This book was rubbish. Just kidding, it was great! An account of the life of a self-made Indian entrepreneur and murderer, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger is both funny and furiously angry.Born into poverty in a village in rural India, to a dying mother and a rickshaw pulling father, Balram Halwai tells us his story in the form of an extended letter to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao about the reality behind “modern Indian entrepreneurship.” Taken out of school by his grasping family and forced to work as a cleaner in the village tea shop, Balram is determined to get out of the Darkness (the countryside) and into the Light (the city). But when he does, as the driver of the son of a local landlord, he discovers that the crushing weight of inequality weighs upon him there too, just as it did in the village. As a servant, even to such a relatively enlightened master as Mr. Ashok, Balram is trapped in a cage of expectation, exploitation and humiliation, and it takes an act of ruthless violence to set him "free."
This is an absolutely unromantic portrayal of modern India. Balram’s story is one of shocking inequality and corruption. Through his eyes we see an India of binary opposites: of Darkness and Light, of flashy shopping malls and disgusting slums, of outsourcing call centers and back street brothels, of rich and poor, of masters and servants, described with often brutal frankness. Even so, I particularly liked the way Balram’s expressions of anger were often related almost as afterthoughts, as if they surprised even him, as if he himself was too inured to his position to be able to articulate or reflect upon his anger explicitly.
That the book is somehow scathing and funny at the same time is down to the unique voice given to Balram by Adiga. This is a book about injustice, but it isn't a book only about injustice, it's also about a great character, a funny and charming narrator, and the book is great precisely because he is.
4 comments:
I really enjoyed the book too, though I thought the device of writing a letter to the Chinese minister was a bit much. It didn't add anything to the story and wasn't used consistently. Other than that, it was a chilling portrayal of India's caste system, and an interesting forerunner to all the attention heaped on Slumdog Millionaire.
p.s. Welcome to Book Blogs.
I quite liked the letter writing device as a framing narrative. I thought it allowed a few political points to be made about the rise of India and China, and gave some insights into Balram's psychology. I also liked the way he became more casual with it as he wrote.
I haven't seen Slumdog yet, I must check it out.
I've read The White Tiger twice now. The first time I read it was back in July last year when it was the first of the 2008 Booker longlist that I read. I thought it was good but not excellent and therefore not much of a contender to be the winner. I am still amazed that it won.
I went back to it again fairly recently and found myself enjoying it more than the first time round. I did enjoy Adiga's style of writing. However, I still don't understand why Balram killed Ashok in such a gruesome way. I thought it ended too soon without tieing some loose ends.
I loved The White Tiger. I didn't think I would because I like older India stories, so this was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately I am not enjoying Last Man in Tower. I have to finish it before I judge it, but so far...eh.
I picked up Avinda's 2nd book...something about assassins, but I haven't looked at it yet.
Wendy
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