Once in a while, a novel comes around that imparts a message -- delivers truth -- at such a sublime level..... in such a subtle manner... that one
doesn't even realize it. The 2008 Booker Mann award winner, White Tiger, by Avarind Adiga, is such a book.
The novel is written in the form of a letter -- a confession really -- which relates the thoughts of a chauffeur in India. At times, hilariously
funny, the book uses 'black humor' to express the social conditions in India and, by extension, in China and throughout the rest of the world.
White Tiger makes some profound statements about Socialism, Capitalism and the social mechanisms that help maintain the status quo
within these systems and within the social structures we find in operation throughout the world.
A fascinating read. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone interested in trying to understand how the inherent societal structures come to
limit people, keeping them within castes or social levels. I know, I know....sounds dry, right? Well this book is anything but dry. It's written
in a style, evoking such ideas that it's actually a very funny, almost comical romp through the slums and underbelly of Indian poverty, political
graft and corruption, murder, religion and slavery. It' s hard to imagine any book being able to tackle this range of topics while, simultaneously,
entertaining the reader with passage after passage inciting laughter.
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I didn't like the book at all.
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reply to post by Amelie
I can see why you might not have enjoyed White Tiger. It's not what I would consider to be a "typical" book depicting Indian culture or the
emerging Indian industrial/technological society. It's 'something else' all together different. It might be best described as a 'black comedy'.
To be frank, I didn't get into the book easily. It took me quite a while before I became 'genuinely captivated'. The book takes a rather unique
form; a letter to the Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China. Actually, it's more than 'just a letter', it's a murder confession!
It is written in the 'voice' of an Indian "Chauffeur / murderer / entrepreneur". The voice is in the syntax of an Indian speaking English.
Accented in this manner, a few re-readings of certain passages might be necessary to fully comprehend.
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