10 Year Blogversary - My Favourite Book from 2019 - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - #BookReview

 

The morning express bloated with passengers slowed to a crawl, then lurched forward suddenly, as though to resume full speed. The trains brief deception jolted its riders. The bulge of humans hanging out of the doorway distended perilously, like a soap bubble at its limit.

***

Set in the mid 1970's in India, A Fine Balance tells the story of four unlikely people whose lives come together during a time of political turmoil soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. Through days of bleakness and hope, their circumstances - and their fates - have become inextricably linked in ways no one could have foreseen.

Written with compassion, humour and insight, A Fine Balance is a vivid, richly textured and powerful novel by one of the most gifted writers of our time.

***

Continuing with my ten year blog anniversary celebrations, here is another of my favourites of the decade. Today I am publishing my favourite read from 2019 and was originally posted on 25th January of that year.  This book has stayed with me ever since I read it and it remains one of the best books I have ever read.

I have updated the review a little so there is more information about the book and the author but essentially the review is as it appeared that day.

The first thing I did when I finished this novel was to order everything else the author has written. This is an extraordinary novel written by a highly skilled author who has wholeheartedly won my admiration.

I was gripped from the very first page of this novel. The authors ability to create characters that are multilayered along with an atmosphere that made me feel as though I was living in India were quite remarkable. In fact, I think it is the sense of involvement that kept me hooked throughout the entire novel.

I felt as though I understood and knew these characters. Although the novel focuses around the four main characters whose backgrounds are all very different but whose lives become intertwined, the more minor characters are equally multi-layered. Indeed, Mistry's ability to breath life into his characters is superb and I am not sure I have ever come across another author who has done this with such excellence.

There is nothing superficial about this book.  It is packed full with depth and meaning and so beautifully written I could not get enough of it despite it running to over 600 pages in my edition. Indeed, for a few days after I finished reading I have felt a sense of loss and I could happily have kept reading this book for so much longer.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and fully urge you to read it for yourself. Or perhaps, you have you read this book? Have you read any of Rohinton Mistry's other novels? I would love to hear your thoughts.

ISBN:  978 0571230587

Publisher:  Faber & Faber

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  624 (paperback)

About the Author:

Rohinton Mistry is the author of a fine collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag (1987), and three novels that were all shortlisted for the Booker Prize: Such a Long Journey (1991), A Fine Balance (1996) and Family Matters (2002). His fiction has won, among other awards, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (twice), The Los Angeles Times Award, The Giller Prize, The Governor-General's Award, and the Royal Society of Literature's Winifred Holtby Award. In translation, his work has been published in over twenty five languages.

Born in Bombay, Rohinton Mistry has lived in Canada since 1975.

(author photo courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)