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The White Tiger: A Novel
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SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
The stunning Booker Prize–winning novel from the author of Amnesty and Selection Day that critics have likened to Richard Wright’s Native Son, The White Tiger follows a darkly comic Bangalore driver through the poverty and corruption of modern India’s caste society. “This is the authentic voice of the Third World, like you've never heard it before” (John Burdett, Bangkok 8).
The white tiger of this novel is Balram Halwai, a poor Indian villager whose great ambition leads him to the zenith of Indian business culture, the world of the Bangalore entrepreneur. On the occasion of the president of China’s impending trip to Bangalore, Balram writes a letter to him describing his transformation and his experience as driver and servant to a wealthy Indian family, which he thinks exemplifies the contradictions and complications of Indian society.
Recalling The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, The White Tiger is 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.
The stunning Booker Prize–winning novel from the author of Amnesty and Selection Day that critics have likened to Richard Wright’s Native Son, The White Tiger follows a darkly comic Bangalore driver through the poverty and corruption of modern India’s caste society. “This is the authentic voice of the Third World, like you've never heard it before” (John Burdett, Bangkok 8).
The white tiger of this novel is Balram Halwai, a poor Indian villager whose great ambition leads him to the zenith of Indian business culture, the world of the Bangalore entrepreneur. On the occasion of the president of China’s impending trip to Bangalore, Balram writes a letter to him describing his transformation and his experience as driver and servant to a wealthy Indian family, which he thinks exemplifies the contradictions and complications of Indian society.
Recalling The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, The White Tiger is 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.
Book Actions
Start ReadingBook Information
The White Tiger: A Novel
Description
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
The stunning Booker Prize–winning novel from the author of Amnesty and Selection Day that critics have likened to Richard Wright’s Native Son, The White Tiger follows a darkly comic Bangalore driver through the poverty and corruption of modern India’s caste society. “This is the authentic voice of the Third World, like you've never heard it before” (John Burdett, Bangkok 8).
The white tiger of this novel is Balram Halwai, a poor Indian villager whose great ambition leads him to the zenith of Indian business culture, the world of the Bangalore entrepreneur. On the occasion of the president of China’s impending trip to Bangalore, Balram writes a letter to him describing his transformation and his experience as driver and servant to a wealthy Indian family, which he thinks exemplifies the contradictions and complications of Indian society.
Recalling The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, The White Tiger is 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.
The stunning Booker Prize–winning novel from the author of Amnesty and Selection Day that critics have likened to Richard Wright’s Native Son, The White Tiger follows a darkly comic Bangalore driver through the poverty and corruption of modern India’s caste society. “This is the authentic voice of the Third World, like you've never heard it before” (John Burdett, Bangkok 8).
The white tiger of this novel is Balram Halwai, a poor Indian villager whose great ambition leads him to the zenith of Indian business culture, the world of the Bangalore entrepreneur. On the occasion of the president of China’s impending trip to Bangalore, Balram writes a letter to him describing his transformation and his experience as driver and servant to a wealthy Indian family, which he thinks exemplifies the contradictions and complications of Indian society.
Recalling The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, The White Tiger is 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.
About the author
Reviews
Engaging story about today's India. Lots to learn. Compelling.
Rating: 5The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is a novel of modern India. Delivered in a letter, we read the story of Balram Halwai, also known as the White Tiger. Balram was born to a poor rural family. He actually didn’t even have a name until given one by the school teacher. His father, a rickshaw driver had hopes that Balram would be the one to get an education and improve the status of the family. Instead he dropped out of school and worked.He eventually became a driver for a local wealthy family and when the son and his wife moved to Delhi, Balram went with them. On the surface he was the perfect servant, driving their car, sweeping their floors, and massaging their feet. But when he realizes what little esteem they had for him, he stole a bag of money and killed his employer.Setting himself up as a successful entrepreneur in the city of Bangalore, he confesses all in his letter to the Chinese premier and although his subject matter is rather grim, he delivers his story with plenty of humor and wit. As a narrator, I was a little suspicious of his reliability as he spends a lot of time in self-justification but the picture he paints of Indians struggling with the concepts of modernity are interesting if a little simplistic. I found The White Tiger to be an involving read and fast paced read that I enjoyed.
Rating: 4My first novel by Aravind Adiga and even though its a stark look at Indian culture and life, I did thoroughly enjoy the book.It follows the story of Balram the "White Tiger" a young man born to a poor family in a small village and his decision to leave the fate born to him.
Rating: 5There are some interesting ideas and insights in this novel, but, for a Man Booker winner, it's surprisingly conventional in its structure and narration (compare to, say, Ian McEwan or Yann Martel). The author seems to cling very close to the main character's anger and cynicism and this makes for, indeed a "half-baked" story. For instance, twice the narrator refers to the great poet Iqbal's saying "They remain slaves because they can't see what is beautiful in this world" (p. 40 and p. 276), and yet Balram Halwai does not attain anything like this kind of insight in his life. Maybe that's the point -Balram, to survive in India, must become what he loathes. He demonstrates a sensitivity of sorts at times, but his trajectory seems predetermined, repeating the same corrupt practices as his master. As he says at the end, in Bangalore, "It's just that here, if a man wants to be good, he can be good. In Laxmangarh, he doesn't even have this choice. That is the difference between this India and that India: the choice." Yet Balram comes to bangalore and seemingly has no choice but to be not very good at all (p.306). The first half of the book is the better, with its eye for social commentary (e.g. of the lower classes self-policing behaviour - "The coop is guarded from the inside" p.194), but our hero, Balram, well, he isn't a hero really, maybe just a man who wants to be successful and is honest with himself. And "honesty among thieves"? Is he being ironic, or did he just get the phrase wrong ("honour among thieves"). This idea of becoming what you raged against was done so much better by Orwell in Animal Farm (where it was hard to tell man from pig anymore). Overall, a bleak view of modern India. An angry young man's first novel that lacks any real wisdom.
Rating: 3Laughed out loud a lot. But underneath it's a little bit unnerving. What has the world become?! Really easy to read and enjoyable.
Rating: 4Before I begin my review, a statutory warning to all my patriotic Indian brothers and sisters... this is India-bashing, large scale. If you are the sort of person who gets all worked up when any aspect of India is criticised, this book is not for you.
That said, Arvind Adiga bashes India where it has to be bashed. No honest reader will be able to dispute that the picture of India he paints is a false one. You will find the majority of Indians embarassedly changing the topic when Bihar (the state Adiga names "Darkness") enters the conversation. Most of the things he mentions are not only possible, but probable and even likely. You only have to read any Indian newspaper over the period of a week to know it.
But I believe the author fails in the creation of Munna alias Balram Halwai, the protagonist, because his voice is totally out of character with the person. It is the supercilious voice of a Westernised Indian, detached from his home country by education and station in life that comes through. The street smart Munna who murdered his employer and set up his business in Bangalore will talk in an entirely different way (for example, he will never say "five hundred thousand rupees" - he'll say "five lakhs"). Here, the character just becomes a mouthpiece for the author.
Secondly, Adiga goes overboard in criticising India, so that some of his examples become rather extreme (the immediate one that comes to mind is the schoolteacher boozing and sleeping in the classroom). In some other cases, they are downright silly (Balram buys a dosa and throws out all the potatoes before giving to Mukesh, whereas he could have bought a dosa easily without the potatoes: these are two varieties). It also confirms the opinion I formed of Adiga from his bio that he is that type of Indian Lord Macaulay wanted to create: Indian only by birth but English in spirit.
Lastly, the story failed to hold my interest. Take out all the social criticism and it is nothing but a hollow shell. And the gimmicks, like framing it as a letter to the Chinese premier, are trite to the point of being nauseating.
The only thing that forced me to give two stars to this work is some of the pithy statements Adiga makes about Indian society. Especially the ones about how caste-ridden India was a zoo, with all animals in separate cages when the British let them all out, so now only the ones with the big bellies and the ones with the small bellies are left; about automobile horns during a traffic jam joining together to form a single wail like a lost calf wailing for its mother; and the one about how the major diseases India faces are cholera, typhoid and election fever (though I would also include cricket).
Rating: 2That said, Arvind Adiga bashes India where it has to be bashed. No honest reader will be able to dispute that the picture of India he paints is a false one. You will find the majority of Indians embarassedly changing the topic when Bihar (the state Adiga names "Darkness") enters the conversation. Most of the things he mentions are not only possible, but probable and even likely. You only have to read any Indian newspaper over the period of a week to know it.
But I believe the author fails in the creation of Munna alias Balram Halwai, the protagonist, because his voice is totally out of character with the person. It is the supercilious voice of a Westernised Indian, detached from his home country by education and station in life that comes through. The street smart Munna who murdered his employer and set up his business in Bangalore will talk in an entirely different way (for example, he will never say "five hundred thousand rupees" - he'll say "five lakhs"). Here, the character just becomes a mouthpiece for the author.
Secondly, Adiga goes overboard in criticising India, so that some of his examples become rather extreme (the immediate one that comes to mind is the schoolteacher boozing and sleeping in the classroom). In some other cases, they are downright silly (Balram buys a dosa and throws out all the potatoes before giving to Mukesh, whereas he could have bought a dosa easily without the potatoes: these are two varieties). It also confirms the opinion I formed of Adiga from his bio that he is that type of Indian Lord Macaulay wanted to create: Indian only by birth but English in spirit.
Lastly, the story failed to hold my interest. Take out all the social criticism and it is nothing but a hollow shell. And the gimmicks, like framing it as a letter to the Chinese premier, are trite to the point of being nauseating.
The only thing that forced me to give two stars to this work is some of the pithy statements Adiga makes about Indian society. Especially the ones about how caste-ridden India was a zoo, with all animals in separate cages when the British let them all out, so now only the ones with the big bellies and the ones with the small bellies are left; about automobile horns during a traffic jam joining together to form a single wail like a lost calf wailing for its mother; and the one about how the major diseases India faces are cholera, typhoid and election fever (though I would also include cricket).
Brilliant. Original, stark, and moving. An indictment of India from beginning to end. Somehow Adiga manages to write about horrifying conditions and pervasive corruption in a way that is light, engaging, and funny. It was a book I never wanted to put down.
Rating: 5Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant, philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, Balram tells us the terrible and treanfixing story of how he came to be a sucess in life-having nothing but his own wits to help him along. 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.Amoral, irreverent, deeply entertaining, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international sensation.
Rating: 5Great, easy read. I wouldn't read it as a factual telling of India anymore than the Godfather tells the average American's story. But it gives you some idea and is a very good story. Maybe 8-10 hours total reading, tops.
Rating: 4The White Tiger, an Indian entrepreneur living in Bangalore, has heard an announcement on All India Radio that the Chinese Premier Jiabao is about to visit Bangalore. The announcer also said that Mr Jiabao wanted to know the truth about Bangalore, to meet some Indian entrepreneurs, and to hear the story of their success from their own lips. Concerned that the official story given to the Premier will be nothing like the truth, the White Tiger begins to write a series of emails to Jiabao.Balram Halwai is The White Tiger. Until he went to school, he didn't really have a name. His father, Vikram Halwai, a rickshaw puller, called his son Munna, the Hindi word for boy. It was the school teacher who named him Balram when he enrolled him at school. Similarly his date of birth had never been recorded. It was eventually given to him when he was enrolled to vote during a scam by a village politician to get as many 18 year olds on the roll as possible. Despite being identified as an intelligent child and singled out for special treatment by a school inspector, Munna's schooling is cut short when his family sells him to become a tea shop spider.Munna writes nightly to Premier Jiabao, telling him the story of his life: how he, a half-baked man, has become an entrepreneur who employs more than a dozen men. The letters describe for the reader an India that we can barely imagine, where corruption is rife, a nation of entrepreneurs, particularly in the field of technology, although things regarded as the essentials of life like clean drinking water, electricity, and adequate sewage simply don't exist.THE WHITE TIGER is not really crime fiction, although I counted 20 murders. But the murders are not the focal point of this book. It is the social and economic circumstances revealed in Munna's letters. It lays bare an India that is failing it's citizens, where landlords and socialists alike bribe officials, and human life is regarded cheaply. The winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, it is an eminently readable book.
Rating: 5An enjoyable, if somewhat cynical look at modern day India. The 'White Tiger' of the story is Balram, a chauffer who murders his employer and starts a new life running his own taxi company. The descriptions of life in the streets and slums of India won't help the Indian tourist board, but as a look at the background to India's drive towards a centre of commerce and technology, it is certainly thought provoking. Whilst the beginning and middle sections of the book are good, I felt the end where Balram murders his employer and goes onto to greater things all happened a bit quickly and seemed slightly at odds with the more in depth earlier passages. Worth a read none the less.
Rating: 3Balram Halwai is the mocking, pathological narrator of Aravind Adiga’s Booker winning novel The White Tiger. Born in the Darkness - the underbelly of India - and destined from childhood to be a servant, he tells his story in a series of letters over a seven day period to Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China. A self-described entrepreneur and philosopher, Balram explains how he has come to see himself as a white tiger.The inspector pointed his cane straight at me. “You, young man, are an intelligent, honest, vivacious fellow in this crowd of thugs and idiots. In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals - the creature that comes along only once in a generation?” I thought about it and said: “The white tiger.” “That’s what you are, in this jungle.” - from The White Tiger, page 30 -It is this inner view of himself - a rare creature in a savage world - which drives him eventually to murder his master and take charge of his life.,i>Even as a boy I could see what was beautiful in the world: I was destined not to stay a slave. - from The White Tiger, page 35 -Adiga has created a not wholly likeable protagonist to narrate the story of an India which is sharply divided between the very rich (and corrupt) and the very poor. The cynical voice of Balram jeers at democracy and uncovers the dark, corrupt world of the wealthy upper class. He pokes fun at China who despite their triumphs ‘in sewage, drinking water, and Olympic gold medals, still don’t have democracy.‘Adiga uses an analogy of roosters in the coop to describe the servant’s (or poor man’s) inescapable status in India.They see the organs of their brothers lying around them. They know they’re next. Yet they do not rebel. They do not try to get out of the coop. - from The White Tiger, page 147 -But for Balram, there is a way out - one of his own making. He resists the pull of family obligation and loyalty to his master and plans his escape through cold-blooded murder.[...] only a man who is prepared to see his family destroyed - hunted, beaten, and burned alive by the masters - can break out of the coop. - from The White Tiger, page 150 -Rage is what fuels Balram to break free of his caste and become a successful businessman. He takes his destiny into his own hands and does what he feels he must to become a free man. And in the end, he concludes there is really no difference between a man and a demon - only that one has woken up and the other is still sleeping. The message seems to be that there is no good anywhere in India. It is no wonder that Indians have been critical of this novel.The White Tiger is an interesting story - one that is compelling and blackly humorous despite its negative message. It is a scathing commentary on the divide between the poor and the rich, the benevolent and the corrupt - but, it is ultimately just a very good yarn.Recommended.
Rating: 4Winner of 2008's Man Booker Prize White Tiger is the debut novel by Aravind Adiga and is a picteresque fantasy about India that deals with the destitute, the class system, the institutionalised corruption and superstitions in a scathing black comic look. I have read in other reviews that people resented the narrator and his twisted outlook on life but for my own part I enjoyed it immensley and found myself both drawn into the story and eager to know what happened next to the protagonist (Belram Halwai) but also not caring enough about him as a person that I felt bad about anything bad happening to him which are inevitable in someone decideing at an early point that good deeds often go unrewarded.Despite a lack of education and seemingly no prospects because of his social position (or lack of), Belram is determined to move up the social ladder to have the things he has only seen other people enjoying and he gets his chance when he lands a job as a driver in Delhi for a landlord from his village. What follows is an adventure through the city with characters alomost Dickensian in their stereotypes as moral barometers but wonderfuly enjoyable as you're drawn into looking at Delhi through Belram's eyes.I'd recommend this book happily to anyone and would readily re-read it so it gets 4 stars from me.
Rating: 3I would never have picked this up on my own, but it is the title I am preparing a book club kit for. The toughest part of the book is figuring out how you feel about the main character - but that is what makes it such a good choice for a book club. Lots to discuss here.
Rating: 5See, this country, in its days of greatness, when it was the richest nation on earth, was like a zoo. A clean, well kept, orderly zoo. Everyone in his place, everyone happy. ... And then, thanks to all those politicians in Delhi, on the fifteenth of August, 1947 -- the day the British left -- the cages had been left open; and the animals had attacked and ripped each other apart and jungle law replaced zoo law. Those that were the most ferocious, the hungriest, had eaten everyone else up, and grown big bellies. (p. 53-54)Balram Halwai lives in "the jungle" that is 21st century India. The book is organized as a lengthy letter from Balram to China's Premier, shortly before the Premier's visit to Bangalore. In the letter, written over several days, Balram describes how he left his rural village to work as a driver for the son of the village's wealthiest man. He landed this position completely by luck, and used it to rise up in Indian servant society, and eventually become an entrepreneur. But this is no rags-to-riches story. It is instead a sometimes humorous, sometimes scathing account of contemporary Indian society. Adiga vividly describes the stark contrasts between "haves" and "have nots," and is resigned to this remaining as status quo for years to come:An Indian revolution? No, sir. It won't happen. People in this country are still waiting for the war of their freedom to come from somewhere else -- from the jungles, from the mountains, from China, from Pakistan. That will never happen. (p. 261)The White Tiger explores many of the same themes as A Fine Balance, but I found the latter better-written and far more moving. This was an OK read, but disappointing compared to other Booker Prize winners.
Rating: 3While I found it readable, I hated it, I hated the sarcasm, & I hated the characters, Yes, this is a book that is worth reading, but this is not what I would consider literature. I'm not sure what the Booker Prize panel was thinking when they awarded this book a prize.
Rating: 2A very clever and humourous book which displays the underbelly of Indian society and the deleterious effects of the West on India. While I enjoyed reading the book I found the characters unlikeable and difficult to relate to. Perhaps this is how Adiga planned them to be! I can see why it won the Booker, but I didn't find it an absilutely compelling read. I look forward to his next book
Rating: 4I really enjoyed listening to this book.I liked the accent the narrator used.It was very interesting, yet sad to hear about the horrible poverty and corruption in India. It sad to see how their customs and beliefs make their lives so hard.
Rating: 4For me at least this is quite a hard book to review as it is a book about a murderer and as such I feel that I should hate him but in the end I cannot bring myself to do so. This book is so different from the world of 'God of Small Things' with no saris, weddings etc to be seen. It tells of the real underbelly of Indian society where the caste system still lives and breathes, where the poor are deprived education, sanitation and anything but a life of servitude and continued poverty. The book also speaks of the corruption within the society it is set.Balram is the son of a poor rickshaw puller but has ideas above his station and wants to break out of the 'chicken coop' and sample the things that the rich take for granted but can he do this without committing a heinous crime and with it sacrificing his whole family. In the end he has to murder his employer to get what he wants and I found it hard to blame him.I visited India some years ago and was able to recognise at least some of the things that he desribes, at least from a tourist point of view, and given that the author comes from a very different, a privaleged, background in which he went to all the best schools I feel that he covers the subject matter extremely well indeed. I also liked the way that the book was writen in letters to the Chinese Premier prior to a state visit. Would definately reccommend this book.
Rating: 4This book was hugely entertaining. It paints a really rich picture of life in India, the struggle of the poor, the caste system and much more. However, at no point did this book feel like a study of Indian society- I found the narrator of the story absolutely hilarious. I was not expecting this book to be so funny.
Rating: 4I have almost given up following awards for books because, increasingly, my response to the winning novels is something along the lines of "what the....?" It was with some trepidation therefore that I tackled the winner of last year's Man Booker Prize. I have little faith in this particular prize for several reasons not least of which is the observation that their website is utterly devoid of useful information like which books have won the prize each year. You have to go to Wikipedia for that. Such technological incompetence (or arrogance or whatever it is) grates on my nerves. More worryingly though is that the prize has been awarded to four of the worst books I have ever read including the indecipherable True History of the Kelly Gang (written deliberately without punctuation or grammar) (or characters or plot or a grain of sense in my humble opinion). The only redeeming feature of the entire exercise is that in 1982 the prize was given to Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark, a truly beautiful novel, but one decent decision 26 years ago doesn't fill me with confidence.
In spite of all this I decided to read The White Tiger after hearing the author on a BBC interview. Actually I decided to listen to it (not because I wouldn't have read it but I happened to have an audible credit and nothing else took my fancy). For once (or for twice if I'm being totally fair) those Booker folks got it right. It is funny and sad and thought-provoking and entertaining and informative. In short it's a thoroughly great read.
Structurally the book is a work of art. Balram Halwai, an Indian man, writes a series of emails to the Chinese Premier who is due to visit India soon. The letters reveal his personal history, and that of the broader society, in a haphazard but very engaging way. The tale of how Balram went from being the son of a rickshaw driver to one of Bangalore's most promising entrepreneurs is a kind of modern-day fable explored in the wider context of the massive changes taking place in India in recent history. Balram is a deeply complex character who at times I adored and at other times abhorred. But I always wanted to find out what he would do next.
There is sadness in this book. If the imagery created by Balram's description of his father's death doesn't touch your heart then it's quite probable you don't have one. But, crucially, that emotion doesn't overwhelm the reader. There is also light and humour and, because of those things, the darker themes of the book, such as the impact of corruption on various strata of society and the gaping chasm between the lives lived by rich and poor, are more powerful than would be the case if the tone was consistently bleak. I can still recall reading John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (nearly 25 years ago now) which also tells of the truly awful things that happen to people who live in poverty but does so in such a way as to leave readers (well me) burdened with an overwhelming sense of despair and a desire to never consider the subjects raised by the book again. For me a work of fiction must entertain and engage first and foremost and only then will I consider any broader issues that the author may choose to raise.
The White Tiger is well-written with rich observational details about a fascinating place in a time of social upheaval. At times it made me laugh and at others made me gasp and sometimes I sighed with sadness. But, most importantly of all, it was absolutely engrossing from start to finish.
Audio book specific comments: Excellent narration by professional acress Bindya Solanki. I wondered if I would be be turned off by the fact she's female given that the story is narrated in the first person by a male but after about 5 minutes I completely forgot about the gender difference.
Rating: 5In spite of all this I decided to read The White Tiger after hearing the author on a BBC interview. Actually I decided to listen to it (not because I wouldn't have read it but I happened to have an audible credit and nothing else took my fancy). For once (or for twice if I'm being totally fair) those Booker folks got it right. It is funny and sad and thought-provoking and entertaining and informative. In short it's a thoroughly great read.
Structurally the book is a work of art. Balram Halwai, an Indian man, writes a series of emails to the Chinese Premier who is due to visit India soon. The letters reveal his personal history, and that of the broader society, in a haphazard but very engaging way. The tale of how Balram went from being the son of a rickshaw driver to one of Bangalore's most promising entrepreneurs is a kind of modern-day fable explored in the wider context of the massive changes taking place in India in recent history. Balram is a deeply complex character who at times I adored and at other times abhorred. But I always wanted to find out what he would do next.
There is sadness in this book. If the imagery created by Balram's description of his father's death doesn't touch your heart then it's quite probable you don't have one. But, crucially, that emotion doesn't overwhelm the reader. There is also light and humour and, because of those things, the darker themes of the book, such as the impact of corruption on various strata of society and the gaping chasm between the lives lived by rich and poor, are more powerful than would be the case if the tone was consistently bleak. I can still recall reading John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (nearly 25 years ago now) which also tells of the truly awful things that happen to people who live in poverty but does so in such a way as to leave readers (well me) burdened with an overwhelming sense of despair and a desire to never consider the subjects raised by the book again. For me a work of fiction must entertain and engage first and foremost and only then will I consider any broader issues that the author may choose to raise.
The White Tiger is well-written with rich observational details about a fascinating place in a time of social upheaval. At times it made me laugh and at others made me gasp and sometimes I sighed with sadness. But, most importantly of all, it was absolutely engrossing from start to finish.
Audio book specific comments: Excellent narration by professional acress Bindya Solanki. I wondered if I would be be turned off by the fact she's female given that the story is narrated in the first person by a male but after about 5 minutes I completely forgot about the gender difference.
The theme is the globalization and the urban jungle, about how the collapse of local Eastern values collide with the Western world´s need of cheap workforce (outsourcing). The old leadership have sold out their old values to be able to send their sons and daughters to university in Europe and the USA, and Western companies outsourcing work do not offer welfare schemes to the workers (it is mainly the dropping of all responsibilities that make labour cheap). The People in between are caged - as symbolized with the white tiger - who has to become ferocious, in this story, the tiger becomes a murderer, to escape the slave-excistance he lives under. It is a warning, what will be let loose if the common man is to struggle for a life in surroundings where all human values are gone, all infrastructure, Eastern and Western, are corrupted. Probably 3 stars is unfair, to low, compared to most books, but the book must be compared to the rich tapestry Salman Rushdie wove in Midnight´s Children, and then it is not.
Rating: 3You will laugh out loud more than once while reading this sardonic epistolary novel about contemporary India. The White Tiger is our main character and the letter writer who is writing a series of letters to the Chinese Premier on the occasion of a Chinese trade visit. He endeavors to explain the new economy and Indian entrepreneurialism with insouciant glee.
It's his Horatio Alger story - but far different from any such story in America, as hard work is not rewarded. Corruption rules the economy in many ways and it's fitting, then, that his path to success took a detour into criminality. In essence, it's the main character's how to win friends and influence people - through corruption.
This book has angered many in India for its unflattering picture of a country run by corruption and dependent on servitude. This makes it sound political and the corruption and poverty could make it sound grim, but it's not. There is such wit and humor and the main character has so much joy in life that the book is fun to read - and fascinating as well.
Rating: 5It's his Horatio Alger story - but far different from any such story in America, as hard work is not rewarded. Corruption rules the economy in many ways and it's fitting, then, that his path to success took a detour into criminality. In essence, it's the main character's how to win friends and influence people - through corruption.
This book has angered many in India for its unflattering picture of a country run by corruption and dependent on servitude. This makes it sound political and the corruption and poverty could make it sound grim, but it's not. There is such wit and humor and the main character has so much joy in life that the book is fun to read - and fascinating as well.
Although I have read similar books, The White Tiger grew on me, especially at the end. The narrator is a sympathetic figure for the most part, as he is trodden upon and misused by his family, the society he is raised in and his employers. Often, as he points out himself, he is so used to being abused that he cannot tell that is what's going on. However, slowly he becomes aware of his low position and becomes more and more angry until he lashes out against the system and maneuvers to stake out a place for himself amongst India's new "entrepreneurs." However, at the end the novel clearly shows that in so doing he has become exactly as corrupt as those who kept him down all these years. This is the point at which the book began to distinguish itself from others I have read and gain some real emotional impact for me. I did think it would make a good movie. I wonder if anyone will try?
Rating: 4An interesting book that grows on you and has a lot to say about the world today!From The New YorkerIn this darkly comic début novel set in India, Balram, a chauffeur, murders his employer, justifying his crime as the act of a "social entrepreneur." In a series of letters to the Premier of China, in anticipation of the leader’s upcoming visit to Balram’s homeland, the chauffeur recounts his transformation from an honest, hardworking boy growing up in "the Darkness"—those areas of rural India where education and electricity are equally scarce, and where villagers banter about local elections "like eunuchs discussing the Kama Sutra"—to a determined killer. He places the blame for his rage squarely on the avarice of the Indian élite, among whom bribes are commonplace, and who perpetuate a system in which many are sacrificed to the whims of a few. Adiga’s message isn’t subtle or novel, but Balram’s appealingly sardonic voice and acute observations of the social order are both winning and unsettling.
Rating: 4Pearl Ruled--Didn't like the narrator on audio.
Rating: 3The white tiger is the rarest of beasts, and that is how Balram Halwai regards himself. Raised by his tradition-bound family for a life of docile servitude, Munna (which means "boy"), as he is dubbed by his parents (in school he is randomly given the name Balram as a matter of convenience), grows up in undistinguished poverty in the Darkness--the poor part of India--which exists in perpetual enslavement to the Light--the wealthy part of India. But Balram is different, because he is unable to accept that serving the needs of a master is the only option that life holds out to him. After much scheming and sacrifice Balram achieves the success he covets, but success comes at huge cost, as we learn in his boisterous, high-octane narrative. The novel is framed as a letter that Balram is writing to the Premier of China, who is about to embark on a diplomatic mission to India in order to strengthen economic ties between the two nations. Balram wants the Chinese premier to know exactly what challenges he faces when doing business with his country, and his confessional narrative spares himself and India nothing. This is a country that depends for its survival on the vast majority remaining ignorant and impoverished, in order to provide an infinite supply of cheap labour for the rich minority. Corruption is endemic--no level of government can function without it. But Aravind Adiga's hero is smart enough to know that he cannot change anything. Balram learns that the trick to success is to become part of the system and turn it to his advantage, and to do this one must be ruthless and unsentimental. This is India as westerners rarely see it in fiction. In Balram's world there are no budding romances, no pretty faces warmed by the evening sun. In The White Tiger people are often unattractive, the streets are strewn with garbage, the walls are crawling with roaches, and servants are expected to serve jail time for their masters' misdeeds. It adds up to a scathing indictment of a society that does nothing for most of its citizens and yet expects them to carry the load. Adiga’s novel is more than just audacious. It is filled with bitter irony and black comedy, hilarious and horrifying in equal measure. Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
Rating: 3How can you get rich in very short time span ,this book tells you a way a bad one which is only possible in a corrupted country like India.
Rating: 3Good fiction work by Arvind Adiga themed on changing socio-economic fabric in our country. The style of narration mixed with first-person and third-person doesnt make you lose interest.
Rating: 4On a superficial level, reading the work The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga will introduce readers to a side of India that's much different than the usual glamour of contrived gurus and opulent Bollywood. The White Tiger is portrayal of the lingering, residual effects of India's caste system on its slow yet inevitable push toward technological modernity.Adiga's novel focuses on one man's breakthrough from "the Darkness" of backward rural poverty to "the Light" of urban entrepreneurship and what americans would probably describe as middle class luxury. The story centers on Balram Halwai's struggle to accept more of life than his caste will allow. Born without a true name, Balram progresses from lowly sweet-shop worker to personal driver and servant to becoming a "respectable" businessman of Bangalore. As with all good stories, the plot advances with the rationalization of one's choices and sacrifices. Sacrifices and choices involving losing one's family, one's humility, and murder.Adiga adds several layers of philosophical complexity throughout the novel. One the one hand, this a work outlining the persistence of slavery, not only in Indian culture, but modern culture as well. Balram is an aberration, an Indian who defies his culture not only in the pursuit of "entrepreneurship" but also the pursuit of being a free and true man. Adiga compares most Indians living in the lower castes to being chickens suffocating in a great coop, unable and even unwilling and perhaps proud of it, to better their lot in life. It is only when Balram finally realizes in his anger that the rich always get the best in life and the poor always get the leftovers that he makes the choices that cannot be reversed.The greater psychological slavery realized by Balram is perhaps akin to something Nietzsche may have said regarding god being dead. Adiga certainly puts it to the reader to decide whether Balram's choices are truly necessary to become a free man in a highly corrupt India. Whether they are or not, such is the plight in the darkest corners of India, for those truly grasping for a better life. It is certainly compelling, a story with choices that multitudes are facing every day. Excellent read.
Rating: 5