India Unmasked - Rated 
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 though repressed and, ultimately, ruined by the political exigencies of their time. It is the 1970s and Indira Gandhi is in power. Efforts to remake the nation in the image of her father have led to widescale programmes, of beautification of the cities (scrape up the human detritus and set it to work), housing reorganisation (destroy the shanty towns), birth control (round up people and force them to accept sterilisation), along with the persecution of religions, minorities and frequent outbreaks of violent condemnation of entire ways of life. That these ways are replaced by equally corrupt and heartless political movements seems par for the course in the chaos and beauty, in the filth and harmony - the contradictions - of the Indian sub-continent.
We follow the fortunes of Dina Dalal, a young woman of spirit and independence, who, when her beloved husband Rustom dies, refuses to be incorporated in her brow-beating older brother's family and sets up on her own in a tiny apartment as a tailoress. Her eyes are weak, however, and she hires two tailors from the countryside, Ishvar and his troublesome nephew Omprakesh. To supplement her income she also provides a room in her apartment for a young relative Maneck, who is attending college. In time, this gathering of disparate people of different castes and backgrounds, provides a kind of family nucleus, but events conspire to sever their relationship and the ending provides a cathartic shock to the reader's system. The dreams, struggles and dreadful deeds of a wide range of minor characters are described in great detail, as well as those of the four main characters. It is wonderful, shocking, amazing and a thoroughly marvellous read.
The `Fine Balance' of the title is a reference to the Monkeyman, who lives in a shanty alongside Ishvar and Omprakesh. When his monkeys are killed he buys two children from a neighbour and trains them to balance on poles which he then juggles, an exploit so hair-raising that almost no one can bear to watch. The title might also relate to Indira Ghandi's exploits, in which case the irony seems complete.
To read of lives so wasted, so devalued and shaming, recounted in such detail might seem to promise nothing but misery, but this is not a depressing book, even given the ending. It is full of writhing, struggling, verminous, despairingly heart-breaking and joyful life.
a sad sroty - Rated 
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 fundamentally sad story. However, I liked the way it followed basically one character and brought in others and then you are with them all as group. I knew very little about the history of India over this period and if it is as in this story then this is a good vehicle to inform but if it is as comes through in this story then it is quite depressing what a country could do to itself and its people.
I enjoyed the way the story is written, often going into minute detail and this gave me a real sense of place. Although it is sad it has some nice periods of humour and humour from characters who you think would not have a laugh in their bodies given their circumstances. I shall read some more of Mistry's books, in fact I have ordered them from Amazon already as my local (major chain) bookstore does not have even one of his books.
Jude with Heart - Rated
There may be a lesson here and it's the same depressing lesson that Thomas Hardy beats the reader with in Jude the Obscure. Don't try and rise above your station - trying to better yourself and improve your status will only end in pain. There are many parallels between Hardy's classic and the 1996 Booker winner - even *that* scene from Jude is recreated here with an interesting Indian twist. The essential difference, however, between these two epic tales of the common man is that whereas Jude delivers unremitting misery and despair, A Fine Balance is soaked through with warmth and compassion. Our heroes suffer savage cruelty and tragic misfortune against a backdrop of poverty and brutal oppression, but only rarely does the tragedy overpower the pleasure derived from the exquisite detail of their daily lives, personal relationships and minor victories. A Fine Balance is above all a brilliantly readable and highly atmospheric story about four people at different stages in life from different backgrounds brought together by necessity and circumstance. Can superficial barriers of class and age be broken down to create close friendships? Yes, of course they can - but it's not as simple as that.
Great Read - Rated
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.
Potent stuff - Rated
It should be a depressing read, given the context of a brutal caste system, utter poverty and political corruption. But no mattter what the setbacks the four central characters show amazing resilience. And some of the secondary characters have developed even more novel coping strategies. The crippled beggar, the beggarmaster, monkey man, the hair collector, the rent man... every one an arch-pragmatist. They are gross, they are tragic, but each is a brilliant invention. This is powerful stuff; one of the most memorable books I have ever read.
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