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A Fine Balance Audiobook
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(4.00) - 51,334 listener ratings
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Plot Summary
Recommended by Oprah’s Book Club in 2001, A Fine Balance has been a best-selling audiobook since its creation and its popular author, Rohinton Mistry has received a great deal of acclaim as a result.
This intense novel is set in 1970s India and tells the story of a young widow seamstress, Dina, who finally takes in a boarder after struggling to make rent payments and remain living as an independent woman. The boarder is Maneck, a college student and son of one of Dina’s more affluent childhood friends.
Later she takes on two more boarders, an uncle and nephew named Ishvar and Om who also work for her as tailors. The two tailors were born into the lowest caste, but were able to obtain training to be in the tailoring profession, raising them up significantly from where they began.
The backdrop for this book — India during "The Emergency" of 1975 to 1977 — is a chaotic and exceedingly dangerous place. During this time, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suspended the rule of law and civil liberties due to rising internal discontent. A forced sterilization program was implemented, slums were torn down, displacing thousands of families and numerous persons were arrested and tortured, seemingly without cause.
In the midst of this turmoil, Dina, Maneck, Ishvar and Om develop close but complex relationships as each struggles to survive. Parts of the audiobook are hopeful and uplifting, but beware: this is not a book for the faint of heart. The characters endure appalling injustices, and for some, every step forward is followed by three steps back. Several reader reviews describe the book as “depressing”, but even these readers consistently rate it at four stars (out of five) or above.
A Fine Balance is a riveting audiobook story that’s hard to forget; you’ll be so taken in by the characters' lives you won’t want to stop listening. And that’s a good thing: the audiobook runs 24 hours and 29 minutes.
Rohinton Mistry was born in India and resides in Canada. A best-selling author, he has often been compared to Charles Dickens.
"Amazing book, funny in many many places but so tragic and unbelievable what happened in their lives and the lives of so many. Beautiful writing, intelligent and heart-rendering. I will not forget this book and the lives of the main characters interwoven through the difficult years they try to survive and I was hoping for a wonderful end but true to the whole book that would have been to simplistic. I was not so prepared for the ending though and that is the style of the writer. I am looking for this book on audio and would love to listen to the whole again. Such insight into the goings on in one country, and the class system that bought so much hatred and senseless killings."
— KDJ (5 out of 5 stars)
Publisher Summary
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. As the characters move from distrust to friendship and from friendship to love, A Fine Balance creates an enduring panorama of the human spirit in an inhuman state.
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Quotes
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“Astonishing…A rich and varied spectacle, full of wisdom and laughter and the touches of the unexpectedly familiar through which literature illuminates life.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“A serious and important work…The product of high intelligence and passionate conviction.”
— New York Review of Books -
“Monumental…Few have caught the real sorrow and inexplicable strength of India, the unaccountable crookedness and sweetness, as well as Mistry.”
— Time -
“Those who continue to harp on the decline of the novel…ought to consider Rohinton Mistry. He needs no infusion of magic realism to vivify the real. The real world, through his eyes, is magical.”
— New York Times -
Astonishing. . . . A rich and varied spectacle, full of wisdom and laughter and the touches of the unexpectedly familiar through which literature illuminates life.
— Wall Street Journal -
"Monumental. . . . Few have caught the real sorrow and inexplicable strength of India, the unaccountable crookedness and sweetness, as well as Mistry.
— Pico Iyer, Time -
"Those who continue to harp on the decline of the novel . . . ought to consider Rohinton Mistry. He needs no infusion of magic realism to vivify the real. The real world, through his eyes, is magical.
— The New York Times
Awards
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An Oprah’s Book Club Selection in 2001
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Winner of the 1996 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
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A USA Today bestseller
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
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An ALA Notable Book Finalist for Fiction
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A 1997 International Dublin Literary Award Finalist
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Winner of the 1995 Scotiabank Giller Prize
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Winner of the 1996 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book
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A 1996 Man Booker Prize Finalist
A Fine Balance Listener Reviews
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" Tough, tough life in India. Too tough. A book with real character, even humour. Even though the financial and physical hardship describes is beyond what most of us can empathise with, there is something universal and timeless in the characters and their spirits. "
— Charles Miller, 6/5/2019 -
" Such a bleak book, but so compelling. "
— Kathleen, 2/12/2014 -
" depressing and devastating. it's worth reading and gripping and all that, but it made me feel very sad and grimy. "
— Shelu, 2/5/2014 -
" Brilliant at every level. Deeply political, but also so very human, with life in full force bursting at every turn despite incredible hard blows and against every possible (and many impossible) odd. Disturbing, sad and not for the faint hearted. "
— Michal, 2/2/2014 -
" An excellent book, by one of my favorite authors. Not for the feint of heart. "
— Alex, 1/21/2014 -
" One of my favorite contemporary novels, in the epic social realism vein of Balzac or Zola. "
— Andrea, 1/20/2014 -
" I was totally mesmerised by this book... One of the best books I've read so far. "
— Sofie, 1/20/2014 -
" This book is heart-breaking. I loved it so much and grew so attached the the characters. It made me laugh, rage and cry, and touched me deeply. It's a disturbing reminder that you should enjoy the good moments you are presented with, for you can never know what life has in store for you. "
— Frenchy, 1/18/2014 -
" Wonderful novel about India around the time of Indira Ghandi, very upsetting in parts, nearly put me off going to India, but glad it didn't ! "
— Lindsalba, 1/16/2014 -
" to the deep realms of the caste system; the degradations, the suffering, the courage ... "
— Jay, 1/11/2014 -
" Heart-wrenching story of four characters whom I got to know so deeply... "
— Neetu, 12/8/2013 -
" I read this ages ago and loved it. it was amazing. "
— Ruth, 6/12/2013 -
" loved it....until the ending....tough to end a good book like this "
— Joy, 3/13/2013 -
" One of the best books I have read in a very long time. The characters were so real and full of life, I loved this book so much that towards the end I started to read it really slowly because I wanted the experience of reading it to last as long as possible, I have not done this since I was a child. "
— Maria, 2/5/2013 -
" I gave it an 8 at Book Club, but I was the only one who really liked it. Very complicated story and pretty darn depressing; but rang true for my ears. "
— Marilynn, 11/5/2012 -
" The most depressing read ever. "
— Michele, 10/10/2012 -
" What a wonderful descriptive writer. Captured me immediately in this book. "
— Hugh, 7/29/2012 -
" If you are feeling low then this is not a book to curl up with. It is beautifully written, the prose is a very high standard like all Mistrys novels and is recommended reading but my God it is bleak. "
— Kevin, 5/18/2012 -
" I still think about this book ten years later. "
— Amelia, 10/13/2011 -
" Made it thru a 150 or so pages. Really surprised this got the reviews it did. The writing style was just very bland. I couldn't connect with the story or characters. There's just too much out there to waste any more time on something I was just flat out not enjoying. "
— Brian, 6/26/2011 -
" One of the most powerful books I've read. "
— Sunaina, 6/13/2011 -
" This is the most depressing book I have ever read in my life. It's 2 AM here and I don't think I am going to get sound sleep for many coming days. Fuck, I don't even want to talk about this. Later... "
— Kushal, 5/23/2011 -
" An engaging but depressing look at recent Indian society. I've been in the third world in a number of different countries and for all the fascination with the different-ness of it I'm ultimately grateful <br/>to live in the USA. Despite all our own problems. "
— Chris, 5/23/2011 -
" This book is well written and engrossing but also relentlessly depressing. Life in India is really awful for poor people and they never, ever catch a break. That pretty much sums up this book up. Things are bad and they just get worse and I guess I just don't want to read about it. "
— Allison, 5/14/2011 -
" I loved this book, very well written and drew me in completely. "
— Kate, 5/14/2011 -
" This was such a good book. Very hard to read some of the depressing circumstances but I couldn't put it down. Extreme poverty in India. "
— Jennifer, 5/12/2011 -
" One of my very favorite books. "
— Carol, 5/10/2011 -
" One of my top 10 all time favorites. An amazing tale of the resilience of the human spirit. "
— Beth, 5/10/2011 -
" In a minority of people who didn't like this. "
— Heather, 5/9/2011 -
" This is a well-told story about various people in India from different castes who help each other. The characters are described so well that the reader feels she knows them. "
— Marty, 5/7/2011 -
" what a devastaiting story!... I have never cried so much after reading a book. beautifuly constructed background and characters. magnificent epic book. "
— Rene, 5/6/2011 -
" I love historical fiction. This book gives a terrifying look into India and what people must do to survive. "
— Judith, 5/6/2011 -
" Third on my list of books that take place in India or are about India, and I'm just devouring them. This book is incredible. Mistry makes you fall in love with the characters! "
— Shannon, 5/3/2011 -
" Beautifully descriptive images of modern India, with touching characterizations. An amazing story. "
— Jane, 5/3/2011
About Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton Mistry was born in Bombay and now lives near Toronto. His first novel, Such a Long Journey, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and received, among other awards, the Governor General’s Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book of the Year. A Fine Balance, his second novel, won of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction, the Giller Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, as well as a Booker Prize finalist. Mistry is also the author of Swimming Lessons, a collection of short stories.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.