A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Friday, January 4, 2008 by Abhinav
I'm almost through with Rohinton Mistry's novel A Fine Balance set in the Emergency (1975-1984). It is pure Bombayana. Written with a mix of caustic insight and deep compassion, Mistry's prose is the most natural ever. He writes like an insider - hell, even makes Rushdie's work feel like an outsider's voice. Rushdie writes in awe; his love for the city is almost filial. Mistry on the other hand knows Bombay for the bitch that she is; his depiction of the city is steeped in amorous love with the whiff of loss looming large over the milieu he creates. It is for this reason that Mistry can write with greater acceptance and credibility of the city's tragedies than Rushdie. I'm on a happy track with the last hundred pages or so of the tome to finish. The whiff of impending tragedy is looming large. Let's hope I get through.
Your book reviews always make me want to click over to Amazon, Abhinav! I really liked your comparison to Rushdie, here. I think I would prefer the more pointed realism of Mistry, too.
Now that's a compliment! ;-)
I absolutely adore Rohinton for his splendid work (and sometimes his sentimentality too). It's such a tragedy he has not won the Booker after being nominated three times, one of which is for A Fine Balance.
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I remember craving watermelon juice for the longest time after reading this book. And *SPOILER* trying to convince myself that he doesn't kill himself at the end. Sniff. He doesn't, doe he?
Haven't read any of Rohinton's other work though... What do you recommend?
It was so sad that Maneck had to go in the end. Though I understood the reason why Rohinton decided to do that, I didn't have the heart to write a review. RM remains perhaps the most adept Bombay writer at breaking you heart in a clean and neat way, so swift it doesn't even show.
Try Tales From Firozsha Baag or Such A Long Journey. These more popular ones of his are also his best.