The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger is an important book.

I've heard a lot about this book, good and bad, but the most important things were as follows - that Balram Halwai (aka "The White Tiger") is a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist, that the story mostly works on selling India's poverty (like, according to me, Slumdog Millionaire did) and that is very badly written. From the other side of the table were people who said that it was one of the best books ever written in India, that it was thought-provoking, it was enlightening, and most of all that it was a book that I should read. It was with all of this in mind (along with a lot of heavy expectations) that I read this book, and one must assume that my reading of the book as well as my review is colored by the same.

My verdict? A lot of of this is true.

It is a thought-provoking and intelligent book - a statement on India and why we are the way we are. Even extremely patriotic Indians cannot be so ostrich-like that they ignore all that is wrong with India, and it requires a certain amount of hard-heartedness to ignore the plight of the poor people of India - the rickshaw pullers, the servants, the farmers. One cannot pretend that everything is alright with India, but with that in mind I don't think this book went out and targeted that group of Indians and foreigners who like to read about how India is a dirty country with nothing good about it (quite on the contrary). Also, it was different from Slumdog Millionaire in the sense that it actually had a story, and one that was not based completely on that elusive thing called luck but rather by extreme hard work and courage on the part of the hero.

According to me, Balram Halwai is not an unlikeable main character. Sure there were times when I really hated him and when I was disgusted by his thoughts, but there was no time when the writing became so slack that I did not want to know what happened further in his life. You see Balram from his childhood - you see him make some horrible choices and do some horrible things - but you also see the things that shaped him and made him the way he ended up to be and in the end I don't blame him. The secondary characters are also genius, sometimes slightly two-dimensional and not really multi-faceted, but some of them like Ashok come out from the page as real human beings - leaving you unsure on whether you like them or hate them or really on what is right and wrong.

The book is well-written. It is written in the form of letters to a visiting Chinese delegate, with frequent intervals and interludes from Balram Halwai. The writing is clear and crisp and the descriptions (like the chicken coop) are quite brilliant. Technically, I'm sure that no one can refute that Adiga is a very good writer, who has the talent of drawing interesting characters, a reasonable plot, well-described settings, and a good use of language.

Final thoughts: In the end, I found the book very interesting. I'm not old (or really, experienced) enough to know if all of what is written in there is true. I certainly do know that some of it is. The book is depressing, but its also about courage in the face of unbelievable odds, about taking difficult decisions and living through them, and about being a white tiger - someone who comes along just once in a generation. It is a book about change, and progress at its core - in a very uplifting way - and a book that I think all Indians should read.

Other thoughts: Expect a lot of reviews this week and next, because I've been reading a lot (currently reading The Life of Pi by Yann Martel) and have loads of plans for reviews, as well as some time.