A Fine Balance A Novel

The thing with this book is it takes the first couple hundred pages to form a back story, and as the end approaches, everything seems to fit into a fine circle. But that circle is sad and morose. And real. Even in today's world. 'Cruel' could barely define it.

What an amazing read. Despite it being 600+ pages read, it was pretty fast paced and wonderfully written. I definitely need time to digest and recollect my thoughts. Another 5 star read for me this year.

Probably my last book of the year, and fittingly so. In mourning and criticising and mocking the year that has gone by and our lives entwined in it, A Fine Balance comes to not only sweep you off your feet, but also to slap you hard and make you look around at the misery that we have been spared from. The lives in this story are real, the atrocities committed against them are real, their emotions are real, as are their vices. It is a story of the insignificance of dreams in the face of national turmoil, and through it, Mistry instills in us, unexpected buckets of compassion and tolerance. If you think 2016 was a bad year, read this book.

I kinda don't have words for this book. It was longer than anything I've read in a while, and multiple times I thought it was too much, but the characters kept me reeled in.  4 primary and several secondary characters interact in a large unnamed city (Bombay) during the course of Indira Gandhi's (also unnamed in the book, but it's pretty clear) time in office. I did not know much about this period in Indian history, but this book presented some plot points that had me shook. And researching on the side. It's tense. It's sad. It's angering. But if this is real, even for a sliver of the population, which I don't have trouble believing, it's a story we should know. History has been cruel to people. Caste relations, religious conflict and alliances, progress, chaos, violence, dangerous friendships, hope. It's all here. I cannot recommend this enough, especially for people into modern historical fiction or any interest in modern Indian history. (Though I'd be careful to say here that one should not read it as a historical account.)

Perhaps the best Indian English novel. Mistry is perhaps the best Indian author too.

If you're from India and parts of the book surprise you, you really should read more about contemporary Indian history, especially 70-80s. Even with possessing a knowledge of India through the 70s, this book is a moving read. It is what most people would agree is a "sad read". I enjoyed the writing a lot; the emotions came through strongly and even though there is a sense of detachment, of helplessness throughout the story, I found myself re-reading sentences.

It took me a long time to finish this longish book. Sometimes the detail to which each of the characters are described can sometimes be overwhelming. But yet each of those details make the characters so real and relatable. Reading this book made me depressed, I started wondering about the sad story of the little boy selling baloons to luckier kids, the people who stay in dharavi which is not even 20 minutes away from Palladium - place where the ultra-rich of Mumbai hang out. I could not put down this book since I could not leave the characters alone. But it is so frustrating to realise that nothing much has changed since partition in this country. We will still have villagers moving to the lure of the towns and losing last bit of self respect, we still have the crushing poverty which breaks the soul of even the strongest human beings. This book is a must read for those who want to relook at what it truly means to be poor in this country. I now need to read a light hearted happy endng book quickly!!!

Life for some in India, during The Emergency (probably other times too, but this is the setting of this tale) is a precarious act of survival dependent on tiny nuances and the whims of others. Disturbing images of legless, but jolly beggars mutilated by their loving beggarmasters roll on among the hard-working pavement dwellers and independent women determined to remain independent. And lurking within the humor and loving relationships formed and destroyed is a wicked puff of governmental wind ready to topple any happiness foraged from the stinky street.

Incredible writing, but it wasn't smart of me to read this during a lockdown. The story is emotionally intense making it hard to read at times, will have to reread another time to fully appreciate the story.

Wow...this book is an educational and emotional ride through India in the 1970's. The characters are deeply developed and you connect with them as their lives progress. The hopelessness of life in India is conveyed so vividly. By the time I finished, I had even more gratitude for my life in the U.S.