A Fine Balance

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Summary: Read and be prepared for a long lasting presonal effect
Review: Our human condition, our personal story, politics of our time, woven into a rich tapestry. After you read Rohington's tapestry be prepared for a 'mental' time out after the experience. Rarely has someone's writing caused such a deep reflective state upon finishing the last page.

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Summary: Enthralling
Review: This book held from page one till the end. It was one of the most touching books I ever read. Very evocative!Also gave me a glimpse of real life in India

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Summary: An Absolute Must-Read!!
Review: I read A Fine Balance almost 2 years ago and it still haunts me today. Absolutely one of the best books I have ever had the priviledge of reading. I think it is somewhat reminiscent of "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck--vivid descriptions, lyrical writing, and characters whose trials & tribulations are sometimes comical & touchingly unforgettable. This is a book you can't put down, yet you don't want to finish! I found myself re-reading paragraphs just because they were so beautifully written. I have since read anything & everything by Rohinton Mistry I could get my hands on. He is a gifted and talented writer whose next work I eagerly await!!

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Summary: Mistry...my new Rushdie
Review: I never thought i'd be saying this, but at long last my affair with Rushdie has ended. Mistry's restrained, humble, and powerful style of writing, far outdoes Rushdie's technically "brilliant" and self-aggrandizing tone; A Fine Balance is proof enough.

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Summary: By far the best book I've read for some time
Review: I concur with a lot of the other reviews that this is a magnificent book. For me the writing style just flows and I found myself totally absorbed in the lives of the people. The characters throughout, and indeed the Indian people as a whole, are almost childlike in their perceptions and their actions. The poverty and the hopelessness and the overwhelming population and their ongoing daily struggle to survive is vividly explained. I found myself laughing with and loving the very real characters.

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Summary: Musings from a high school student
Review: I first noticed this book about a year ago when I saw it in book stores. I don't know why, I was just attracted to it. I finally had the chance to read it when it was on a list for my high school English independent study choices. I just finished it this week. The main theme of maintaining a fine balance brought me to reflect on my own life and humanity in general. I've never been so touched like this by a book. The novel brought this balance into reality and context and it shattered my views of some things, and developed on others. I had always had a sort of romantic view of India (even though I knew there was wide spread poverty), probably from stories of British colonialism. But this time I didn't see it from the romantic view - this is the real thing. I saw the poverty, I saw the horrors, but I also saw happiness and I'm thankful for this mix that showed me that it is LIFE. The wonderful humour relieved much of the pain the novel incorporated. I was speechless by the time I finished it. From the part of Ishvar and Om's sterilization I was in total disbelief and shock till the end (the events built slowly enough that the reader was not too overwhelmed at once, but after this point, it came crashing down). The characters were well developed and I felt like I was standing over them as everything happened. As well, what I liked best is that the lives were put into a context. The background of Indira Gandhi's escapades on India was very interesting to learn about and see from the people's view. The scene of her rally gave her such a pathetic personality that it was funny - especially her huge cardboard cutout falling on the crowd, crushing the poor slum people who were forced to be there. I loved Dina, Ishvar and Om for being strong and continuing to the end of the novel. Maneck I can only feel sorry for because he didn't see the balance in life that he needed. This novel left a great mark on me and I'm so glad I read it. Now.. it's time to think of a thesis for my essay on it :)

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Summary: This is an extremely powerful work, that requires more than
Review: A Fine Balance is not a book for the faint of heart. It may also be difficult for people who have not been to India. I would, however recommend it to anyone that reads say, Dickens or Conrad, or he Brontes maybe. It is a tremendously powerful novel, with much poignancy, despite what the the Boston critic had to say. It is a tragi-comedic story of four individuals, a taste of Hindu life:kismet or fate. It is very difficult to encapsulate a 600 page book in a few sentences. The City,although unnamed, must be Bombay, whose beach was once called a pearl necklace. All you Brits, Kiwis, Ozzies, Krauts, Froggies and Dutch who have done the Goa-gig. (Margao-Margao) must buy and read this book. If you don't understand it, you weren't there. I love it

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Summary: Simply amazing
Review: This book was the best book that I have ever read! The character develpment is masterfully done to the point where you sincerely feel for the characters' ordeals. I am definitely looking forward to Mistry's next novel.

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Summary: The resilience of human beings
Review: This book has moved me more than any in several years. It can lead you to despair or to hope, I'm not sure which. Definitely to laugh often. I believe it illustrates life's beauty and weirdness: the survivors aren't always the ones we expect. What is it that keeps us going? Life is absurd, beautiful, and people are horrible, lovable and surprisingly resilient.

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Summary: A humanist masterpiece
Review: In the grand tradition of the great humanists, Rohinton Mistry paints a moving portrait of the downtrodden classes of India. One despairs at the sheer lunacy of the subcontinent, but in order to survive, one must retain a fine balance between sanity and despair. Mistry makes no allowanaces for the western reader who, I imagine would be forced to view India on her own terms, and not through some received notions about the exotic East. The writing has a genuine Indianness about it that one does not find in the English of other Indian writers. More than any other Indian writer, I feel Mistry comes closest to bearing the mantle of greatness. Together with A Suitable Boy and Midnight's Children, A Fine Balance makes up a glorius trio of great novels about India.