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Books : The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) |
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List Price: $14.00Amazon.com's Price: $8.40 You Save: $5.60 (40%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9781416562603
ISBN: 1416562605
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: October 14, 2008
Publisher: Free Press
Sales Rank: 50
Studio: Free Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Introducing a major literary talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen.
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.
Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ('Love -- Rape -- Revenge!'), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.
Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.
Sold in sixteen countries around the world, The White Tiger recalls The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, and narrative genius, with a mischief and personality all its own. Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international publishing sensation -- and a startling, provocative debut.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - WHITE TIGER
I would suggest that if one is even faintly familiar with Indian culture, one's understanding and enjoyment of White Tiger is enhanced. Were I unfamiliar with the culture, I would have enjoyed the book, but with less comprehension of the circumstances of it. Similar to the movie Slumdog Millionaire. A great story, but much better if one has experienced big-city India.
Rating:  - Overdose of reality
My credentials in reviewing this book are that I grew up in middle class India. The graphic narrative by Balram aka the White Tiger is poignant and provocative and makes it a very lively read. The reason the book is 'unputdownable' is because of the unexpected twists in Balram's life and his unpredictable, almost eccentric behavior. In spite of finishing this book in record time, I was left with a bad after-taste because of the overdose of squalor and scandals that surround the protagonist. It is ... Read More
Rating: - 90% good, 10% bad
This book is hilarious. It is witty, with the narrator using contemporay language to make fun of rich people, politics, urban life and even Muslims (who I hope will take no offense). The book is a quick read because it is easier to understand than other Booker award-winning books. The book has no plot as such, with no twists in the story that will surprise you. The only unsatisfying element of the book is the murder of Mr Ashok (don't worry, this is not a spoiler as the author reveals it right at the ... Read More
Rating:  - Biting satire
White Tiger is a powerful book masked in the form of amusing satire. The novel consists of a series of letters written by the unnamed author of the letters to a powerful minister from China who is about to visit India. He wishes to inform the dignitary about the real India rather than the carefully scripted tour Indian officials will provide. As he reveals the truth about his country he tells the story of his own life and his mecurial rise from a very poor boy to a powerful entrepreneur who has used ... Read More
Rating: - White Tiger: Review
The novel was very well done, which is why it won a prize. The notion of enterprenuership in a country as disorganized as India is intriguing, and the lengths to which the narrator has to go to be successful are extreme. The characters are flat, but the message Adiga wants to convey is the rage of the common man in India. well done.
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