in the time of emergency.
Mistry's style doesn't deal with evoking emotions and all that. He is straightforward at depicting the lives of four characters in the time of emergency.
An absolute masterpiece from Mr Mistry. It was an utter delight reading this book. The intricacies of human nature and cruel realities of poverty, casteism and greed have been so beautifully woven into this unlikely tale of 4 strangers who bond and forge relationships out of mutual dependence on each other. Though it took me a while to read this novel, but it was certainly worth it.
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
A beautiful book which made me laugh and cry. Only marred slightly by a somewhat unlikely ending.
I liked the way the characters' stories were interwoven in this book, and I also found the writing style enjoyable to read. It's a very "heavy" book though; poverty and mass corruption aren't light-hearted topics.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance” may well be the best Indian novel I have ever read, and I’ve read quite a few. Magnificence of his writing made reading this over 600-pages-long book a breeze, even though the reality described is terribly bleak.
The story is set in the 1970s India, in an unnamed village as well as city (we can guess though that it is Bombay). We follow four main characters. Dina, in her mid-40s, is renting a room to a college student Maneck, the son of her school friend. She became a widow early and doesn’t want her brother’s charity, preferring to earn her income herself. She hires two tailors, Ishvar and his young nephew Omprakash, to sew clothes which she gets commissioned for. Dina and Maneck belong to the Parsi community, whereas two tailors are Dalits, escaping the occupation that their caste prescribes. The reader learns about the past of each character, as well as many minor figures in the novel, and discovers what life under Indira Gandhi’s regime was like. I couldn’t avoid comparisons with Tolstoy when it comes to the broad, kaleidoscopic scope of the story, character development and the level of attention to detail. All absolutely masterful.
Many times while reading I reminisced about my own travels to India and everything I saw and lived through in that country. For me reading Mistry was a deeply personal experience and made me ponder on the notion of fate vs. accident, determinism and free will. Everyone who knows a little about India is aware of how the system of oppression works there when combined with the caste system, political corruption and greed. Mistry illustrates it on numerous examples excellently. In spite of how much tragedies afflicting the characters need to be understood to be accepted, this is a novel to be felt. Its power is immense. Upon reading the last sentence and closing the book I felt a profound sense of loss and despair, and I cried - it may sound pathetically, my apologies - over the condition of humanity. A little empathy goes a long way and yet I feel that for some extending it to others is a luxury they seem to be unable to afford.
The story is set in the 1970s India, in an unnamed village as well as city (we can guess though that it is Bombay). We follow four main characters. Dina, in her mid-40s, is renting a room to a college student Maneck, the son of her school friend. She became a widow early and doesn’t want her brother’s charity, preferring to earn her income herself. She hires two tailors, Ishvar and his young nephew Omprakash, to sew clothes which she gets commissioned for. Dina and Maneck belong to the Parsi community, whereas two tailors are Dalits, escaping the occupation that their caste prescribes. The reader learns about the past of each character, as well as many minor figures in the novel, and discovers what life under Indira Gandhi’s regime was like. I couldn’t avoid comparisons with Tolstoy when it comes to the broad, kaleidoscopic scope of the story, character development and the level of attention to detail. All absolutely masterful.
Many times while reading I reminisced about my own travels to India and everything I saw and lived through in that country. For me reading Mistry was a deeply personal experience and made me ponder on the notion of fate vs. accident, determinism and free will. Everyone who knows a little about India is aware of how the system of oppression works there when combined with the caste system, political corruption and greed. Mistry illustrates it on numerous examples excellently. In spite of how much tragedies afflicting the characters need to be understood to be accepted, this is a novel to be felt. Its power is immense. Upon reading the last sentence and closing the book I felt a profound sense of loss and despair, and I cried - it may sound pathetically, my apologies - over the condition of humanity. A little empathy goes a long way and yet I feel that for some extending it to others is a luxury they seem to be unable to afford.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is not easy reading material - dealing with a very dark period in india's recent history - but nevertheless it is unputdownable. Despite the characters misfortune and, at times, abject misery it is written in such a style that you cannot but become friends with many of them.
It is a novel that grips until then end and even though you fear that events will take a turn for the worse you cannot but maintain hope that things will work out ok.
It provides a valuable insight into this aspect of history I was previously only vaguely aware of and so is educating as well as "entertaining". This harrowing but moving story will stay with me all my life - and hence the 5 stars.
It is a novel that grips until then end and even though you fear that events will take a turn for the worse you cannot but maintain hope that things will work out ok.
It provides a valuable insight into this aspect of history I was previously only vaguely aware of and so is educating as well as "entertaining". This harrowing but moving story will stay with me all my life - and hence the 5 stars.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a dark look at India from the veiwpoint of the less fortunate. engrossing story, I could not put it down.