Brilliant ending. Brought the whole thing to fruition, completion and made the title really resonate.

Now that I'm home and have a proper keyboard rather than that annoying little touchscreen I can let you share in my erudite meanderings. Actually, an iPod maybe just keeps me to the point. Brevity is much harder than rambling on. Anyway, I read most of this one thinking hmmmm, it's OK, not bad, well-drawn characters, good dialogue, nothing fancy or over-writerly in the style, what is there not to like about it. It kept me reading on trains, at airports, on planes, on the sofa, on the beach, wherever. But it never knocked me out until I got to the end. No spoilers, I'm not going to give anything away, but I see the whole thing as a complex formal pattern of movement, the characters move up, move down, some end up exactly where they started, others have gone to a worse place, others to a better one (but what is a better place?). A fine balance between hope and despair. A fine achievement too.

My copy of “A Fine Balance” was a birthday present from my husband. He read it when he was an undergrad, more than ten years ago, and he told me he still thought about the book to this day. Jason has never been one for simple or lightweight books (we are talking about a guy who brought “Gravity’s Rainbow” with him as a vacation read…), so if he liked it that much, I knew I was in for some work. He has always been more than willing to read my favorite books, and I have always been happy to return the courtesy, so I cracked open this 700 pages beast and dove in.

What struck me immediately about “A Fine Balance” was that it is constructed like one of those novels from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, that are now considered classics: it is about ordinary people and what makes their lives extraordinary. The opening quote by Balzac set the tone just right: you are not in for rainbows and puppies, ladies and gentlemen. This is India in the 70’s: violent, corrupt, merciless.

The characterization is simply masterful. The first impression by which we judge the characters we encounter erodes slowly as their story unfolds. That is exactly what writing with compassion means: peeling the coarse layers off your character to show your readers something that they can care about and root for. As Mistry says it himself at some point, the patchwork quilt of these characters’ lives is built slowly before your eyes until you see the complete and complex picture.

The society described in this book is more brutal than anything Dickens and Hugo wrote about (sorry dudes… I still love you!): the sexism, the cast system, the cruelty of people and of life in general can be overwhelming. I read this book in short sittings because sometimes the deluge of hardships that befall the characters was too upsetting. But please, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is simple misery-porn, because it really isn’t. It’s just a realistic depiction of a very rough time and place to live in.

We begin by following the stories of a middle-aged woman trying to keep her head above the water and retain a very hard-earned independence, and a man and his nephew whom she hires to do some tailoring for her. They are joined by a young student, far from his home and desperate to get away from the student hostel. The book is about their daily struggle in a harsh city, to keep their heads above the water and to live with dignity. The paths they walk are described in such vivid details that it makes summarizing the book very tricky. This is about a year in four people’s lives, and how knowing each other and helping each other changed them.

There are moments of simple but beautiful happiness and humanity in the bleak landscape of these people’s lives: their compassion and kindness make their lives easier to bear, and the strange family they become to each other brings them much needed solace – because every moment of reprieve is quickly followed by another shock that rattles their world. Whether it is a friend’s death, the threat of eviction or the judgement of family, the characters must keep on going to re-establish the delicate equilibrium of their lives in a corrupt society, where intolerance and fear prevail, and the weight of money means more than human lives.

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. Pick it up for it’s 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 – they will share it if you only bother asking. 5 very heartfelt stars: Jason was right, I am not about to forget this book.

This book was not my cup of tea. Yes, it was dark; yes, it was depressing; yes, it was overall dismal and bleak. All of which usually add up to a great book from my point of view. But this one just didn't do it for me. I found the writing slow and dull, the characters unlikable and unrelatable, and the pace next to unbearable.

India during the "The Emergency" was a harsh and unforgiving place. Murder, misery, and poverty ran rampit. Our five main characters are no exception to the misery of this harsh environment.

It takes a hell of a good story to keep me captive for 600+ pages. It could be my current "I hate everything" mood, or maybe my seasonal depression hasn't fully worn off yet (it's only April), because I really wanted to like this one. I just couldn't get into it.

A Fine Balance is a monumental work about the suffering humanity of India in the period running roughly from 1970 to 1990. The four lead characters all suffer through great hardships and terrible setbacks in their lives.

The novel addresses most the major controversies in India that attracted international press attention notably Indira Gandhi's slum clearance program in which thousands of shanties of Indian's poorest were bulldozed to make way for high-rent properties and a forced sterilization program that was applied most heavily against Indian's pariahs or untouchables.

Despite the litany of horrors, a Fine Balance is above all a tale of how people will fight against very long odds for their dignity or in the hope that they can better their lot in life. The characters are all very engaging while their problems are described with such rich detail that they start to appear to the reader like real people. The reader develops the intense hope that the novels characters will manager to succeed. Ultimately none do and the reader feels devastated at the end.

A Fine Balance is a great book that teaches the reader a great deal about the people who live in what is both an old civilization and a young country that is steadily growing in importance in our world.

n  

This was life? Or a cruel joke? He no longer believed that the scales would ever balance fairly. If his pan was not empty, if there was some little sustenance in it for his days and nights, it was enough for him.

n

This is one book that made me want to clutch the life I live, as some blanket of security, and hide within. I have never known what it is to live with such constant uncertainty. That one could be completely uprooted today, the next day, or any day. Each day of struggle, each day of building the hopes for a future which comes undone with the incessant tugs and pulls of life. With my fictional foray, maybe I lived a little of what Om, Ishvar, and Dina lived. Maybe I traced a part of the space they made for themselves. Maybe I felt a bit of what they did. Breathing, fighting, heaving through life. Life hard enough to break one’s bones with the sheer weight of its unpredictability. When one has to collect the scraps of it, weave each day of it, like the patches of the quilt Dina sews. It never seems as bleak to them as it does to me. I can sense the foreboding, the unalterable doom before they can. That it is all so hopeless. But who could have the heart to say it. They are never tired of it; tired of life no matter how much life tires them out.

n  

Where humans are concerned, the only emotion that made sense was wonder, at their ability to endure...

n

I had never thought so much about the worth of human life. How much it is and how little it is. I could figure their histories buried in the casualties of the Emergency: forced sterilization, governmental brutality, upper caste atrocities. ‘A Fine Balance’ encompasses the tale of many who fared no better than jaded cattle, or bent and battered pieces of old furniture. Men and women, hoarded together, in the slums, in the irrigation camps, on the pavements. Infants of beggars sent away for ‘professional modifications’. There are explicit bodily details, of the infestations, the stench, the odor. The intricate descriptions of the physicality of life, so organism like, which breathes and lives as long as it is permitted to, as long as it is of service. With the barest detail of humanity stripped of love, of kindness, of dignity. In a sense, it is the disposability of human lives.

n  

You see, we 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.

n

Between hope and despair, are mostly their quiet dreams, the claim to the future of their liking. To have something of their own in the world, their own space, their family, their children, the success they always wanted, the long-awaited return to their land, the ache for their loved ones, the pride of their community. Then there is the anger; silent and smothered, but it lives. And one knows where it comes from, what provokes it and that it wouldn’t die out. It would strike back only to inflict destruction on oneself. But it needs to be seen and acknowledged and avenged. I felt such helplessness, embarrassment, anger with myself and everything. While I can never stop asking more from this life, they have been denied the very least. Everything about this book made me look towards something I long believed or pretended to be invisible.

n  

If there was an abundance of misery in the world, there was also sufficient joy, yes - as long as one knew where to look for it.

n

And there is beauty in the squalor, hope in hopelessness, strongest bonds formed across insurmountable boundaries. There is an affirmation of life, but not in how everything turns out to be right in the end, how all the good balances the bad. Because that, probably doesn’t or won’t happen. Maybe it lies in the trust and recognition we place in each other. The close family that is formed among complete strangers. Something that Dina, Ishvar, Maneck, and Om built up for themselves. That moment in time would always belong to them, no matter what turn life takes, or how it all concludes in the end.

F*ck this book


“The human face has limited space. If you fill it with laughter there will be no room for crying.”

I have been contemplating writing this review because when everyone was celebrating valentine's day I was literally depressed from the journey that was this book. It's one of those books that feels personal and resonated with me on a whole new emotional level. I was sure I would love this book based on the blurb:

Set in 1975 contemporary India an unknown city plagued with corruption and the government has just declared a state of emergency, we meet 4 strangers, (Dina) an independent young widow, (Maneck) a young university student coming to the city from his rural home, (Ishvar & Om) Uncle & Nephew looking for work after running from their village. Fate will draw them together and a strong bond will be developed between all of them as they face the deteriorating society surrounding them.

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I literally can't pass my thoughts across without getting emotional, every time I look at this book my heart breaks. It unleashed something in me that I honestly can't explain. The way the author dropped me into the book and made me experience all the atrocities committed to the characters was surreal. Heavy on the politics, exploration of the caste system, he dove into the rich Indian culture using the characters experiences to pass the point across even the side characters had depth. The book challenges lot's of societal issues and accurately captures how it feels to live in a third world country faced with oppression and a rotting government system. In some instance, I could relate to the political climate as we just experienced one quite similar in Kenya but I was also introduced to various Indian topics, taboos etc. I take pride in my pacifist nature but damn did this book make me angry and it's supposed to evoke those strong feelings because you will realise how privileged we are and it will humble you. If you are reading this review, go read this book and if you have read it I would honestly love to know your thoughts.

Дълго отлагах тази книга, защото знаех, че
ще е много тежка, но бруталните кастови зверства ме хванаха наистина неподготвена. В един момент усетих, че просто искам да свърши и да се освободя от тази мъка.

“Крехко равновесие” е изключително мащабна книга, с много преплитащи се съдби, а заглавието отразява отлично хода на историята - точно, когато си мислех - ето всичко се нарежда и веднага се случваше нещо и мечтите биваха разбити на пух и прах...

Въпреки всичко избирам да запазя този спомен от книгата - Дина, Ом, Ишвар и Манек, които нямаха търпение да се съберат заедно на масата, да си сготвят заедно и да намерят топлина във времето, прекарано заедно.

Избирам да се фокусирам върху силата на човешкият дух.

Поредната превъзходна находка на любимото издателство Лабиринт!

The best book I have ever read. Certainly one of my favourites. It is the most depressing book I have ever read and certainly the best work of Rohinton Mistry. The climax is heartbreaking to read and one of the best ever !

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Rohinton Mistry's superb writing endeared me to the 4 main characters throughout the well-woven plot. I laughed with them and cried with them, all the while learning about Indian culture and the lifestyles of various Indian people. Extremely moving! I highly recommend this book!

There is an abundance of misery in the world, there is also sufficient joy, yes- as long as one knows where to look for it.
This lands straight to my all time favorites! Betrayal, disappointment, joy, heartache, hope... and betrayal to complete the circle!

Damn! I missed a trick by picking this up as Mistry's first read... Would be content if his other works are even half as good.
Highly recommended.

Damn. That was depressing.
Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' is, however, a very powerful, affecting read.
Set in India during the 'Emergency' declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the mid seventies, it is the story of 4 very different people whose lives intersect due to difficult circumstances.
The Emergency was a turbulent 21 month period of India's history where elections were suspended, civil liberties denied, the press was censored, human rights trampled including mass sterilizations- add to that caste system violence, corruption at all levels of government and civil service, rampant poverty, overpopulation....well, you get the picture.
It is under this political/social climate that Dina, the feisty widow, Maneck, a young student uprooted from the home he loves, and two tailors Ishvar and his nephew Om, all come together. The author does an incredible job of developing these characters with well rounded backstories and developing their relationship which transforms into something remarkably beautiful; in spite of their circumstances, the trials and tribulations they face draw them closer together and serve as a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
Mistry still manages, incredibly, to inject some humour into the story (' the human face has limited space. If you fill it with laughter, there will be no room for crying') and introduces an assortment of colorful Dickensian characters- a few of them: Rajoram the hair collector, Shankar (Worm) the legless, fingerless beggar, Valmak, the proofreader/lawyer, and memorably, BeggarMaster, a scary combination of cruelty and compassion.
A Fine Balance is a sweeping, panoramic vision of humanity in turmoil and a very human response- 4 souls taking refuge at the hearth of love and friendship.
A memorable powerful read

My 2nd adventure with these wonderful characters, 1st time on audio.
I read the hard copy years ago and couldn't put it down but I took my time devouring the perfection of this audio slow burn.
The immersion in the character development is next level - a day in the life type story that weaves 4 lives beautifully, if not a bit heart wrenching.