Book review -The White Tiger
The White Tiger By Aravind Adiga 2008 was a year reminiscent to most Indian book lovers. Chennai born Aravind Adiga and Delhi bred Amitav Ghosh were the Indian names among those shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. It was the then 34 year old Adiga who walked away with the £50,000 award for his ambitious debut novel ‘ the White Tiger’ , a book whose complex take on the whimsical notions of Indian modernity were marvelled yet criticized by literary figures and readers alike. Adiga’s protagonist Balram Halwai , a self-confessed scoundrel cum “successful” entrepreneur, writes a letter to the visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in which he narrates his rags-to-riches story, a tale devoid of all traits bearing resemblance to honesty, loyalty or kindness and where greed unashamedly greets you in its entirety. Balram, son of a rickshaw puller, is drawn out of...