Comments on Reading the Booker Prize: The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga (2008)

I've read The White Tiger twice now. The first tim...

2009-04-05T04:26:00.000-07:00

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 quite liked the letter writing device as a frami...

2009-03-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

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 really enjoyed the book too, though I thought th...

2009-03-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

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.