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Jwala's Reviews > The White Tiger
The White Tiger
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Well the stories of murderers and psychopaths are generally like cakes to most of us(and i am no exception). I either love such protagonists or hate them whole-heartedly. Coming to Balaram, the situation is different. I had never felt anything for him even after reading 300 pages. I didn’t even hate him and I was completely indifferent towards him mainly because I felt that his character is artificial and inconsistent.
Every time I read a cynical work or a satire I feel that I have become a bit more intelligent. But coming to White Tiger, the situation is again different. I don’t think I have become intelligent by reading the book’s take on corruption and class inequalities in India.
Though I didn’t like the book much, the one thing I really liked about it is the author’s keen observations and it is the only thing which kept me going. In my view I don’t think his social commentary on Contemporary India comes as surprising to any Indian. Maybe Westerners may find it interesting reading about the so called “real India� or “The Other Side of India�.
P.s:- Why is it that the authors who overplay the negatives of India are so popular? Maybe because they write books about India for foreign senses and maybe it’s because they are doing a social service by bringing the “real unknown India� into limelight. Then why is Satyajit Ray accused of “exporting poverty� by the Indians for his lively and real Indian works
Every time I read a cynical work or a satire I feel that I have become a bit more intelligent. But coming to White Tiger, the situation is again different. I don’t think I have become intelligent by reading the book’s take on corruption and class inequalities in India.
Though I didn’t like the book much, the one thing I really liked about it is the author’s keen observations and it is the only thing which kept me going. In my view I don’t think his social commentary on Contemporary India comes as surprising to any Indian. Maybe Westerners may find it interesting reading about the so called “real India� or “The Other Side of India�.
P.s:- Why is it that the authors who overplay the negatives of India are so popular? Maybe because they write books about India for foreign senses and maybe it’s because they are doing a social service by bringing the “real unknown India� into limelight. Then why is Satyajit Ray accused of “exporting poverty� by the Indians for his lively and real Indian works
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
December 11, 2008
– Shelved
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Jwala, I agree with your comment re Balaram's "artificiality." I found him to be little more than a mouthpiece for Adiga's social / political commentary. And while I generally like novels with social / political themes, I found this one a bit too obvious. I still enjoyed the novel well enough, but it didn't particularly move me or engage me on an emotional level. Paradoxically, despite Balaram's flatness, his engaging voice (or Adiga's voice, I should say)is what carried me through the book.And the device of addressing Chinese leader struck me as increasingly irrelevant, at best, if not distracting, as the novel progressed. I found myself thinking, "oh yeah, I forgot this is addressed to Chinese leader -- why is that, again??"
I completely agree with you. Reading about a good India will not sell. So by omitting anything good from this book, Adiga created a critically-acclaimed book. It really is very sad. The fact that a book like this gains so much popularity and continues to influence many people who perhaps would have otherwise understood India in its entirety--good AND bad--is really troubling. It just breeds an entirely new population of people who believe that this other civilization is entire foreign and deprived of any sense of moral understanding that one has in the West. It just feeds ideas of the clash of the civilizations, where in reality both civilizations are a lot more alike than one may venture to see.Good review!
Why are we so thin-skinned about any book or film that "highlights" our poverty. I don't think the author is "overplaying" anything. Fact is we get uncomfortable whenever anything in the media interferes with our "India Shining" image that we would like to maintain about our country.
Why don't u like.. It reveals the ugly side of your country.
I bet you did not like slumdog millionaire!! Thruth is bitter . Be fair .
i wana read more like this
yes, truth is bitter....we indians are bitter and confused as to which side of history we should be in. I agree with the commentator there is no surprise in this book. But I dont think the author overplayed anything. I come from what might be considered a middle class family and I know exactly the sights and sounds the author is talking about...and it is everywhere. The dog eat dog world is evident and palpable. Coming from chennai as the author I call it the 'public bus' phenomenon where people will kill for a foot in the bus
Agree with Rajiv and Aparna.We Indians are trying to create a fake "Incredible India" image which is in reality a house of cards. I have travelled through most of the north and central Indian villages and have seen the real poverty there, where people work for even less than Rs 50 a day.Comment by Ruth Khanna on cable tv etc is a joke.Landlordism, high levels of corruption, honour killings, child labour, atrocities towards the women,suppression of the poor(esp tribals), more than 60% still below poverty line and what not..Adiga has perfectly portrayed the real India.Of course I am a patriot. But am upset,angry and sometimes disgraced at how my country functions now and cannot deny that my country is a "fake" democracy.
@ ruth khnna.. And how many people are there in India who mete out such shabby treatment to their drivers/other employees as Balram was subjected to? Perhaps a handfuf"....
well that will be quite a 'handful'.
I am always amazed how people can be so cut off from the reality.. Madam, please read the newspapers everyday.. the local ones especially.
As my professor said - "happy novels don't make good novels". I think he is right there because the ugly truth, the negative always pose a moral difficulty for the reader that I feel is a basic tenet of literature.
As my professor said - "happy novels don't make good novels". I think he is right there because the ugly truth, the negative always pose a moral difficulty for the reader that I feel is a basic tenet of literature.
the driver-servant part is convincing but post bangalore part is unconvincing and far from reality
I so agree with you!! Infact, the kite runner is one of the amazing books which throws light on servant/master relationship, political unrest but yet has the sensitivity to the story that you want to be part of it. This book has an extreme view and hence makes it unreal sorts.
Speaking from the progressive white Westerner perspective, I think one of the things that appeals about the book is not the negative portrayal of India, but the negative way it reflects on Western globalism. I can be horrified by the callous murder of a street child while acknowledging to myself that the terrible capitalist value system and disparity of wealth that cheapens that child's life is one I am a part of, and that, like Pinky Madam, I wish I could solve it by throwing some money at the problem (but not too much! I thought that bit was quite funny/pithy) and running away as far as possible. Being forced to confront the real cost of my relatively easy life style here in Canada feels wholesome, and I think that is what appeals to many progressive white Westerners. While buying a book is obviously not as wholesome or productive as directly engaging in redressing historical wrongs or current inequalities, it is a lot less complicated and expensive, which appeals to many of us just like it would appeal to the hypocrites Pinky Madam and Ashok.That said, there are probably bigoted white Westerners who read this and take away from it that India is a terrible place just as they always suspected.
At any rate, a book like this should not exist just to inform, or in some way assuage the guilt of, white Westerners. But perhaps my cynical interpretation partially explains its enormous success?
Any recommended authors who write the positive aspect on India? as a foreigner, I'd appreciate your suggestion, thanks :)
It is impossible to overplay the negatives of India. The inequalities of India are one of the big questions facing the planet, lets not forget that over 800 million people live in grinding, eye watering, poverty that is, in my opinion, worse than sub saharan Africa. Lets not forget that India is not a democracy for the poor (the majority).
Every time I go to India, I always have a moment of reflection that makes me realise that there is no justice in this world.
The thing that made me read this book in one sitting of 5 hours was the narrative as delivered by a driver....one of those forgotten people who we assume are happy to wipe our arses and be mistreated and disrespected. It was refreshing to hear the story from the perspective of a farting, groin scratching peasant.
It is time for the masses of India to rise up and overthrow the rotting corrupt structure that survives like a parasite on their labour.