White Tiger

So I have just finished reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, the recent winner of the Man Booker Prize. The impression that I was left with was that this book was a little warped and was not particularly impressed. But then again the subject at hand is a little warped and the fact that this book so eloquently put the "warpness" of this subject in a light and personal fashion made me have more respect for it.

The subject of this book mainly surrounds India's social struggles with the dramatic social divisions as portrayed by the protagonist of this book, who is a driver from a small village who works for the crook village landlord. Eventually he is sent to Delhi to be the driver of the landlord's westernised. As a driver, Balram get his social awakening like a frog just being released from a well and in the process gets twisted by the abusive and predatory nature of his masters. He seeks to get out of the social prison and plots towards his freedom. Eventually he gets his freedom through stealing and murder and get himself out of the cage, thus symbolised as the white tiger.

Sound quite deep but the writer has to be commended for the informal style of writing, and the unique way the story has been told. Some people are labelling this book as an inspirational book that will lead you to spread your wings, and to that I say bollocks! because what kind of "spreading your wings" comes from stealing and murder, that just puts up another "cage". It a good story about social struggle told by a good storyteller in a unique way. Would recommend this book to read as a leisurely read rather than as a book to inspire as it is being billed as.

M IMHO.