5 stars

(completely forgot to review this; too busy trying to un-depress myself).

If you were following along with some of my updates for Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, you might've detected a bit of my cynicism poking through toward the end of this 600 page behmoth novel of India's woes. I was starting to reach a breaking point: how much calcuated heartache could Misery (*ahem*) Mistry throw at the reader and not expect an emotional backlash?

Yeah (Lobstergirl), this is probably one of the most depressing novels I've ever read, but the corollary to this supposition is: for a novel to be truly depressing, it must include characters you care about. And, excavating through the miasma of wretched mid-'70s Bombay/Mumbai/"The City by the Sea" (a torrent of filth, poverty, crooked politics and unrelenting caste policies), several extraordinary, unforgettable characters emerge from the effluvia. How can you not be moved by the plight of tailors. Omprakash and Ishvar, desperately trying to stay afloat and ply a trade outside of their fetid leather-making caste; or their employer "Aunty" Dina, ever-constantly harangued by her landlord and his goons for running a sewing business out of her flat after her husband tragically dies; or Dina's roommate Maneck, the relatively privileged young man from the Himalayas to attend school, only to be persecuted ceaselessly by fellow residents at a khat-soaked, roach- and vermin-infested youth hostel. (?)

It's these four characters (with their backstories, and attendant minor characters: Beggarmaster, Monkey Man, Shankar the beggar with no legs or fingers, the hair fetishist, among dozens of others) that patch together a quilt so heart-rending, I'm not likely to ever forget it anytime soon.

I know this might annoy a few people who railed on Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers but I think both that non-fiction account of the garbage slums in Mumbai and Mistry's novel A Fine Balance are worthy shelf-mates. I was haunted by them both. There are lessons to be learned in each (with global implications) if only we'd take the time to wallow through the muck to glean them.

It probably goes without saying, but Highly Recommended.

My all time favourite book, without doubt! Magnificent, Educational, Interesting, Very Sad.....The setting is India in 1975-76, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, defying a court order calling for her resignation, declares a state of emergency and imprisons the parliamentary opposition as well as thousands of students, teachers, trade unionists and journalists. These events, along with the government's forced sterilization campaign, serve as backdrop for an intricate tale of four ordinary people struggling to survive. This book is amazing and unputdownable!

Everything has its own web of consequences. Like strings that put a puppet into motion, the outcomes of our decisions decide the path our life takes. It might be a decision as small as picking up a book. As I ventured into the pages of this tome, I was exposed to several decisions that had their own consequential paths.

n  "If time were a bolt of cloth, I would cut out all the bad parts. Snip out the scary nights and stitch together the good parts, to make time bearable. Then I could wear it like a coat, always live happily."n

The story is set in 1975; the place is India, in an unnamed Indian city by the sea, four people are thrown together, their lives increasingly integrated as political unrest leads to restricted freedoms in the form of the Emergency. We have a middle-aged widow desperately trying to preserve her fragile independence; two tailors, uncle and nephew, who have come to the city in flight from the cruel caste violence in their native village; and a young student from the northern mountains, bewildered by the end of his idyllic childhood. In these precarious circumstances, these four characters form an unlikely alliance.

The book’s progression can only be described as endearing. The easy language almost encourages you to read on and is almost unputdownable as the story proceeds. It is a brilliantly crafted story that depicts its protagonists with dignity and the environments with authenticity, filled with subjects of brutality like caste violence, rape, and police brutality, that threaten to push you over the edge into the realm of callousness and cynicism.

But even between such turmoil, a fine balance is maintained. A fine balance between hope and despair.

I loved the way this book is written, in quite an impactful and elegant manner. I found the writing to be contagious. Imagine driftwood on a stream, just floating with the flow, calm and serene. That’s how I’d describe the writing.

The book doesn’t end on a high note though. It didn’t have to. It breaks the clichéd 'they lived happily ever after' sequence. ‘Happiness’ was a subject of time and morality, and ‘even after’ never happened.

It left me with some very difficult questions. Questions about faith and betrayal! Questions about injustice and bereavement! Heavy in its subject, it did leave a residue of deep thought in its wake. It might make you think outside your comfort zone.

The world we inhabit is grossly unreasonable and only a privileged few have all the advantages in life. We take so many things in our lives for granted, but this book is a vivid reminder of how quickly and how easily everything can be turned upside down.

n  
“You cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failure 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"n

I’d definitely recommend it to people who have not read the book before. Those who live in the Indian subcontinent, or know well, its socio-cultural fabric and those who are aware of the politics of post-independent India, may feel a tie-in. Pick it up for its gorgeous, powerful prose and to help you restore your faith that there are good people out there, and everyone has a story just as complex as yours. Once you read it, you are not about to forget this book.

Rohinton Mistry has written three whopping novels set in India, Such a Long Journey, A Fine Balance, and Family Matters, and they're all brilliant. He doesn't have pyrotechnic prose like the DeLillos and Pynchons, he's the tortoise to their hares, he plods on with his careful beautiful pictures of the details of people's lives, the complexities and the horrors and the unnoticed pools of affection, where the money comes from and where it goes, how they get through the day and how they don't - his camera never lies. I recommend all of these three novels without any ifs or buts. You may be weeping at the end of them, because life is sad, but you won't mind that.

I have nothing but praise for this book. This is the book that makes me a reader. No matter how busy I am, I will always be a reader if the book that I have is similar to this. Take away my Facebook account. Take away the online games (Clash of Clans, Angry Bird, Plants Vs Zombies). Take away the television (The Voice Kids, Nathaniel, Pangako sa Yo). But give me this kind of book and I will be a happy camper. I can read all day and night in a corner and will not bother you even in a single minute.

It is a long novel but the storytelling is straightforward. It is as grand as Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (5 stars) but bereft of big words and technical literary pizzazz. Rohinton Mistry (born 1952) seems to be telling us that he can write sad and bleak novel about Indian in a plain simple way so that ordinary readers (like me) can appreciate how rich India is in terms of its culture, politics and complex human dilemma.

This is the story of four Indian nationals that happened to be living in the same house: Dina the widow who decides to live in her own by hiring two tailors; Ishvar and Om who are untouchables. On their way to Dina's place, they met Maneck who Dina is accepting as a boarder to augment in the rental of her place. The lives of the four become interwined as they live together and transcends from the cycle of love, hate and love again. As Mistry puts it "life is a fine balance between hope and despair."

It is easy to relate to this kind of story for me because I am also living in a third world country that shares the same situations like that of India. We also had Martial Law for a long time during the reign of the deposed Ferdinand Marcos. We don't have the caste system but we have a wide gap between rich and poor people. We also have the assassinations and killing due to politics and religious fanatics. Lastly, majority of our people live below poverty line that they are having a hard time eating 3 times a day or for those with jobs, still find difficulty in trying to make ends meet.

Good writing. Simple language (no need to open your dictionary). Familiar characters and situations. Heartfelt if not heart-wrenching scenes. Almost made me cry (only if not because I was sleepy from working too much).

A must read! Believe me, you MUST read this.

It is nice to meet an author who never lets you down. Rohinton Mistry is one of those authors whose fluid style, engaging characters and epic scope has never failed to impress me and so I've returned to his books again and again. In fact I think I may have now reached the end of his literary output and am now sadly reduced to sitting around, twiddling my opposable monkey thumbs and waiting for his next offering to be published.

Spanning nearly ten years, this epic tale of friendship set against the backdrop of "The Emergency", has an amazing depth and richness that far shorter novels sometimes fail to achieve. Despite boasting over thirty principle characters and a walk-on walk-off cast of hundreds, not once did I feel lost, or forget who each individual was. Mistry is capable of painting such vivid characters that each one is instantly recognisable for their quirks and foibles. They may be loveable (Monkey man), they may be deplorable (assorted goondas) but they are all undoubtedly very human and believable.

For those of you yet to experience the delightful pantheon of characters that inhabit the pages of a Mistry novel, then this is an excellent place to start. Be warned though, despite the liveliness and buoyancy of his stories, Mistry is not one to provide a happy ending just to satisfy the reader.

The Indian Independence Act of 1947 ushered in a period of hope that all the country’s injustices would be eradicated. In the years that followed, the belief that politics would solve the problem weakened with 1975 marking the passing of a state of emergency which represented the death of any dreams of a better world from above. It was the shattering of an ideal. ‘A Fine Balance’ takes place in that period of despair and focuses on four people who come from different regions, religions, and classes, and who, despite early trust issues, find an understanding and togetherness that rekindles a little hope. It’s a story of brutality, and of torture, but also a story of tenderness, and one that is told with considerable gentle humor. Loved it.

One of the best books I’ve read so far this year!! <3

This is one of those heartrending books that would be burned into my memory. The story of the four main characters is told in a calm, understated and sometimes dry-humored tone, but the characters, their poignant back stories as well as the settings just jump right off the page. The whirlpool of corrupt and brutal politics, the inhumane caste system, ethnic hatred, sexual abuses, abject poverty and social despair gives the narrative a pulsating realism that keeps the reader well-grounded in its authenticity.

Dina Dalal, a widow trying to live independently of her overbearing brother, and Maneck Kohlah, a congenial college student and her sub-tenant, are from the relatively well-off Parsi community. Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash Darji are from the lowly Chamaar caste of untouchables. A strange twist of fate brings them together under one roof and a beautiful story unfolds of the four skeptics-turned-friends, of the Darjis’ endless struggles with unspeakable tragedies, and of Dina’s and Maneck’s mutual friendship and their compassion and succor for the Darjis.

Generally, it is a novel that is unapologetic in its assail against the dark side of human nature, the absurd cruelty of those who wield power and the venom of bigoted conventions. It leaves the reader to ponder whether in the end human goodness will balance out evil.

Here are some philosophical quotes that I like:-

“A lifetime had to be crafted, just like anything else, she thought, it had to be moulded and beaten and burnished in order to get the most out of it.”

“’You see, you cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.’”

“Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated – not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.”

The novel was a long read (my copy has 713 pages), but worth every minute. I’m giving it 5-stars.

Independence came at a high price: a debt with a payment schedule of hurt and regret.

”Блажени кротките, защото те ще наследят земята.”
Матей 5:5

Приказка за храбрия шивач
Имало едно време...Не, шивачът не победил чудовищата и не се оженил за принцесата. И не, не заживели щастливо. Защото се родил в Индия, в кастата на недосегаемите. По-невидим и по-незначителен в очите на околните от обикалящите крастави псета, ровещи из боклуците. И със същите перспективи в живота. Както винаги е било за баща му, както ще бъде и за сина му.

Смелостта, неподплатена със сила, не е за недосегаемите. Защото ще ги изгори - буквално. Кротостта не е за бедните - защото само ще ги вкара в спиралата на безпомощността и ще удължи страданието им. Сигурно затова единствено отвъдното и следващият живот им обещават някаква надежда? Библията също не блика от оптимизъм по въпроса...

Из планини, села и градове - Индия, 1975 г.
Рохинтън Мистри е разказал подмамващо леко и увлекателно за своята Индия от 40-те години до 1984 г., каквато рядко се среща из неспирния иначе поток от информация за йога, Тадж Махал, гета, ИТ сектор и космически технологии.

Индия на индуистите - и на неописуемите, премълчавани и потулвани кастови зверства, където животът на недосегаемите не струва пукната рупия. Индия на мюсюлманите - надянали вярата си в Пророка, спасила ги от света на кастите, но понякога тласкаща ги към друга разновидност на екстремизма. Индия на парсите, Зороастър и чистотата на огъня. Индия на бедните, сакатите, отритнатите, безпомощните и прецаканите, на онези, на които всички възможности са им отнети често преди дори да успеят да осъзнаят, че изобщо са имали такива. Индия на родените на погрешното стъпало на социалната стълбица, дарени с погрешния кротък, не изгарящо амбициозен и благ характер, с честност и неподобаващо достойнство, с кротката мечта да заемат едно съвсем мъничко, свое си кътче от този свят, изпълнено с усмивка. Не, на бедните не им подобава да са кротки. И все пак четирима от тях се събират под общ уютен покрив в един кратък миг, от малкото щастливи в живота им.

Жителка на големия град, жертва на отнетата на младини възможност да учи, но отчаяно отстояваща последната си капка независимост. Прокудени изселници от малко село, опълчили се срещ�� кастовия порядък с игла в ръка и с усмивка, опознали всички възможни унижения на живота в големия град, отредени за бедните, до последната капка. Потомък на някогашната горда планинска граница на старата Британска империя, закърмен с чистия въздух на дивите висини, вече замърсени от бясното унищожение на природата. Смехът и уютът ги обвиват в топъл пашкул, отпращайки заобикалящия ги свят на безопасно разстояние.

Мистри ни среща със смесица от обич, дълбоко разбиране, съчувствие и ненавист и с онези индийци, които (дано!) няма да опознаем от първа ръка - корумпирани политици, за които животът не струва нищо; сакати просяци и техните “крале”; лекари, извършващи противни операции на килограм по правителствена поръчка; "мутри"; чифликчии, размахващи кастовата сопа; кротки занаятчии с неподходящото вероизповедание, заради което други колят и бесят; студенти-активисти, настояващи просто за свястна храна и приключили дните си в полицейска килия за мъчения; незаинтересувани полицаи, за които истинските престъпления не съществуват.

Над всички тях тегне сянката на Индира Ганди (каквато никога не сме познавали), извънредното положение, вазектомиите и самовластието. Както я е видял и запомнил без капка милост и отсянка на нюанс самият Мистри, напуснал Индия тъкмо през онези турбулентни години, за да потърси друг, по-чист въздух за дишане чак в Канада.

”Надежда всяка тука оставете”
Крехкото равновесие между отчаянието и надеждата, подобно на цирковите номера на акробатите, може да се поддържа до време и с цената на усилени тренировки. Докато накрая, ако силите изневерят и времето се разтегне, всичко се сгромолясва, а предпазна мрежа няма.

Мистри извършва екзекуция. Екзекутира пласт след пласт Индия на кастите, корупцията, социалния геноцид, етническите и религиозните конфликти. Оставя я без бъдеще и надежда за промяна. Удря бесен шамар на миналото и настоящето, с крехката надежда поне малко да промени бъдещето. Защото, както казва един от героите, “няма щастие без справедливост.”

4,5 звезди

***
➡️ Цитати:

⚡️"- Прекаляваш с тези права напоследък. ... Само ще си загубиш времето, а времето е животът.
- Животът без достойнство не си заслужава живеенето."

⚡️”Човек не може да начертае някакви линии кутийки и да не мърда и на косъм от тях. Понякога се налага да използваш провала като трамплин, от който да се оттласнеш към успеха. Трябва да поддържаш крехко равновесие между надеждата и отчаянието.”

⚡️”Ако времето беше топ плат, щях да изрежа от него всичко лошо. Щях да клъцна страшните нощи и след това да съшия добрите части, за да стане поносимо. И така ще мога да го нося като дреха и винаги да живея щастливо.”

⚡️”Всичко изглежда като разпокъсани парченца и парцалчета, докато не се съшие заедно.”

⚡️”Изроди, всички сме изроди.”

⚡️”Независимостта си имаше висока цена, вноските, които се плащаха по това задължение, бяха от мъка и тъга.”

⚡️”Няма щастие без справедливост”

⚡️”За да видите това ъгълче, бъдещето ни трябва да остане в миналото.”

⚡️”Хората забравят колко са уязвими въпреки ризите, обувките и куфарчетата си, не си дават сметка, че този ненаситен и жесток свят може да ги съблече до голо и да ги постави в същото положение, в каквото са моите просяци.”

⚡️”Ако не друго, животът на бедните беше богат на символи.”

⚡️”Къде беше Бог, проклетият глупак? Не знаеше ли кое е справедливо и кое - не? Не можеше ли да пресметне нещата така, че поне малко плюсовете и минусите да се уравновесяват?”

This book is an exercise in emotional overload. I had to read it one section at a time, interspersed with breaks to digest and recover. Every moment in this book that is happy or positive is offset with ten sadnesses and cruelties that rip your breath from your body.

The four main characters, Dina, Maneck, Ishvar and Om, are drawn with so much detail and clarity, that I felt by the end that I had traveled a road with them and knew them intimately. They are far from being the only characters to have that effect, however, the book is peppered with them. I do not think I will ever forget the beggar, Shankar, a man without legs or hands, who propels himself happily along on his wheeled board; or the Beggarmaster, an exploiter and yet a protector, who walks such a fine line that it is hard to determine whether he is a menace or a blessing; or Ashfar, a Muslim who takes two Hindi untouchables into his home and teaches them his trade, making them tailors.

When the story opens, India has already endured partition, splitting it into the Indian State and Pakistan:
A foreigner drew a magic line on a map and called it the new border; it became a river of blood upon the earth. And the orchards, fields, factories, businesses, all on the wrong side of that line, vanished with a wave of the pale conjurer's wand.

But now it is the “emergency” that they must endure, a suspension of law which literally converted Indira Gandhi from an elected official to a dictator. If even part of this novel is unexaggerated, this time was bloody, cruel, and unthinkable for the poorer people of India. I can imagine it made British rule look like a picnic.

What we see, through the lives of these four characters, is how the divisions of the past, the idea that one class of society is peopled with better human beings than another, keeps the people themselves in thrall and makes slaves of all but the wealthiest. There is no hope of bettering oneself, and most actually find their situation deteriorating instead of improving. One of the questions I kept asking was “how much can they endure?” and I believe that is a question Mistry wants us to ponder.

One of the minor characters makes the statement , "You see, you cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair." "Yes,” he repeated, “In the end it's all a question of balance." The advice is good, in fact it is perfect, but how can you balance hope with despair if you are allowed no hope at all? How can you use your failures as stepping stones if you are prohibited from ever succeeding at anything?

As the book progresses, the hope is slowly drained away, like an old-timey bathtub plug that will allow seepage around its edges until all the water is gone. From the desire to find balance, we progress to,

Where humans were concerned, the only emotion that made sense was wonder, at their ability to endure; and sorrow, for the hopelessness of it all.

Mistry seems to tell us that we lose, and lose, and lose, until we finally lose our very selves into the void that has swallowed up everything before us.

In fact, that is the central theme of my life story--loss. But isn’t it the same with all life stories? Loss is essential. Loss is part and parcel of that necessary calamity called life.

I wanted to scream at them, NO..it need not be that...but how can I when I can see that their lives have been robbed of any ability to view life as anything else? When I know that had I lived their stories, I would view my life the same way.

This book is like a weight, it drags at your heart, it pulls at your understanding of what life is and what life should be, it sings, but the song is a dirge. There are moments of humor, moments of love, moments of joy, ah--and moments of great hope, but mostly there is a sense of injustice and human cruelty and desperation.

I will be forever grateful to have read this novel. It has made an impact that I am certain to feel for some time, perhaps forever. On the other hand, I am almost certain my heart could not bear to read it again.