
A Fine Balance
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Narrated by:
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John Lee
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By:
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Rohinton Mistry
About this listen
IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Short-listed, 1997
Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Winner, 2011
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.
©1995 Rohinton Mistry (P)2001 Books on Tape, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"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
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And the Mountains Echoed
- By: Khaled Hosseini
- Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini, Navid Negahban, Shohreh Aghdashloo
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Khaled Hosseini, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations.
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Does the End Justify the Means
- By FanB14 on 05-24-13
By: Khaled Hosseini
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The Lowland
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Born just fifteen months apart, Subhash and Udayan Mitra are inseparable brothers, one often mistaken for the other in the Calcutta neighborhood where they grow up. But they are also opposites, with gravely different futures ahead. It is the 1960s, and Udayan—charismatic and impulsive—finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, a rebellion waged to eradicate inequity and poverty; he will give everything, risk all, for what he believes.
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My least favorite of all her work.
- By SAK on 10-09-13
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
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The Namesake
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Sarita Choudhury
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Namesake follows the Ganguli family through its journey from Calcutta to Cambridge to the Boston suburbs. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.
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My favorite book - in print and audio
- By Diana - Audible on 04-16-12
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
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Burnt Sugar
- By: Avni Doshi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In vivid and visceral prose, Tibor Jones South Asia Prize-winning writer Avni Doshi tells a story, at once shocking and empathetic, about love and betrayal between a mother and a daughter. A journey into shifting memories, altering identities, and the subjective nature of truth, Burnt Sugar is a stunning and unforgettable debut.
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Wonderful narration - Story is lacking.
- By Anon54fdgnb7 on 02-05-21
By: Avni Doshi
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Interpreter of Maladies
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Matilda Novak
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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With accomplished precision and gentle eloquence, Jhumpa Lahiri traces the crosscurrents set in motion when immigrants, expatriates, and their children arrive, quite literally, at a cultural divide. The nine stories in this stunning debut collection unerringly chart the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations.
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skip it
- By Sheri on 06-30-09
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
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Midnight's Children
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Lyndam Gregory
- Length: 24 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Salman Rushdie holds the literary world in awe with a jaw-dropping catalog of critically acclaimed novels that have made him one of the world's most celebrated authors. Winner of the prestigious Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children tells the story of Saleem Sinai, born on the stroke of India's independence.
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Outstanding book, superb narration
- By MarcS on 06-09-09
By: Salman Rushdie
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The City of Joy
- By: Dominique Lapierre
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
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In this inspiring work, Dominique Lapierre tells stories of extraordinary love and heroism - performed by ordinary people. Deep within one of the poorest sections of Calcutta, Lapierre found that this city, which produced Mother Teresa, had many other selfless inhabitants.
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INCOMPLETE AUDIOBOOK
- By Sandra I Walker on 08-09-18
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The Hungry Tide
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Internationally best-selling author Amitav Ghosh, winner of the Pushcart Prize and numerous other prestigious accolades, pens a sweeping novel full of romantic adventure. Favorably compared to the masterworks of Joseph Conrad and V.S. Naipaul, The Hungry Tide is an atmospheric tale set in a world of wondrous sights...and terrible danger.
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One of the Best Audio Books I've Read
- By Elizabeth on 09-24-05
By: Amitav Ghosh
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The Rent Collector
- By: Camron Wright
- Narrated by: Diane Dabczynski
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Survival for Ki Lim and Sang Ly is a daily battle at Stung Mean Chey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be hard enough without the worry for their chronically ill child, Nisay, and the added expense of medicines that are not working. Just when things seem worst, Sang Ly learns a secret about the ill-tempered rent collector who comes demanding money - a secret that sets in motion a tide that will change the life of everyone it sweeps past.
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Good story but has some issues
- By BR on 02-23-16
By: Camron Wright
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A Passage to India
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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The lives of Miss Adela Quested and those around her are forever changed when she befriends a young doctor named Aziz during a trip she and her companion Mrs. Moore make to India. The unlikely friendship between Adela and Aziz eventually culminates in a disastrous expedition to the Marabar caves, during which she offends him, an action which leads to false accusations, arrests, and a litany of miscommunications.
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Confusing at Times
- By Matthew Everett on 01-12-22
By: E. M. Forster
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Shuggie Bain
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Shuggie’s mother Agnes walks a wayward path: She is Shuggie’s guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good - her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor.
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There’s far too much real pain and sadness in the world to spend any time listening to this tale of woe
- By SuperShopper on 02-18-21
By: Douglas Stuart
The book has a very sad ending. It is probably more true and realistic then the "good" endings I like to enjoy at the end of stories. Do not miss this novel, it is a true gem.
One of the best novels ever written
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What made the experience of listening to A Fine Balance the most enjoyable?
A Fine Balance is one of my favorite books, so having it to listen to in the car is a nice treat.What did you like best about this story?
This book is an epic, sweeping novel about a really troubled time in India's history. It is written such that you feel every emotion, you see the landscape... few writers have Mistry's gift. His writing is amazing. I would read (and have!) anything he writes.Any additional comments?
I was not happy with the narration- mostly because I'm Indian, and almost every Hindi word was mispronounced. These were not difficult words- any Indian could have told the narrator how to pronounce, but as I listened it was just really off-putting.For example, "loata" is pronounced "low-ta", not "low-AH-ta", and loata is a super common indian word so hearing it wrong over and over was painful. Same with so many others, and even the names. "Naaa-waaaz" (Nawaz) should have been "Na-waaaz." I could go on and on. So while I think the book is literally a masterpiece, I was disappointed at the narration. However if you are not a Hindi/Urdu speaker, you'll probably be none the wiser and enjoy it.
Wish the narration was better.
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Should be Required Reading, Fantastic
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Long but good
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Would you consider the audio edition of A Fine Balance to be better than the print version?
I did not read the print version.Who was your favorite character and why?
Deena Dalal, the women who brought together the tailors and the student. She is a strong character, going against the cultural grain. Her world was small in terms of those she trusted and loved. Her choices shaped a life for her that in the end resulted in being where she fought hard not to be.Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes I have. I've heard him read Ken Follete's novels. His German accent was very effective in those narratives. To hear him speak in the Indian tongue was very impressive. His delivery of the story was very dramatic and believable. Each time I listened to the story, I was totally transported into the scene.If you could rename A Fine Balance, what would you call it?
Quilt of LifeAny additional comments?
What made this book so profound was the fact that both tailors and Deena Bi learned to accept their lives in the end and settled into a way of being with little complaint. Manac, on the other hand, had a bright future. He had money that he earned in Dubai. He had his father's business to run. He, however, could not see past his own feelings of guilt, unwantedness and despair. He allowed the conditions that he saw drag him down into depression and ultimately suicide. What a pity!!Disturbing, enlighting and profound
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If you could sum up A Fine Balance in three words, what would they be?
Life SucksWhat other book might you compare A Fine Balance to and why?
The Woman of Brewster's Place Why? I guess the tone.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Not possible, 24 hrs long. After the first 7hrs I needed to break it into 3-4 hr. sections.Any additional comments?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" is not a true statement from the charters in this book. I was shocked by some of the brutality but I also felt joy when some of the people had a victory. Like all great books this one took me on an emotional ride, meaning I got to touch base will all my emotions. The end did feel a little contrived, but still a great book.Bummer Dude
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grim but outstanding
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Unforgettable!!
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Tragic
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I love this book. But please get an Indian reader
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