Rating: 
Summary: Fastinating and well written. Unforgettable!
Review: You never know what life has in store for you and in India if you survive with all your body parts in tact you can consider yourself lucky. Not only does this book make you count your blessings, it offers a window into a world few of us ever knew existed. The story will stay with you. It's certainly not a book that you will ever forget, although you may wish that you could.
Rating:
Summary: Proud to be American!
Review: Fastinating and well written, an unforgettable story! You never know what life has in store for you and in India if you survive with all your body parts in tact you can consider yourself lucky! Not only does this book make you count your blessings, it offers a window into a world few of us ever knew existed. Picture life as a tough game of roulette where someone else is holding the gun! An unlikely union of 4 believable and likeable charcters that together build a peaceful and loving environment in a cold and unpeaceful world. Life is pure and good while wrapped in their protective union but reality hits hard when they step outside. It's uplifting to see that even under such harsh living conditions love and peace, however fleeting and temporary, is possible and preferable!
Rating: 
Summary: A Fine Balance tips the Scales
Review: I had trouble putting the book down, which led to several
very late nights, since the book is 600 pages. However,
it's characters were so varied and interesting, and the
twists and turns of their lives was something that few
Americans would ever encounter. It was an excellent
read, and I'm only afraid that much of it may be true.
Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Beautiful
Review: A Fine Balance was an amazing read. Rohinton Mistry makes you feel as though you are actually in India during the Emergency, and he makes you truly consider the injustices that occurred to the everyday citizens in the name of "civil order." While it is not the most upbeat book that I have ever read, I feel as though all readers will walk away a little more aware of other cultures. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: I laughed, I cried..
Review: I have not had a book captivate me this much in a long, long time. I knew this was a good book when I would find myself crawling into bed at the end of the day and just reading. I would look forward to the trainride home so I could read, i did not want to speak to anybody so i could read more. Mistry has a masterpiece on his hands here, which is why I am disappointed to learn that this was one of the less popular Oprah selections. Cheers to Oprah for having chosen this book as I would never have picked it up myself.The story of the 4 strangers who come together in 1975 in a flat in the City (most likely Bombay, but never named)during a time of great crisis in India is a sprawling, complex work. To his credit, Mistry not only makes this book readable but it goes very quickly. I was never bored, and before I knew it, I had read the 600 plus pages, and was sad when the book ended. The charcters in this novel become so real, and are so well developed that you cna't help but feel a big loss when the book is over. I literally did laugh and cry while reading this book, and that seldom, if ever, has happened before, at least to this extent. I urge everybody who looks at the size of the book, or feels the subject matter wouldn't be to their liking, to look it over again. This novel is worth it, and it's good to take a look at the world outside of the United States. It's not always a fun read, the characters come across some very tough obstacles, and I was flinching in some scenes, but due to the talent of the storyteller, I kept on reading. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Heartbreaking Story
Review: I am now halfway through this book and cannot bear to continue. This story is extremely well-written; his use language is superb, but the story itself is more heartbreaking than I can bear. The complete poverty and sadness this book describes is like nothing I could have imagined. Knowing these characters have even more devastation to face in the second half of this book makes me simply put it aside and feel great sadness knowing that there is a whole culture in India that has lived this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dickensian but sadder
Review: This was such a fine read... I cannot believe I haven't heard more aboutthis book or this author! Like Dickens, the author writes about a lot ofcharacters, but, as in Dickens, I didn't find this confusing. Rather, I felt as if I knew the characters. Also, the depiction of India (the political scandals, caste hatred, poverty and filth, as well as the beauty)is incredible. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stunning
Review: I can't recommend this book highly enough. Having spent last March in India, it is unfortunate but true that much of the abject suffering described in detail in this work does ring true. Living in Chicago near "little India" I have also spoke with many individuals who verified the veracity of some of the most tragic political events in this book. That said, even if the reader has no interest in India, her people and her politics, this book is a pleasure. The strength of this book really lies in the character development and the extent to which the reader really cares about the fate of each major and minor character. This unseats "Stones from the River" as my favorite Oprah book. This is a highly entertaining, can't-put-it-down epic novel.
Rating:
Summary: Overlooked by Oprah readers
Review: This selection seems to be the first Oprah novel that has not made the best seller list. It is a wonderful novel, rich in description and emotionally captivating. Reality is sometimes difficult to face and the fact that although ficticious, this novel is accurate in explaining important times in history and a culture that many of us do not understand. i think this is one of the best Oprah books that I have read and I have read each of them. If you were leary about reading it, do yourself a favor and give it a try. You will be captivated and sorry when you are finished, you will be looking for more!
Rating:
Summary: A fabulous read.
Review: I loved this book. It is, no doubt, one of the best I have read in the past two years. Even though much of the book is just heartbreakingly sad, it is written so incredibly well that I couldn't wait to read it again each time I put it down. You will feel as if you have met 4 new real people who have very tragic lives. There are a few times when Mistry hits you over the head with something symbolic so that you simply can't miss his message. It's not a very subtle book. Nonetheless, it is a fabulous read and a superb lesson on the terrible governmental abuses that occurred during the "reign" of Indira Ghandi. The book helps you appreciate that things have always been rough in India for lots of different types of people but that I. Ghandi's "Emergency" made things horrible for, it seems, millions of people.
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