A Fine Balance
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A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry
Literature
James Mustich
Aug 27, 2018
Born and raised in Bombay but a longtime resident of Canada, a Parsi rather than a Hindu, a realist in an age of magic realists, Rohinton Mistry has never neatly fit expectations. The tightly focused artistry of his first two works of fiction, Tales from Firozsha Baag and Such a Long Journey, gave no hint of the capacious creative vision his third book, A Fine Balance, would exhibit, earning him comparison to Dickens, Tolstoy, and—by one astute critic, at least—the Victor Hugo of Les Misérables. The character-centric plot is enlivened by the author’s ability to imbue his realism with close observation of suffering and attentive celebration of the infinite variety of facts and faces that populate the world. Mistry’s alertness to forces of history and the legacy of social and political oppression, his compassion for the downtrodden and unlucky, and, most importantly, his fidelity to human truths that transcend caste and circumstance to inform the most circumscribed lives with joy, sorrow, grief, and love—all testify to the justness of the invocation of past masters when discussing A Fine Balance. They translate into a reading experience that is filled with the transporting wonder only the greatest novels inspire.
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Lisa Wardein Roberts
Feb 17, 2020
3 stars
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Jane Huttner
Mar 15, 2020
4 stars. The content was heartbreaking. I never realized life could be like that. I was so outraged at many things that occurred in the book. If things were this bad in the 70's in India, it makes me wonder if there has been any improvement since. One thing I found very interesting was initially Dina was prejudiced against Ishvar and Om. Maneck was friends with them while Dina wanted him to maintain his distance. Maneck helped Dina see some things she thought were insulting. Then she really felt it when Ishvar fell on his knees before her. She initially let them stay on the veranda to keep them out of police hands. The 4 of them ended up living together in peace and even having fun. At the end of the book, Dina still sees Ishvar and Om even though they are now beggars and asks Maneck to wait he won't. He no longer wants to associate with them.
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Debra Hanff
May 23, 2020
I will definitely reread this masterful book one day. Just loved it.
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