A Fine Balance in On Paths Unknown

Sep 06, 2013 Himanshu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, unforgettables, favorites, swadesi

What an unreliable thing is time - when I want it to fly, the hours stick at me like glue. And what a changeable thing, too. Time is the twine to tie our lives into parcels of years and months. Or a rubber band stretched to suit our fancy. Time can be a pretty ribbon in a little girl's hair. Or the lines in your face,stealing your youthful colour and your hair. But in the end, time is a noose around the neck, strangling slowly.

I have just finished reading this book by an author who wrote the

What an unreliable thing is time - when I want it to fly, the hours stick at me like glue. And what a changeable thing, too. Time is the twine to tie our lives into parcels of years and months. Or a rubber band stretched to suit our fancy. Time can be a pretty ribbon in a little girl's hair. Or the lines in your face,stealing your youthful colour and your hair. But in the end, time is a noose around the neck, strangling slowly.

I have just finished reading this book by an author who wrote the above words; which at one read would seem pithy and intriguing. But then, when you've read the story of the people that Mistry chose to tell you in this book, you'd be contemplating each sentence with a different perspective. You'd end up with a huge fight inside your head, because half of it would want you to renounce all the faith in humanity/system/God itself. And the other half would want you to believe in hope/silver lining because we are so pathetically weak that we need an anchor to go on.

Ultimately you'll be in a quest to find A Fine Balance to settle the thoughts and move on.

This book is written around one of the most difficult times that India has faced. The time at which we were independent of the British Raj but ended up in Gunda Raj. The time that tested every trait of us humans - Compassion, Honesty, Faith, Love, Friendship, Empathy etc. The time when we failed at each of them.

At some points I felt so wretched that I felt I couldn't read one more word. At some others I felt a subtle joy because of the way the characters could find happiness and satisfaction with so little in hand. I got goosebumps when a chapter ended and I read the name of the next one. They could kindle a hope in my heart for the good time to come or they could fill me with dread, as to what now!

The Beggarmaster, Monkey-man, Hair-Collector and the diseased Proof-reader were extremely fascinating. Ultimately, the story of the four main characters, a widow, a college student, a chamar-turned tailor and his nephew, was beguiling. Happy to move this to my Favorites. ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Dolors rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012

Four people from very different backgrounds cross their paths for a year during the seventies in India, and as we learn of their pasts, their presents and eventually of their futures, we get to know the political and social situation during that turbulent period in one of the poorest countries of the world.

I agree with most of the positive reviews when they say that this story is a faithful portrait of what might have been like to live in the India of the 70's and 80's (a complete nightmare), an Four people from very different backgrounds cross their paths for a year during the seventies in India, and as we learn of their pasts, their presents and eventually of their futures, we get to know the political and social situation during that turbulent period in one of the poorest countries of the world.

I agree with most of the positive reviews when they say that this story is a faithful portrait of what might have been like to live in the India of the 70's and 80's (a complete nightmare), and of course, to show the kind of life its people led there, with all the complicate relationships between them. Social distinctions between castes and tribes, the role of women in Indian society, and their struggle to survive in a complicate moment, just when the country starts to fight for a political independence in a corrupt society. Utterly depressing, if I may say so.

And yes, the descriptions are accurate, the setting interesting, and the characters thoroughly developed, which make the story highly believable and realistic, devastatingly realistic. A reality in which the much oppressed population lead miserable lives so that a few can lead luxurious ones, and as the tittle says, reaching a Fine Balance.

But then, I think the story lingers and lingers more than necessary, and even with all the dramatic events happening simultaneously to all the characters, I felt detached from the story, maybe because of too many disgraces put together from the beginning. Every time I finished a chapter I thought it couldn't get worse and I was wrong each time, things never improved and I was actually despairing by the end of the book. Even with one of the most supposed-to-be shocking scenes which should shake the reader, I just read through it and closed the last page without thinking twice.

So I'd just say that this is a well written book, which will interest those who want to know more about India and its people, but beware, because comparisons can be awful, and I have to say that the book didn't manage to move me the way Vikram Seth's "A Suitable boy" did.

Maybe the fatalistic point of view of an occidental writer who doesn't really know that life in a place like India can be beautiful as well. ...more

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Mar 26, 2015 Gisela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literary, long-fiction, _favorites

If you don't like depressing, tragic novels, this book is not for you. In many ways, I'm still puzzled why I fell in love with this book. Maybe I'm a sucker for tragedy. But this isn't grand tragedy in the traditional sense where the focus is on royalty or famous historical figures. Instead it's a heart-breakingly, achingly story about a group of people who are the poorest of the poor - the most downtrodden and vulnerable.

With great compassion, humanity, restraint and dignity, "A Fine Balance" If you don't like depressing, tragic novels, this book is not for you. In many ways, I'm still puzzled why I fell in love with this book. Maybe I'm a sucker for tragedy. But this isn't grand tragedy in the traditional sense where the focus is on royalty or famous historical figures. Instead it's a heart-breakingly, achingly story about a group of people who are the poorest of the poor - the most downtrodden and vulnerable.

With great compassion, humanity, restraint and dignity, "A Fine Balance" depicts the extraordinary heroism and perseverance that can mark even the most inherently disadvantaged. In setting the tragedy of his main characters against the broader, historical backdrop of Indira Ghandi's rule, Mistry also gives us insight into a turbulent period in the sub-continent's history and shows us the impact that macro-politics can have at the micro-level on those with the least power.

Mistry is exquisitely restrained in his prose and the depiction of his characters and the world they inhabit. I must read this book again to see how Mistry weaves his magic. Why was I compelled to read, what is on the surface, a most depressing case of "life's a sh*t, and then you die"? Is it like watching a train wreck (ha! I wrote this without consciously thinking how appropriate this expression is in the context of this book)? Did I keep reading because I loved these characters so much that I wanted to believe that there would be a happier ending? And yet such an ending would have been totally dishonest.

In many ways, "A Fine Balance" reminds me of John Williams's "Stoner" in its depiction of heroism at the level of "ordinary people", in its measured and exquisitely crafted prose, and in the piercing observations about human frailty and tragedy at an everyday level. In each case I was mystified why I could not put either book down even though, on the surface, both books were presenting me with accounts of bleak outcomes for apparently unprepossessing characters. Yet books tear at my guts and heart in the same way that "King Lear" does, no matter how often I read it or see a performance. ...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Xandra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: big-books, z-m, asian, 1001-books, booker-wp, 1950-1999, canadian, south-asian

A book that reinforces the age-old wisdom that life sucks pretty badly and considerable effort, hope and determination are required to make it tolerable. Terrific portrayal of the resilience of the human spirit.

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Sep 17, 2012 Ravi Narayanan rated it really liked it

I liked this book for the detailed narration of every event, object, feelings that brought live the environment of the 1970s. I do remember the emergency period when I was in my middle school. I am from southern part of India - and we did not have the type of impact the author describes, but, I have heard such type of stories then.

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