false <![CDATA[A Fine Balance]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165518291m/5211.jpg 5211 39 With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers--a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village--will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future. <br><br>As the characters move from distrust to friendship and from friendship to love, <b>A Fine Balance</b> creates an enduring panorama of the human spirit in an inhuman state. 865827 book 1995 A Fine Balance total:9479|5:5075|4:2922|3:1083|2:259|1:140| 9479 40970 13211 1793 5 22 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Aug 16 22:40:49 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 22:42:43 -0700 2007
I stayed up all night to finish this book, because the climax is simply unputdownable. I am hesitant to formally review it because it's one of those few books that can't be confined within the bounds of a critique or summary, and one that is so magnificent and moving that the idea of rev...more...]]> 5 9 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Tue Apr 03 08:33:40 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 03 08:54:11 -0700 2007
It's a great Indira Ga...more...]]> 4 6 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Mar 05 19:09:39 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 19:10:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Jun 23 10:43:49 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 07:48:06 -0700 2007
Umberto Eco always writes about how a good bo...more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Oct 08 13:45:14 -0700 2007 Fri May 30 19:55:27 -0700 2008
Oprah likes it, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. Just deeply wounded.]]> 5 4 false false Sun Aug 17 18:24:56 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 18:25:52 -0700 2008 4 2 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Jun 01 15:21:26 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 01 15:21:26 -0700 2007
Favorite moments from the book:

"Maneck studied Beggarma...more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Aug 01 19:01:20 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 03:32:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jul 16 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Mon Feb 04 08:49:34 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 08:51:21 -0800 2008
This quote between two strangers on a train in 1975 India. This devastating novel chronicles the intersecting of four lives during Indira Ghandi's Emergency measures, which included mass sterilization,...more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 19:10:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 20:25:39 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 17 11:16:29 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 11:20:21 -0700 2009
The characters literally live in a fine balance between hope and depair. Just when you think everything is going well...the unhappy side of life happens. By the end of the 600 p...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 07:01:46 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 18:56:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Jul 25 21:17:23 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 21:17:59 -0700 2008 4 1 false false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 10:49:23 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 10:33:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 08:39:24 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 22:01:42 -0800 2008
I found the writing style very cumbersome and at times, a little too heavy, but th...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Sep 03 16:48:33 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 18:32:06 -0700 2008
Prior to reading ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Aug 20 02:47:03 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 03:05:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jul 14 09:15:14 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 12:12:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 03:10:10 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 03:40:42 -0700 2008
This is a really, really good tragedy writ beautifully. It is, of course, a classic novel of mo...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 17 09:49:07 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 01 10:38:31 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5211