The White Tiger
Ratings112
Average rating3.7
“Why can't [insert country here] get their act together? It's so simple! If only they would [insert solution] ...” We've all thought that some time, about some country or another. It should be so simple! Adiga shows, vividly, why it's not. His depiction of modern-day India shows the cultural stasis, class boundaries, corruption, resentment that shapes its people and all their interactions. The image of broken manacles is a frequent ironic motif. As a child of a different third-world country, I found myself nodding in recognition at the world he describes. So many possibilities, so tragically limited by its own people. I wonder what first-worlders will think of the world he describes?I've never read Fukuyama's [b:Trust 57980 Trust The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity Francis Fukuyama http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51djbFJ7b%2BL.SL75.jpg 56475], but I think it's time for me to do so now. I expect to find many parallels.(Oh, a note about the audio CD: the reader is exceptional.)
It was a good book. I don't like stories told by those of questionable moral character. But otherwise an interesting story
I usually connect novels set in India with magic, colour and vibrancy. This book certainly started out that way, but as you read further a new gritty image of the country appears. It is dark and it is desperate. Balram is mostly a likable character (albeit a murderer) whose situation as a mistreated and unappreciated servant sees him spiral out of the “Darkness” and into the “Light.” Is it social justice though? What is the price of freedom?
Very good book - extremely entertaining.
Small spoilers:
Surprisingly, the whole Count Of Monte Cristo-esque makeover into a rich person only happens in the last 20-30 pages, so some might think the whole “lowly servant” segment drags too long.
I'm confused about my feelings for this book. The writing is good, I admit. But the topic has left me confused and unhappy. It is a satire about India - the real life of the real people - both the rich and the poor. I was truly saddened by the life of Balram, our protagonist. But then, he treats his master, the one person in this world who treated him like a fellow human being, so appallingly without so much remorse. It was a contradictory read, to say the least. Interesting,too. But depressing. I will not be reading it again.
A good read overall. The author tells us about India as it really is. The only weak aspect was the primary motivation behind the characters' one main action.
unique narrator. interesting insights into the class system in India and the interactions between rich and the very poor. well written. It won the Man Booker prize in 2008.
While this book's story is historically and socially interesting, I didn't think it was well written at all. The excessive levity of the tone fails in the attempt of sophisticated humor and instead removes complexity and empathy from the characters. I feel like the author decided to use a formula that could have worked for a few pages/chapters and instead he stuck with it for the entire book making the book itself feel a little fake and an immature exercise of style. I did enjoy learning more about Indian society, so I powered through it, but strictly in terms of book quality, it was not worth finishing reading it.