The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) |
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| Title: | The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) |
| Author: | Aravind Adiga |
| Publisher: | Free Press |
| Type: | Book / Paperback |
| Publication Date: | 14 October, 2008 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 1416562605 / 9781416562603 |
| List Price: | $15.00 |
| You Save: | $4.80 |
| Amazon Price: | $10.20 |
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
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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Customer Reviews:
• A First Class Novel
22 February, 2010
My wife and I both read the audio version of the White Tiger. It was the best of "Radio Theater" in addition to a first class novel. A wonderful view of the other side of India.
- Amazon Customer Review
• White Tiger's Prophetic
28 February, 2010
You know this book will make you laugh from the first entry (not exactly a sentence): "For the desk of His Excellency Wen Jiabao; The Premier's Office; Beijing; Capital of the freedom-loving Nation of China." It comes from the India narrator, Balram, who describes his Horatio Alger-style rise from poverty to entrepreneurshiup for the edification of a Premier who needs to encourage similar rises in his own country. What's important about Belram, who often refers to the 21C as the "Age of the Yellow and Brown Men," is that you believe him. People in India and China are creating, manufacturing, using their heads to provide legitimately helpful services. Meanwhile, what's done in the US? Bankers, Wall St. manipulators, and politicians play weird little games with money, like creating derivatives, until they bring the country to its knees. Bill Gates is one of the few who stood between us and anihilation, and as the late Nien Cheng said, "He would have been Knighted in England." Here the government harrassed him for years with antitrust suits - our other big industry. But "White Tiger" isn't polemic, so I shouldn't make it sound like it is. It's funny, exciting, and full of story - murder, sex, what have you. Many books are enjoyable reads, but this one truly is a MUST-read.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Another Slumdog Millionaire, Only Darker...
21 February, 2010
If you liked Slumdog Millionaire (the movie), my guess is that you'd love this book. The author unveils the situation of Mother India's children, big and small, who are born into a dark world of low caste, abuse, deceit, and corruption. The road to successful entrepreneurship is a real mudslide.
- Amazon Customer Review
• White Tiger
13 March, 2010
The pompous style of writing contrasting with the material was, I suppose, to be humorous; I found it jarring. I wasn't amused by the book's sick humor.
- Amazon Customer Review
• The Resurgence Of The "angry Young Man"
12 March, 2010
Remember the "Angry Young Man"? Remember how he raved against the institution, took insurgence to new levels of passion, showed an alternative path (for better or for worse) to an entire generation of people? Adiga feels like that man. And his mission feels similar. I can't remember the last time I have read such an angry voice in an Indian author. Actually, maybe I have never read such an angry voice. Indian authors have approached the shortfalls and sufferings of India and its denizens from many angles over the ages, but there's been nothing so "in the face". Adiga doesn't mince words - he refers to the protagonist's "homeland" as the Darkness. Period. He uses brutal language, brutal actions. Characters in his book don't shy from speaking or doing the dirty or gross, and in the process, play out a very accurate representation of some "parts" of India. Does Adiga go a little over-the-top in the process, especially by presenting a one-sided, unbalanced view of India as a whole - sure he does, but he has the licence to do that, and in fact, needs to take this approach to give the reader that "sock in the stomach" and "wake the ____ up" sort of call.
A couple of lines outlining the story before going on with my opinion: in a nutshell, it's the story of the "two Indias", demonstrated through the journey, the choices, and the transgressions of one "Balram Halwai" - the oppressed, poor man living in the Darkness, and the foreign-returned, rich, big city boy who employs him as a chauffeur. The overarching theme of the book is the vast gulf between India's haves and have-nots, a real and pressing danger today.
I feel ambiguously about this book. I loved the start - it was positively explosive and a wake-up call. But then, gradually, it became painful. Referring to the oppressed homeland as the Darkness a few times is ok, but when the word is used hundreds of times, it loses its efficacy and even becomes somewhat irritating. And this is in general true of the whole book - the author just did not know where to stop. To be honest, while I appreciate the angry style, I much prefer the gorgeous subtlety of books like Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance" to convey similar messages.
Summarily, I think this is worth a read, if for nothing else, because of its radically different approach from the vast majority of Indian authors. Don't expect the world, and you'll do just fine with this book.
- Amazon Customer Review
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