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A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

by Rohinton Mistry (Author)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (115 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 624 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books USA (Nov 2001)
Language English
ISBN-10: 140003065X
ISBN-13: 978-1400030651
Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (115 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 258,297 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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This is item 44 in The Oprah's Book Club Series.

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

In 1975, in an unidentified Indian city, Mrs Dina Dalal, a financially pressed Parsi widow in her early 40s sets up a sweatshop of sorts in her ramshackle apartment. Determined to remain financially independent and to avoid a second marriage, she takes in a boarder and two Hindu tailors to sew dresses for an export company. As the four share their stories, then meals, then living space, human kinship prevails and the four become a kind of family, despite the lines of caste, class and religion. When tragedy strikes, their cherished, newfound stability is threatened, and each character must face a difficult choice in trying to salvage their relationships. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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	86% buy the item featured on this page: A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) 4.7 out of 5 stars (115)
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Customer Reviews

115 Reviews

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (115 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Balance, 20 May 2006

By	E. Hardy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Fine Balance (Paperback)

This is a truly great book. It chronicles the story of 4 individuals from very different sectors of the Indian Caste system.
Not only does it accurately portray the political and social situation in India in the 1970s,it reflects the predudices within the upper castes and the fatalistic attitude of the lower castes, formed from their religious beliefs that suffering is their destiny and the reward will be in the afterlife.
This story is overwhelmingly sad and also shocking as the reader can identify the ethical question of human suffering for a possibly laudable goal (in this case it is population control). However, the novel is also uplifting in a peculiar way; that individuals who struggle so hard to exist in appalling conditions can find joy in their lives is humbling. It also allows the reader to identify with the predudices and to see a situation from another side. Maybe at the end of the book, the reader feels that they have grown a little in spirit and have the capacity to be a 'better' person as a result.
For me, the mark of a great book is one that remains with you long after the back page is read. This is such a book.

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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourite novels ever., 5 Mar 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Fine Balance (Perfect Paperback)

This novel is really fabulous. Mistry is a spectacular storyteller with a wonderful way of writing about the minutiae of daily life and weaving it into a wider picture of what was happening in India in the mid 1970s. The story is incredibly depressing - I kept turning the page in the hope that things wouldn't get any worse, but they inevitably did - but the ending provides some sort of closure and a sense of the main characters gaining some happiness in their lives. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. Please read it!

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could not put this book down!, 10 April 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Fine Balance (Paperback)

By far the best novel I have ever read. It is a joy to envision the milieu for this epic novel. You cannot help but be drawn to the characters and their plight. An often moving and emotional insight into the lives of India's street beggars and an excellent reminder of how deeply the caste system is embedded in this lost society. The portrayal of corruption, inherent at every juncture of 1970-80's India, leaves the reader with a sense of injustice and an added impetus to read on in the hope things may get better. A marvellous and compelling book, and a must on any bookshelf!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Every bit as good as they say it is
"A Fine Balance" is truly an exceptional novel that fully justifies the amazing reviews on its back cover. The book is by turns shocking, uplifting and tragic. Read more

Published 18 days ago by Michael Lavocah

5.0 out of 5 stars India Unmasked
Mistry has created a precise slice of Indian life in this wide-ranging, all-encompassing novel. We are at the bottom of the pile and his characters are poor, ever-resourceful... Read more

Published 2 months ago by E. Shaw

4.0 out of 5 stars a sad sroty
Amazon recommended this to me after I bought some other books. I should have read the reviews. It is not that I did not like it but perhaps was not prepared for such a long and... Read more

Published 2 months ago by S. Hill

5.0 out of 5 stars Jude with Heart
There may be a lesson here and it's the same depressing lesson that Thomas Hardy beats the reader with in Jude the Obscure. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Garth Algar

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Read this book after a recommendation from a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very different to other books i have read and the story is quite a tragic tale. Really good read.

Published 3 months ago by G. Spencer

5.0 out of 5 stars Potent stuff
It should be a depressing read, given the context of a brutal caste system, utter poverty and political corruption. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Top Banana

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing book...
I really enjoyed this, although it took me a while to get through it. It wasn't one of those 'rattle through at a rate of knots' books. It was more one to savour. Read more

Published 4 months ago by C. Ball

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC - a 'must read'
I read this book several years ago and I still think about it and recommend it to date.
It is beautifully written - a literary masterpiece. Read more

Published 5 months ago by M. I. Syed

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully written, but leaves a bitter after taste
I finished reading this book this morning, and this afternoon, I still feel like I have a black cloud following me around. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Ms. N. Mamujee

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener!
An excellent read. A real eye opener as to what really went/goes on in India. Couldn't put the book down.

Published 6 months ago by Jay

› See all 115 customer reviews...

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