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A review by ptandon
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
5.0
“...you have to use your failures as stepping stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair. In the end it’s all a question of balance.”
As this quote suggests for life , the story in the book also maintained that fine balance between hope and despair , and that’s what made me go on with it.
It is a heart wrenching story of 4 protagonists amidst the 1975 state of emergency . All of them completely unrelated yet connected through a need of accommodation in an unnamed city. The narration also goes back to each of their lives, each more tragic and grim than the other. The story deals with the tyranny of caste system and obligations of social norms. The author made me live through the Emergency, through his characters , which was just a word for me earlier, an event in the history. When it came alive in the book ,it made me sad, depressed, angry and also very thankful for the privileged life I have lived.
Reading this book just after reading the Biography of Indira Gandhi , made it even more unsettling for me. The drastic measures in those times ,affected lives and dreams and hopes of so many. I could not help but just compare the privileged life of Indira Gandhi and the people who suffered because of her radical ideas and measures.
I read through the story , just hoping for a beautiful perfect end which does not happen, but In retrospect, I am thankful that it dint, otherwise it would not have stirred up so many emotions in me as it did .The story and the narration is ruthless , harsh and depressing, held together by the humanity and compassion of the characters .
Read it for a better understanding of life and the history of India, which is beyond the textbook explanations.
PS: The book might trigger unsettling emptions if you have struggled through death of a loved one, depression and suicide or affected by the caste system of the country.
As this quote suggests for life , the story in the book also maintained that fine balance between hope and despair , and that’s what made me go on with it.
It is a heart wrenching story of 4 protagonists amidst the 1975 state of emergency . All of them completely unrelated yet connected through a need of accommodation in an unnamed city. The narration also goes back to each of their lives, each more tragic and grim than the other. The story deals with the tyranny of caste system and obligations of social norms. The author made me live through the Emergency, through his characters , which was just a word for me earlier, an event in the history. When it came alive in the book ,it made me sad, depressed, angry and also very thankful for the privileged life I have lived.
Reading this book just after reading the Biography of Indira Gandhi , made it even more unsettling for me. The drastic measures in those times ,affected lives and dreams and hopes of so many. I could not help but just compare the privileged life of Indira Gandhi and the people who suffered because of her radical ideas and measures.
I read through the story , just hoping for a beautiful perfect end which does not happen, but In retrospect, I am thankful that it dint, otherwise it would not have stirred up so many emotions in me as it did .The story and the narration is ruthless , harsh and depressing, held together by the humanity and compassion of the characters .
Read it for a better understanding of life and the history of India, which is beyond the textbook explanations.
PS: The book might trigger unsettling emptions if you have struggled through death of a loved one, depression and suicide or affected by the caste system of the country.