Mar 01, 2009 03:14 PM
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(Updated Mar 01, 2009 07:33 PM)
Adiga’s debut novel was the 2008 winner of the Man Booker Prize. Adiga was, at one time, a Indian correspondent for Time magazine and according to him this Novel is result of his jottings during his tours and discussions with “foreign tourists”. .
Truthfully, despite the accolades, I probably wouldn’t have picked up The White Tiger at that level, however the Manbooker has white skinned jury with black ideas about India and highest levels of “intellect” of the order which can be matched by foreign educated literature graduate indians like Adiga only.
*The Story:
*In a series of letters written to His Excellency Wen Jiabao, Premier of China, Balram Halwai recounts(as if recounting his autobiography); the details of his life, from his modest beginnings in the small village of Laxmangarh to his rise as a successful entrepreneur. His tale is an interesting one and paints a picture of India quite unlike any we have seen.
Balram’s India isn’t swirling pink saris and saffron-infused food, it’s full of pigs, skulls, pools of mud and sewage, lizards, cockroaches, abject poverty and a system that stifles creativity and social advancement.
Balram condemns this India - the country which failed his dying father, was not able to deliver to him a meaningful education and is so filthy dirty. Balram grows sick of living in the muck, though, and decides he wants something more for his life than cleaning the floors in a tearoom.
He learns to drive and then, through a weird twist of fate, ends up being the driver for Mr. Ashok and his wife Pinky Madam. Ashok is one of the new breed of Indians. Schooled in America, he is kind and fair to Balram but even as Balram grows fond of him, he is looking for ways to advance himself. He’s not content to be a slave forever; he aspires to be the master.
Balaram Halwai muders his master runs away to bangalore and makes it big.
Discussion about the Style:
The treatment is mostly fast paced but for his penchant for mud, muck, open wounds, cockroaches, Blood spitting old men and night soil etc . Once he gets into describing them he goes into unending blah blah loops and you can skip two pages without missing anything except some nauseating experience.
The obsession of the Author with things dark is so much that he does not have even a single waft of things bright and positive. You can call such people “white blind” or “Bright Blind”.
A FEW Good things first:
The story is fast paced and darkly humorous
Most dark things he talks about India are true(but highly exaggerated and lopsided)
His analysis of “servant mentality” is novel quite interesting
His novel way of story keeps you interested in many parts
Thank fully his individual sentenses are short and crisp though as a team(para) they often fail us(make little sense) like our cricket team.
The Dark facts: 1.The author is obcessed with bad words, muck, sleaze, sewage, blood, dripping skulls and other such things for which normal decent humans would not have such a fancy.
2.This is a book with agenda and the target audiences are the gora westerners( I don’t think he expected to get Man Booker … but he has to sell)
Absolutely no finesse.
A large no of disconnects in the story particularly due to his meandering way of script.
Being autobiographical tale type narration by “Balaram Halwai, the main character” he exposes his inability to distinguish the character’s thoughts and concepts and with those of his own and as a result the character yet times seems to have” extra ordinary knowledge” and thus the quality degrades.
In page 87-88 what he confusingly deviates and describes as Blaram’s version of what appears like an extraordinary out of body experience(OBE) and you immediately remeber and know it is his first amateurish work.
Creates a magazine called “Murder Weekly” which according to him is published by Government of India, so much for his realism.
Author eulogizes the achievements of Chinese including the “real freedom” Chinese enjoy forgetting the fact that he enjoyed extraordinary freedom in writing this gory saga of india’s and hinduism’s dark corners. If he were a Chinese can he write a similar book about china without landing up on shooting range.
Total disrespect for Indian sentiments as he calls the Indian Gods as “ ars_s” …. repeatedly and openly, so much for responsible use of freedom. He doesnot makethis mistake regarding Gods of other religions . for fear of life or lucre.
Because he is a foreign educated Eng Lit Graduate Mistaking “Urea of urine with Ammonia” and “calling a Iguna/gecko as lizard” or thinking that South Indian Thali is available at Rs. FOUR in Banagalore anytime in recent past ….should go unquestioned. … after all he has won the Coveted(by him) Man Booker and some crisp Dollars.
The book is worth no more than ONE read. The only reason for this too is because after all an Indian Got the honour … desrving or otherwise.
Also I recommend you borrow rather than buy this book unless of course you want to flaunt Booker Winning Books in the most visible part of the house. the glass book shelf in Drawing room.
