The book I recently finished, A Fine Balance, ranks in my favorite reads ever.
This novel is a sweeping portrait of India in the 1970s with its corruption, tragedy, poverty, caste violence, and all the other turmoil and sadness you can imagine.
Two tailors have moved to the overpopulated “city by the sea” for its perceived opportunities. They find a job sewing for a widow, Dina, who also takes in a university student as a boarder to make ends meet. It is ultimately the story of four people who, through shared circumstances, move from strangers to soul friends.
Beyond these four main characters are so many others that add color and life to this book. Shankar, Beggarmaster and Monkey Man I am talking about you! Many are flawed characters but still show moments of beauty and selflessness.
This is not a new book (1995), and I need to thank my own soul friend from Dallas who encouraged me to read it. His mom recommended it to him, and this is the second time I need to thank her, the first time being for the sausage wonton recipe she gave me 20 years ago!! I became famous in my family for this recipe!!
As I started reading this, I had to ask my dad if he had read it. He has read everything, so I was not surprised when he said yes, but it did resonate with me when he added, “I’ll never forget those two tailors” because this book has a slow beginning (for me at least) so when I read his words I didn’t fully get this tribute. But now I can also say I will never forget them. Honestly, I think about these two tailors every day. (It has only been a week so maybe this will change…)
With all the sadness in this book – I literally had to take a NyQuil to calm my drainage before bed – it is the best example of what literature can be. It is an example of why I read and why I have this blog. To cap off my testimonial, I will note that I borrowed this book from the library but I am planning to buy this exact copy as I want to keep it as a token. I will happily buy the library another!
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