Rating: 6/7
Author: Aravind Adiga
This book is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga for which he won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The book follows the life of the driver Balram Halwai from his beginnings in a village in Bihar, his experiences in Delhi while serving his master Ashok to his breakout from the rooster coop and forming a new life in Bangalore. The story is told from Balram's perspective in the form of a letter he writes for the Chinese Premier on the pretext of educating the Premier on entrepreneurship.
The book is smart, witty and most of the time biting in it's portrayal of the people from the opposite extremities of the social class. Even though the book is written in a first person narrative as told by our hero Balram, you could see the authors presence while writing about the various injustices the 0.01% inflict on others. Through it's narrative, it feels like the book is not addressed to the average indian but to outsiders who have a very misconstrued perception that is projected outside our country or even to the upper elite who want to believe these lies. There are some very smart observations the author has made about the life of a poor rural villager and the forces which try to keep him in his place without any way of escape- the author uses the concept of a rooster coop to describe the prison that are born into to illustrate this.
Even though words in the book drag the reality of the situation to the ground and shoves it in our face, I am partly skeptical to the overall realism of the story which the author narrates. There is an article which contests the reality that the author paints. Here's the article
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/11/02/stories/2008110250010100.htm .
I would recommend this book to people who are dissatisfied with how our country presently is, the people who are lucky enough to be born into affluence and people whose drivers practice Yoga and anyone one who can enjoy harsh criticism at ones own country. This is not a game changer but it does make you see the people who service you in a new way. I would also like to say that no one book can contain the spirit of a billion people and anyone who claims so is lying. This book provides a much needed picture but not a full picture.
If you have already read this book I would recommend a gem called The Guide by a little known author called R.K.Narayana which is a pure and bittersweet version of The White Tiger or you can go with Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects which has a murder mystery, non linear story line and deals with similar themes of The White Tiger but on a larger scale.
Author: Aravind Adiga
This book is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga for which he won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. The book follows the life of the driver Balram Halwai from his beginnings in a village in Bihar, his experiences in Delhi while serving his master Ashok to his breakout from the rooster coop and forming a new life in Bangalore. The story is told from Balram's perspective in the form of a letter he writes for the Chinese Premier on the pretext of educating the Premier on entrepreneurship.
The book is smart, witty and most of the time biting in it's portrayal of the people from the opposite extremities of the social class. Even though the book is written in a first person narrative as told by our hero Balram, you could see the authors presence while writing about the various injustices the 0.01% inflict on others. Through it's narrative, it feels like the book is not addressed to the average indian but to outsiders who have a very misconstrued perception that is projected outside our country or even to the upper elite who want to believe these lies. There are some very smart observations the author has made about the life of a poor rural villager and the forces which try to keep him in his place without any way of escape- the author uses the concept of a rooster coop to describe the prison that are born into to illustrate this.
Even though words in the book drag the reality of the situation to the ground and shoves it in our face, I am partly skeptical to the overall realism of the story which the author narrates. There is an article which contests the reality that the author paints. Here's the article
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/11/02/stories/2008110250010100.htm .
I would recommend this book to people who are dissatisfied with how our country presently is, the people who are lucky enough to be born into affluence and people whose drivers practice Yoga and anyone one who can enjoy harsh criticism at ones own country. This is not a game changer but it does make you see the people who service you in a new way. I would also like to say that no one book can contain the spirit of a billion people and anyone who claims so is lying. This book provides a much needed picture but not a full picture.
If you have already read this book I would recommend a gem called The Guide by a little known author called R.K.Narayana which is a pure and bittersweet version of The White Tiger or you can go with Vikas Swarup's Six Suspects which has a murder mystery, non linear story line and deals with similar themes of The White Tiger but on a larger scale.
