hsubu reviewed The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Review of 'The White Tiger' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is definitely a well-written book that always keeps the reader's interest. But is it a great book that deserves all the accolades it has gotten? I am not so sure. I felt that the plight of the Indian poor in the 'darkness' is wonderfully captured in the book and the author's clean, clear style makes us think from the perspective of the central character, Balram. The author also manages to capture some genuinely wonderful and funny moments. I am also thankful that the author stays away from sentimentality. [spoiler ahead] But the book becomes a little shaky when the author attempts to capture how Balram, after feeling trapped, decides to break free of his shackles by murdering his boss. How did he go from feeling the need to escape to murdering his boss for stealing the money? The abruptness felt while reading this novel about Balram's decision to kill …
This is definitely a well-written book that always keeps the reader's interest. But is it a great book that deserves all the accolades it has gotten? I am not so sure. I felt that the plight of the Indian poor in the 'darkness' is wonderfully captured in the book and the author's clean, clear style makes us think from the perspective of the central character, Balram. The author also manages to capture some genuinely wonderful and funny moments. I am also thankful that the author stays away from sentimentality. [spoiler ahead] But the book becomes a little shaky when the author attempts to capture how Balram, after feeling trapped, decides to break free of his shackles by murdering his boss. How did he go from feeling the need to escape to murdering his boss for stealing the money? The abruptness felt while reading this novel about Balram's decision to kill his master is because the author seems to have formed the big picture of the plot first and then searched for Balram's motivations.
You see this whole idea of Balram feeling like the 'White Tiger' has a bit of overlap with some interpretations of Nietzsche's 'Ubermensch' - where a superior man escapes his shackles. As can be seen in world history, such ideas of 'White Tiger' or 'Ubermensch' indeed generate a passion and interest but can be interpreted badly to lead to terribly bad choices.
To be clear, this is indeed a very well-written novel, though I do not feel it is as great as some critics and award committees would like us to think. The movie 'Parasite', which came years after this book was published, has some overlapping elements with this story. I found 'Parasite' well-made and funny, but thought it was also totally weird towards the end. This book is much better than the Parasite movie for sure.
