A very interesting book | The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)

Satiric but true? | The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) | Aravind Adiga

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	• The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) Aravind Adiga Free Press, 2008 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 332 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A highly entertaining counterpoint to "Slumdog Millionaire"

This is a witty, fun read that reminded me a lot of "Lord of the Flies." Just as that book challenged the popular idea that children left alone on an island would develop a utopian civilization, "Tiger" goes after the idea that someone can win wealth through merit ala "Slumdog Millionaire." In "Tiger," the protagonist gradually realizes the price he must pay to win his freedom from poverty, and then pays it. The black humor in the book helps us grow fond of the protagonist despite his foul deeds, and makes it a far more entertaining read than LOF.

A very interesting book

First of all let me tell you that I was not aware of this book winning a man booker prize. So I did not have any expectations on this book. I finished this book in 2 days which is extraordinary in my own standard. I read about a 3-4 books a year and each book takes about 3 months for me. But the fact that i finished this book in two days(or nights) shows how good this book is.

As many reviews here already mentioned, this book is about the life story of a man called Balram from a underdeveloped part of India who rises like a phoenix from the shackles of the poverty to be a businessman.

As a Indian, I saw that author depicted and established the characters very well. He does try to add a little simplification of the villains in the story, but it gels so well with the story telling. I dont know what typecasting some other reviewers found in this books, but this books shows the characters behaving as naturally as they can. You can feel the cruelty in situations rather than the characters themself.

I recommend this books for anyone who likes to get a highlevel idea of how pathetic the conditions of people is, in some parts of India and how those poor are exploited by the ruling class. This books also depicts the duality in india where one side is developing rapidly with multinationals coming in, and other side is being exploited by the government. Also shown is the corruption in Indian government setup. The book provides some comical entertainment as the main character writes the letter to Chinese Premier.

Overall, the books is certainly a great read. Deserves full five stars.

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Satiric but true?

Haven't been to India, but if even some of this is true, it's a good, wary view of a democracy...and perhaps of what can happen to "new" democracies that we Imperialists try to set up. Funny, at the very least, but also scary in its presentation of the "real" India.

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The White Tiger, or Can Call Centres Summon the Tiger within?

The natural adversaries of the White Tiger are not the other tigers or the sharks, hyenas and crows that the modern Indian landscape is infested with, but the tamed, albeit not tame, Roosters of Rooster Coop heritage.

It is this Rooster Coop that the author so incisively describes in this maiden work. Other works treating modern India, including those by contemporary Indian authors, have focused on social entrepreneurship, the Bottom of the Pyramid paradigm, religious conflict, rural-urban migration, caste conflict, the erosion of local languages, corruption, lack of infrastructure, terrorism, unscrupulous politicians, police brutality, inexplicable prudishness, misplaced patriotism and gender inequality; in short, on the social and economic problems and opportunities that India presents. The author acknowledges these issues and even uses them as devices within his plot. However, he chooses to go further and, bravely, attempts a psychological analysis of the main players. Or of the main player, for perhaps there is only one human type, with various psychological variants.

This epistolary novel sees the protagonist born in very downtrodden circumstances in the hinterland in India, be bereft soon of parents and school education, learn a skill, use his new found status as a driver to learn about life and the economical divide, almost be framed for homicide and almost coerced into marriage, kill his master, adopt a cousin, and become an entrepreneur, which creature he claims India does very well indeed.

"And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy , or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs."

There is wit, of the very dry variety, and seemingly incongruous juxtapositions that delight through their absurdity. The artist keeps critical distance from his subject and only once screams directly to the audience: "The book of your revolution sits in the pit of your belly, young Indian ". He immediately recovers his calm and goes back to addressing the Chinese premier. The latter, if he has a sense of humour, should find this book especially entertaining and illuminative.

Is this a path-breaking work? Perhaps this is just a common novel that affords a very safe view of murky marshes, crawling with vermin and inundated with offensive smells. But it can be a turning point, for a work of art is not just an end in itself but also how it engages with and transforms the spectator. No very clear solution is offered - but only perhaps because a solution presented upon a tray would be self-defeating! The protagonist does, however, lucidly bring out the problem of the antiquated hierarchy to which many cling, believing that to stand up and stand out would be a sin against the universe and their ancestors. It is vital not to confuse this hierarchy exclusively with the traditional caste system or with a ranking according to wealth, the support of toughs, academic degree or any other material aspect: it relates to all of them and is consequently inconsistent and vague.

To restate the problem:

An ostensibly moral hierarchy permeates all social interaction in India, justifying the ill-treatment of all those beneath one, and subservience to all those above one, and enjoining upon all the necessity to stay within the structure and to police others attempting to break free.

This novel reveals this hierarchy in all its staggering ugliness. Not just the Premier of China will profit from a reading, but all those who wish to understand modern India.

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Not the tourist's India

Even though I would love to see the historic temples & forts of Rajahstan, I have never really wanted to go to India because of the poverty, dirt, & heat. This novel is written from the point of view of one man who lives in that non-touristic India which I do not want to see. The poverty & filth in the book is tangible, yet I couldn't put the book down; the descriptions are necessary to understanding the character's motivations as he climbs from poverty & subservience to freedom & entrepreneurial wealth. This portrait of life in contemporary India fleshes out the stories in business magazines about India's economic miracle.

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Introducing a major literary talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen.

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.

Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

Sold in sixteen countries around the world, The White Tiger recalls The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, and narrative genius, with a mischief and personality all its own. Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international publishing sensation -- and a startling, provocative debut.

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