Rating: 
Summary: Evil Does Exist....
Review: This book proves why moral relativity makes no sense. How can one claim that for some people democracy and Judeo/Christian morality is fine, but other cultures/religions have other values and so be it, because who are we to say we're right and they're wrong. The caste system, forced sterilization, the heartbreaking mutilation of children to make them into beggars, etc. described in this book are evil and this is not "just my opinion". There is one universal morality: the 7 Laws of Noah given by G-d to humanity (Believe in G-d - no idolatry; Honor G-d - no blasphemy; do not murder; do not commit adultery or incest; do not steal - which includes kidnapping; no cruelty to animals; establish courts of justice). When these principles are replaced by anything else, the world can be a miserable jungle and that's precisely what Rohinton Mistry has described in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The characters make themselves a part of your life
Review: This book was the beginning of my love affair with the Indian authored novel, Mistry is comparable to Dickens in the scope of this book, but the story telling is superb. You are drawn in and continually want to know "why?" and "what's next".
The story is of 4 characters who come to share a small flat in India during a trying time. The story of how they move from strangers into family is one of heartache, some humor, and tenderness.
This book will call to you when you arent reading it. Mistry has the ability to make his charcaters so human, you feel complete compassion for them.
At 600 pages it is a hefty read, and I started slow, but at around the middle of the book, I just could not stop reading and found that I finished it, 300 pages in one night. I had never done that before, and I havent done it since.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly and even now 2 years later every now and then I come across a situation that reminds me of a situation in this book. To read this book is to give yourself a treat.
Rating:
Summary: "There Is No Such Thing as an Uninteresting Life"
Review: Why is it that some of the best fiction writing in English comes from India? Is it the educational system? the Commonwealth background? the adoption of English as a unifying language in a country that has so many languages? I wish I knew.Years ago, I started by reading R K Narayan at the suggestion of none other than Graham Greene. The more Indian fiction I read (Desai, Jhabvala, Roy, Seth), the more I became convinced that perhaps we must look to India for great English literature. I picked A FINE BALANCE up at the library and took it home because there was something about the book's cover that caught my eye. Needless to say, I was hooked by the richness of the book, which rivals Dickens in its multiplicity of characters and the love that is lavished on each minor character. This is a story of a young widow who takes in boarders and starts a home business to become independent of her controlling brother. We begin with two lower-caste tailors who escape from an oppressive village life to work for the widow, then the student who is to become her boarder, then the widow Dina herself. We travel back in time to see their lives up to that point, and then we are launched into the uncertainties of the present. A note: This is the India of Indira Gandhi around 1975-1980. Before her assassination, she instituted a number of Potemkin-style "reforms" that caused widespread suffering among the poor. At a number of points, her characters are ripped untimely from their everyday lives to create political theater that makes the powers that be look good to their Congress Party supporters. One of the minor characters is the wandering Vasantrao Valmik, a former proofreader into whose mouth Mistry puts his own thoughts about life. "There is no such thing as an uninteresting life," he tells the student at the end of the book. He urges him to tell him his complete story, "unabridged and unexpurgated." He continues: "It's extremely important because it helps to remind yourself of who you are. Then you can go forward, without fear of losing yourself in this ever-changing world." One feels that Mistry, who now lives in Canada, uses writing to help remind himself of who he is. He brings his unnamed city -- which is undoubtedly Bombay -- to life with all its smells, its peeling paint, its worms in the shower drain, and its wealth of poor, but colorful characters. Colorful, yes, but also sad. Not everyone comes off well, even though you the reader may come to love these characters, and God knows I did, be prepared for many reverses. Although life is a game played for keeps, the love we meet along the way makes it all worthwhile. Rohinton Mistry is a major talent, and A FINE BALANCE is a great book.
| 
