The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)

The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Aravind Adiga
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-14
ISBN: 1416562605
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Free Press
Product features:

Book Reviews of The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)

Book Review: Incomplete opinion.
Summary: 4 Stars

I like this book more the farther I get away from it. Anyhow, there seems to be more I like about it as I look back. I was less enchanted as I read. Some of that may have been the weight of the Man Booker. Some of it is that the book may not be exactly what it seems. I don't know.

One of the nice things about The White Tiger is its simplicity. Given the story, it is kind of refreshing not to see Adiga working in bejeweled sentences full of intricate and exotic description. Sometimes it feels *too* simple-- as though he lets caricature stand in for characters. Perhaps as though he's made too simple of a parable out of something more complex?

But then again, I'm not sure that characters would be doing his story much of a service.

I can't decide. Too simple? Just right? Heck, I'll even own to the possibility that 90% of the thing is going over my head and the real answer is actually "too complex." Adiga may well be one of those writers where I need to read his second novel before I decide how to read this one. Is that awful of me?

The story of a man who escapes the Darkness, or is become Darkness, or serves the Darkness. Written as a letter to the Chinese Premier. (Many people seem to have problems with this choice of addressee, but I liked it. It is another sign of a changing world; the face of the poor turning away from the West when it comes to imagining future prosperity.)

I'd recommend it, even though I'm not sure about it. I *do* find it an odd choice for the Man Booker Prize. But maybe I'll feel differently later.

Summary of The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)

Introducing a major literary talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen.

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.

Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

Sold in sixteen countries around the world, The White Tiger recalls The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, and narrative genius, with a mischief and personality all its own. Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international publishing sensation -- and a startling, provocative debut.

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