What a surprise. I loved The White Tiger. I could not put it down and it kept me awake every night since the day I bought it. I did not know this author (Aravind Adiga,) until Mothership (Motherhood:The Final Frontier) suggested it as the first book of the newly created book club of the British Mummy Bloggers. For its angry and provocative point of view, I’ve found this book a compulsory and very interesting reading, totally different from other novels by Indian authors that I have read so far. It is a kind of unveiling of several types of masks: the peaceful and spiritual India and the modern computer society in Bangalore. It’s a sort of educative novel, a crime without punishment and without repentance. The White Tiger" presents a raw and unromanticised India, both thrilling and shocking - from the desperate, almost lawless villages along the Ganges, to the booming Wild South of Bangalore and its technology and outsourcing centres.
The main character, Balram Halwai, is a poor low-caste Indian, the son of a rickshaw-puller who somehow manages to crawl his way up to be an entrepreneur in Bangalore. He tells his story via a series of letters written to the Chinese Premier who is about to visit Bangalore. The poor parts of India are referred to as the Darkness which is a world filled with hunger, servitude and life-long debt. Modern Delhi is referred to as the Light. This is a world where men and women grow fat, have air-conditioned cars, mobile phones and guarded apartments with large TVs and computer games. But the Light has some very murky aspects to it - bribery, corruption and murder. The story is told at a blazing pace. Balram is ambitious and astute. He does well to become a driver for a local landlord's family - but he wants more..... The dilemma for him is whether he can shake off his chains by honest means or whether some blood will have to flow.
I read The White Tiger in less than a week, so it is in pristine condition (no tea spilt over it, no tears either!) and I would like to pass it on to anybody of you who’s interested in reading it. Please leave a comment below and my usual assistant Lily the Hamster will help me choose the recipient of the book on Friday morning (if more than one of you is interested of course!).
The main character, Balram Halwai, is a poor low-caste Indian, the son of a rickshaw-puller who somehow manages to crawl his way up to be an entrepreneur in Bangalore. He tells his story via a series of letters written to the Chinese Premier who is about to visit Bangalore. The poor parts of India are referred to as the Darkness which is a world filled with hunger, servitude and life-long debt. Modern Delhi is referred to as the Light. This is a world where men and women grow fat, have air-conditioned cars, mobile phones and guarded apartments with large TVs and computer games. But the Light has some very murky aspects to it - bribery, corruption and murder. The story is told at a blazing pace. Balram is ambitious and astute. He does well to become a driver for a local landlord's family - but he wants more..... The dilemma for him is whether he can shake off his chains by honest means or whether some blood will have to flow.
I read The White Tiger in less than a week, so it is in pristine condition (no tea spilt over it, no tears either!) and I would like to pass it on to anybody of you who’s interested in reading it. Please leave a comment below and my usual assistant Lily the Hamster will help me choose the recipient of the book on Friday morning (if more than one of you is interested of course!).
