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Rohinton Mistry: A Fine Balance

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I just finished reading ' A fine balance' by Rohinton Mistry.

I thoght the book was magnificent and superbly written.
anyone has read it?
what is your oppinion on it.

I would definetly reccomend it to anyone who is interested in Indian culture.
 
This isn't exactly contributing but I have read a short story of Mistry's that was fantastic. Can't recall the name right now. I am going to try one of his shorter novels, maybe Family Matters or Such a Long Journey, before I invest in a long novel such as A Fine Balance.
 
I have recently finished A Fine Balance and I aboslutely loved it - it has been a long time since I have read a book so engrossing, so sad, and so moving. The characterisation is unbelievable.

I will definately be reading the rest of Mr Mistry's books.
 
A Fine Balance was one of the few books that had me crying within the first thirty pages or so. Each of the narratives are so full of emotion. Lyra, I agree with you- so so moving! It was really a tragic time in Indian history.

I haven't read anything else by Mistry, does anyone have any recommendations?
 
Good but depressing

I read the "Fine Ballance" just after I got back from India. I was full of Indian smells and amazing tastes. So it seemed to be like a good idea to read a book about India.

But it came out to be so depressing! Once it seems that the life becomes a little bit better for the characters and then - BOOOOM! the writer makes it all bad again. And the end was extremely depressing. Did he have to do that? What about good old happy-ending?!

It was NOT how I felt India when I was there!
 
I found it to be kind of inspiring: the ability to create one family out of broken peices of others. That kind of thing just doesn't happen without a little tragedy.
 
The waveguide said:
I read the "Fine Ballance" just after I got back from India. I was full of Indian smells and amazing tastes. So it seemed to be like a good idea to read a book about India.

But it came out to be so depressing! Once it seems that the life becomes a little bit better for the characters and then - BOOOOM! the writer makes it all bad again. And the end was extremely depressing. Did he have to do that? What about good old happy-ending?!

It was NOT how I felt India when I was there!
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I felt the same, I'm not one for forced or too neat happy endings but this book's continuing slide down hill just made me want something to work out in the end. I was hoping maybe one of the characters would get a happy ending. It was so depressing through and through, and yet I did not feel so bad for all the main characters for some reason. There was much that was difficult in their life they could not help but then it seemed their choices lead them to even more trouble too and I started getting frustrated with them (like Om in the tent, when he would not look away).
 
A wonderful and moving saga without drifting off into kitsch or melodrama ... however, I would have loved a happy ending at least for one of them, too. But apart from that, I loved the novel despite all the sadness and suffering.

I have also read "Family Matters" by Mistry, which was good, but could not quite hold a candle to this one.
 
I have read all of Mistry's novels and many of his short stories. His characters engage me. It seems that, like Dickens, he can create believable characters who are of their time and culture and, through these characters, you come to understand their world.

A very good movie was made of Such a Long Journey, probably available through Neflix or your library.
 
Skipping Record said:
I found it to be kind of inspiring: the ability to create one family out of broken peices of others. That kind of thing just doesn't happen without a little tragedy.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This has to be one the the best books I've ever read regarding India. The situations were real, the characters were inspiring, and it showed that one does not have to have a fairytale ending to conclude a book perfectly.

It's such an affirmation of love and life, beautiful in its complexity and portrayal of reality. I especially like how Mistry
ends the one life that had least reason to end it
, as if to say "Situations are what you make of it. Which end would you have chosen?"

I mean, I fully understand why it couldn't possibly be awarded the booker, but it still saddens me that it didn't win. It's certainly worthy of it. More so that The White Tiger, i might add.

This book is less depressing than it is a roller-coaster ride that plunges you to the darkest depths of the human heart as it makes you soar with its characters' stubborn refusal to give up.

As for Waveguide's comment about how he didn't feel that way about India, I'm reminded of the Taj Mahal scene in Slumdog Millionaire that shows the two faces of India - from a local and tourist perspective. Same location, completely different worlds. A case of that, perhaps? :)
 
Hmmm, this has been sitting on my book shelf for six months or so. Might pull it off and throw it on the top of my TBR pile
 
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