THE WHITE TIGER
ARAVIND ADIGA
Packaged as a series of e-mails to the Chinese Prime Minister, this amazing confession
documents the rise of Balram from the poor son of a rural rickshaw puller to an illegal entrepreneur in Bangalore.
Balram becomes a driver for Ashok a relatively kind and gentle member of the normally brutal landlord class, whose family is zealously bribing government ministers in a massive tax fraud scam. When Ashok’s family frames Balram for the death of a street child killed by Ashok’s drunk wife, Balram’s indignation at the injustice,
corruption and brutally enforced servitude of Indian society hardens into a ruthless argument for murder and retribution.
This debut novel from Adiga deservedly won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 and is a fantastic achievement for an inaugural publication. The pace is fast and the entertainment is unrelenting. Adiga takes you through the full gamut of emotions with strong sympathetic characters, a mass of political unrest and vivid descriptions of the squalor and poverty of India’s lower castes. It is
difficult to believe that this story is set in 21st century India. In Balram’s rural towns and villages little has changed in decades. Caste distinctions are entrenched, corruption is rife and any hope of change and improvement for the poor is scarce.
An excellent debut novel which will be a difficult act to follow and I look forward to his future work with great anticipation.