The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - #BookReview

 

Sir,

Neither you nor I can speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.

My ex-employer the late Mr Ashok's ex-wife, Pinky Madam, taught me one of these things; and at 11.32 p.m. today, which was about ten minutes ago, when the lady on All India Radio announced, 'Premier Jiaboa is coming to Bangalore next week', I said that thing at once.

In fact, each time when great men like you visit our country I say it. Not that I have anything against great men. In my way, sir, I consider myself one of your kind...

***

Balram Halwai is the White Tiger - the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor for him to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi. The city is a revelation. As he drives his master to shopping malls and call centres, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be able to gain access to that world. As Balram broods over his situation, he realizes that there is only one way he can become part of this glamorous new India - by murdering his master.

***

I am not in the least surprised that this book won the Booker Prize in 2008 and was a nominee for several other awards. It is a remarkable debut novel and I am thrilled that the author has gone on to write several more books.

I was completely gripped by the story of Balram Halwai. He is like no other main character that I can bring to mind. The entire book is composed as him writing a letter to the President of China, prior to him making a visit to India. Through this letter the main character is able to convey, to the reader the whole socio-economic situation in India at the time the book is set.

The novel superbly illustrates the width of the divide between rich and poor. The author's observational eye and exact placement of words is outstanding. At one point he says:

"...the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of? Losing weight and looking like the poor."

It is at times, both heartbreaking and humorous, shocking and powerful,  and I think it is a book that I  will never forget reading, such was the impact of this profoundly thought-proking book on me. 

I cannot recommend this highly enough and I would be surprised if it does not make it into my top ten books at the end of the year.

ISBN:978 1848878082

Publisher: Atlantic Books

Formats: e-book, audio, paperback and hardback

No. of Pages: 336 (paperback)

About the Author:

Aravind Adiga was born in 1974 in Madras (now called Chennai), and grew up in Mangalore in the south of India. He was educated at Columbia University in New York and Magdalen College, Oxford. His articles have appeared in publications such as the New Yorker, the Sunday Times, the Financial Times, and the Times of India. His first novel, The White Tiger, won the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 2008. Subsequent novels are: Last Man in Tower (2011), Selection Day (2016) and Amnesty (2020).

(author photo courtesy of Harper Collins India)

(bio. info. courtesy of the author's website - aravindadiga.com)