Helpful Score: 1
I found A Fine Balance to be unbalanced, which is probably the true way in India. After all, the book opens with a quote ending with, "This tragedy is not a fiction. All is true." A Fine Balance was heartbreaking. Any happiness that made its way into the story line was soon blotted out by tragedy, so I would think the author should have titled it A Fine Imbalance: Corruption and Cruelty Win.
The story follows four main characters: an unhappy college student who feels rejected by his parents, a widow who has mostly cut ties with her family in an attempt to establish her independence from her overbearing brother, and an uncle-nephew pair of poor tailors who have come to the city to reverse their fortune and escape the grasp of a depraved rich landowner. Don't bother hoping for happiness for any of the four, who eventually become quite attached to one another. You will be left disappointed.
A Fine Balance left me feeling despondent, disheartened, and even hopeless, but also grateful for the life I get to lead. It was an amazing and fascinating story, educating me on so much about India, and spurring me to learn more, and for that I am glad I read it, but it is also dark and tragic and mournful. I am angry with the author for not allowing his characters one moment of happiness without dashing it in the next chapter. As a fiction, couldn't he have let just one mirthful event come to pass? In his quest for truth in fiction, the answer was a resounding no.
The story follows four main characters: an unhappy college student who feels rejected by his parents, a widow who has mostly cut ties with her family in an attempt to establish her independence from her overbearing brother, and an uncle-nephew pair of poor tailors who have come to the city to reverse their fortune and escape the grasp of a depraved rich landowner. Don't bother hoping for happiness for any of the four, who eventually become quite attached to one another. You will be left disappointed.
A Fine Balance left me feeling despondent, disheartened, and even hopeless, but also grateful for the life I get to lead. It was an amazing and fascinating story, educating me on so much about India, and spurring me to learn more, and for that I am glad I read it, but it is also dark and tragic and mournful. I am angry with the author for not allowing his characters one moment of happiness without dashing it in the next chapter. As a fiction, couldn't he have let just one mirthful event come to pass? In his quest for truth in fiction, the answer was a resounding no.
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