'Unlike almost any other Indian novel you might have read in recent years, this page-turner offers a completely bald, angry, unadorned portrait of the country as seen from the bottom of the heap; there's not a sniff of saffron or a swirl of sari anywhere. The Indian tourist board won't be pleased, but you'll read it in a trice and find yourself gripped.' Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times Meet Balram Halwai, the 'White Tiger': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer. Born in a village in the dark heart of India, the son of ...
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'Unlike almost any other Indian novel you might have read in recent years, this page-turner offers a completely bald, angry, unadorned portrait of the country as seen from the bottom of the heap; there's not a sniff of saffron or a swirl of sari anywhere. The Indian tourist board won't be pleased, but you'll read it in a trice and find yourself gripped.' Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times Meet Balram Halwai, the 'White Tiger': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer. Born in a village in the dark heart of India, the son of a rickshaw puller, Balram is taken out of school by his family and put to work in a teashop. As he crushes coal and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape. His big chance comes when a rich village landlord hires him as a chauffeur for his son. Arriving in Delhi with his new master, Balram's re-education begins, as he learns of a new morality at the heart of a new India. As the other servants flick through the pages of Murder Weekly, Balram begins to see how the Tiger might escape his cage. For surely any successful man must spill a little blood on his way to the top? The White Tiger is a tale of two Indias. Balram's journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable. 'I'm very honoured to win the Man Booker Prize for The White Tiger. I'm grateful to my publishers, Atlantic Books - and also to all the reviewers, critics, and readers, especially in Australia, who have supported my book. I hope The White Tiger delights even more readers and also gets them thinking about the larger issues it raises.' - Aravind Adiga, Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction
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Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $2.95, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Atlantic Books.
Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $2.95, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Atlantic Books.
Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $6.49, good condition, Sold by Firefly Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Kutztown, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Free Press.
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Used Good. Firefly Bookstore sells items online and in our store front. We try to add images and descriptions when we can, but if you need additional information or photos of the books we list, please contact us.
Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $10.00, good condition, Sold by BooksGalore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Kansas City, MO, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Atlantic Books.
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Good. Moderate foxing around the edges, but the binding is firm, and the interior pages are clean and unmarked. 1st printing in this format. Audience: General/trade.
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Very good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $15.44, like new condition, Sold by Arapiles Mountain Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castlemaine, VIC, AUSTRALIA, published 2008 by Atlantic Books.
Add this copy of The White Tiger to cart. $18.87, very good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Atlantic Books.
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Very good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
I listened to this fine novel as a book-on-CD while driving. The narrator's accurate Indian accent made the story come alive, perhaps, more than with the book version.
Like Mistry's "A Fine Balance" (a better book), the story is first of all an indictment of India's political system, where elections are bought and politicians and officials live off of graft. What makes this novel rise above average is the sardonic undertone of humor. Mistry sets his work in the 1970s, and Adiga's 2008 setting shows that little has changed for the better for India's underclasses.
hdbowdengmailcom
Apr 29, 2010
White Tiger Whines
This book sucked. I'm a voracious reader. In a typical week I will read 2 to 3 novels, so I've read thousands of books over the past fifty or so years. This may not be the worst book I ever read, but it is in the top three. Absolutely dismal, with no redeeming qualities. Well, I guess i do have to admit it was well written, but well written drivel is still drivel. Depressing to the extreme. A terrible read.
Ellyb
Aug 27, 2009
Brutual hilarity
Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, "The White Tiger," by Aravind Adiga, is a pretty intense piece of work. The narrator, an Indian from a caste of sweet-makers, tells the story of his scrabble to the higher rungs of society than that to which he was born. It is darkly comedic in tone, and the narrator tells his tale so pleasantly that the reader is taken in effortlessly and almost immediately to his case. All the while, the reader feels her stomach drop out because the description of life in "the Darkness" of India is so bleak and so irreparably stacked against those born in that Darkness, that a way out can hardly be imagined. The way out, so nimbly depicted by the narrator as the reason for his success, is egregious and SHOULD be unconscionable. But it is to Adiga's credit that by the time the novel comes to that point, the narrator has won the reader over, if not to the point of championing his act, at least to understanding his reasons. This is an excruciating, hilarious, brutal, wonderful read. No, those terms are not mutually exclusive. Read "The White Tiger" and see what I mean.
ITSDANGEROUSWHITETIGER
Aug 9, 2009
I liked the book.I was astonished the way ,he(Balaram) killed his master&became one of the most influencial character of my life.THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT EFFORT TO BRING THIS STORY TO MY BEAUTIFUL SKULL..................................MR.ADIGA
pamela1717
Mar 22, 2009
A strong 3.5 stars!
Hmmm....this one was a little bit different, not my normal type of read. An interesting look at Indian culture through the eyes of an ambitious man of a "lower caste". I'm not quite sure what the author was trying to depict in this story but there are certainly many issues to explore: is he trying to say that India is not the modernized country its leaders want others to believe? does the main character eventually become the type of man he despises via ambition? or is his climb in society more of an issue of survival? I was also struck by the lack of accountability by the wealthier classes in regards to...well, just about everything. The author does a phenomenal job of painting the cities and economic strife of India.