Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

This is the saddest book I've ever loved.

If it had been a little less brilliantly written, if I had cared a little less about the characters, there were many times I would have stopped.

Life is very hard in India in 1975. The president has essentially made herself dictator, changed the laws to exonerate her of convicted crimes (and no, this book is not a recent comment on current events in the U.S.) and imprisoned her critics. A forced sterilization program is in effect. In the name of "beautification" the homeless--many of whom have jobs but can't find or afford what housing there is--are rounded up, including children and sent to work camps. The countryside is being destroyed in the name of modernization. People who have close their eyes to and/or judge those who have not.

We follow the lives of four characters who come together within this world: Dina, a widow determined to remain single and independent despite all odds (she was deeply in love and is faithful to the memory of the love), her boarder Maneck (the son of a former classmate of Dina's), Ishvar Darji and his nephew, Omprakash Darji two tailors who have left their village and come to the city to find work and save enough money to return to their impoverished village.

A character in the novel describes life as a "fine balance" between hope and despair, and so this book is. Although I found it closer to the side of despair. But there is also much life here, people struggling to survive and keep their dignity, to love and raise families in the midst of overwhelming forces of destruction.

Mistry himself maintains a "fine balance" between lyricism and horror. The pain of the book would be too much to take if there were not also passages of great beauty. And the characters are so vivid, I feel like I would recognize them on the street if I passed them. And they're so real, I feel like I could actually pass them on the street.

The book is a powerful portrait of a time and place. The details are meticulous. Mistry vividly portrays both urban and rural India rocking in a time of turmoil. I could "see" what Mistry so carefully describes.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I kept hoping for happy endings for the characters. And Mistry provided enough moments of peace and connection to keep me engaged and caring. This is a book that I think will stay with me for a long time, people I will remember as though they'd become friends, a place and time I almost feel like I have come, a little bit, to know.

A book that is unforgettable in both its pain and its beauty.