A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is one of the best pieces of literature that I have read in a long time. With 600 pages and covering topics such as abject poverty and every day life in the corrupt regime of Indira Gandhi, this is not light reading.
The title could refer to many things, but what I saw as the most prevalent theme was the fine line between hope and despair. At what point do you give up and decide things are hopeless? So much of the book is sad, depressing and upsetting, from violent caste killings to forced sterilizations. As a reader, you keep rooting for the characters even if you know that happily ever after is probably not in their future. You just keep hoping that they find some peace and a small bit of happiness.
The details are rich and the setting of India in the 1970's is compelling and interesting--I didn't know much about it before now. This is definitely not a happy book. It made me keenly aware the privilege in my life, of having a safe and secure place to live and always having enough to eat. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a love of literature (as long as you are okay with bleak stories).
five stars
Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for joining our discussion of this book!