Literary Award Winners Fiction Book Club discussion

Please comment here on 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga, the 2008 Booker Prize winner.

I read this one about 15 years ago. I recall feeling a bit estranged from the novel. I knew it was a satire, but I did not get most of the satirical element. I think I simply was not sufficiently familiar with the culture to get it.

Yes, I also read this novel 15 years ago and reread it over the last two days. I found the book a thought provoking reading experience with interesting characters and good plot momentum.

A darkly humorous, tragic novel narrated by Balram Kalwai, a village boy who became a chauffeur of a rich, corrupt Indian. The book focuses on issues of poverty, loyalty, caste, and religion in India.

Balram Halwai narrates his life story in a letter written over seven nights to the Chinese Premier. He writes about how he, the son of a rickshaw puller, through luck and hard work, escaped a life of servitude to become a successful businessman. His main leg up in social class came with murdering his employer!

Along the way we learn how the poor are treated by the rich. The incident when Balram is forced to sign a declaration about killing a pedestrian, when in fact, it was the rich employer’s wife who had been driving the car, highlights the oppression of India’s poor.

I am an Adiga fan. I recommend ‘Last Man in Tower’ (2011), and his excellent short story collection, ‘Between the Assassinations’ (2008).

Thanks for those recommendations.