Sunday, November 23, 2008

The White Tiger

Written by Aravind Adiga
Published in 2008

This book really deserved the Man Booker. Adiga looked unflinchingly at the underbelly of India. No that's not entirely true. Adiga looked unflinchingly at modern "prosperous" India through the eyes of those at the bottom of the country. This book probably pissed off a whole lot of Indians since it trashes India's economic progress and democracy, everything Indians and the rest of the world have been enthusiastically chirruping about. The book makes India sound exactly like Pakistan: rampant inequality, almost no social mobility and a near unbridgeable divide between those from the "Darkness" (the stagnant villages) and the "Light" (the modern cities). Through all the awful Paki fiction I've read, I've wondered whether it is possible for upper class English-medium novelists to really represent the lower class of our nation. I think Adiga does a stand up job at it. Satire and ruthlessly dark humour make the book only sharper and more damning. You must read it Ali.

No comments: