The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger (Atlantic Cult Classics)

by Aravind Adiga

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.

The White Tiger presents a raw and unromanticised India, both thrilling and shocking - from the desperate, almost lawless villages along the Ganges, to the booming Wild South of Bangalore and its technology and outsourcing centres. The first-person confession of a murderer, The White Tiger is as compelling for its subject matter as for the voice of its narrator - amoral, cynical, unrepentant, yet deeply endearing.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

4 of 5 stars

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The White Tiger is the splendid debut and Man-Booker Prize winning novel by Aravind Adiga which gives the world a glimpse of the life of a servant in modern day India trying to escape the darkness and become free. The book covers the harsh truths of a modern global economy and its crushing effects on the working class. With themes ranging from poverty, religious tensions, families all the way to political and police corruption in this booming country.

The protagonist, Balram Halwai is a thinking man, an Entrepreneur, telling his story of escaping the darkness and coming to the light. I really love the analogy of been in the darkness (referring to being a part of the working class and living in the slums) and seeking the light (rich and well off). Balram become a driver for a wealthy business man in the coal industry where he learns about the ways of the world and the classes. Balram tries to be a good Indian, looking after his family, been a good servant, not drinking, praying to his gods. But slowly corruption seeps in and you can see Balram been effected by this new world around him as he slowly sinks into this world; while trying to escape pressures of been a servant.

This book has a mix of dark elements and comedy, continually provoking thought and insight into a world that is unknown to me. It also jammed back with phrases I’ve heard and not heard before while in my job as a technical support agent, for example I’ve heard the phrase ‘do the needful’ before but never outside of a support ticket that has been returned from a vendor in India, so it was weird and comforting to know that it is an actual phrase in India. I really enjoyed this book and while I may not read it again, it was defiantly worth the journey it took me on.

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  • Started reading
  • 3 June, 2011: Finished reading
  • 3 June, 2011: Reviewed