Book Review: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The most notable thing about this book is the remorseless and blazing prose of Aravind Adiga. In this prize winning debut novel the author has brought forth the bare truth of the Indian Democracy and the iniquities of the system, this done in a morbidly jocose style.

This is the story of Balram Halwai, narrated in the first person, his tale of defying his fate as a sweet maker and becoming a successful “businessman”. His tale of "entrepreneurship" is although tainted with the murder of his master by him, but that’s how the poor has any chance of rising and freeing himself of the “Rooster Coop” as the author puts it.

Besides the thoughtful plot the book is a pleasure to read in terms of style, humor and the undisputed wit of Aravind Adiga. The book is characterized with a brilliant narrative, the anger of the oppressed in this country and the unequivocalness of the drastic decisions the poor has to make to digress from the erstwhile fate of his. Compelling, darkly humorous this one is definitely a good read!

- Anubhav Srivastava

Seems to me that only a Movie like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and a book like 'The White Tiger', which paints the fanciful image of the corrupt, poverty ridden India, that the West carry in their minds and look down upon, can win awards. Not that I am trying to say that these images are false. Many of those horrendous things are probably happening right now while I’m writing this review, but that is not the main reason for my disliking this book. I’m wondering why would a book like this should win any award at all? I mean, look at the story. Just take out all the satire and dark humor (which is the only reason I am giving it a 2 star), the story is superficial, pointless even, and so is the character of Balram Halwai, aka Munna, the protagonist.

Since the very beginning as the story starts in the form of letters to Chinese Premier, that did not seem real. Then there is the character Balram Halwai, the son-of-the-rickshaw-puller-turned-entrepreneur, comes off as wisps, nothing solid to hold on to, despite all the efforts of the author of putting painfully minuscule details of every thought that passed through his head and every emotion that filled his heart. I should either be feeling rage for the deranged sociopath or pity for the innocent villager and all his misfortunes. I felt nothing. The character seemed fake to me, and throughout the book it felt like a rich man is telling a poor man’s story. The first half is still gripping but in the second half, the story, the characters, the motifs all seem to fall apart. The good thing about the narration is the accurate social annotation on present-day India and the attention to details and keen observation. The story, major characters, the themes all seemed to be dirty patches on a nice backdrop.

Okay. I finished it at a lightning speed. Honestly, it feels to me more like a story directly from the 'Mumbai's weekly' digest edition.
It wasn’t all that bad. But a Man Booker Prize??? Come on!!! 

Shruti Srivastava

Animal Farm by George Orwell

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to
pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

First thing first, it is a brilliant, brilliant narrative. Powerful. And its power lies not only in a story that is simple and tragic yet captivating but also in its relevance, at all times and all places of the world throughout the history of mankind. Although it is a strong political allegory reflecting the events that lead to Russian Revolution and Stalin era in Soviet Union, it is as relevant to any era, any country where people are corrupted by power, social principles are manipulated to suit the needs of a few and the truth is twisted and represented to the common man.

At first, I didn’t read it as a satire (though I liked the used of dark humor), or as a blatant bashing of communism. I read it as a simple fable of animals, having my own interpretation. The book made me sad. The animal analogy, though made it easier to identify which animal represents which social class and spin out the key themes like power, social classes, misuse of information media, manipulation, and savagery, the matter-of-fact language made the message all the more poignant than it would have been if said directly. We have seen these in our lives. Haven’t we? In schools, in colleges, in offices, everywhere. Can’t we identify at least one Boxer, one Napoleon, one Muriel , one Squealer, one Snowflakes and so on, from our everyday lives?

Then I went back and read about the Russian Revolution again, and it was then I was able to fully appreciate the brilliancy of this allegory. The characters, the incidents, the situations are quick, sharp and accurate. I could understand easily how Communism is represented by Animalism, how Jones is Tsar Nicholas II, Old Major as Karl Marx or Lenin, the Snowball as Trotsky, a young smart leader, and fervent ideologist, who wanted life better for everyone but was chased away by Stalin, represented by Napoleon, a cruel, selfish and power ambitious pig. Boxer the horse, the accurate representation of poor, honest labor class and so on. The seven commandments represent the social dogmas that are changeable as per the needs of the elite class. It is obvious that when the revolution based on certain ideologies are led by power hungry people all the principles are changed into maxims like “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

I’m giving the book 4 stars for its simplicity, 4 stars for the satire. I don’t know why I'm keeping one star, may be because of the imagery of violence or may be because at times it felt to be trapped in too many stereotypes, which was perhaps due to the extreme views of the author against the subject or his lack of first-hand experience thereof.

- Shruti Srivastava