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kivt's review against another edition
5.0
This has been critiqued pretty hard for contributing to the Indian "poverty porn" industry. It didn't read that way to me for two main reasons: 1) pointed lack of a kindly white savior character & repeated digs at the West, 2) Balram's explicit, if ironic, class consciousness. I could be super off on this, but a lot of books written for white foreigners tend to pander to us pretty hard by making huge parts of the story about us, and they generally skew toward garbage about private charity and "personal responsibility" over calls for class warfare.
Adiga pulls off a lot of really difficult literary tricks. His prose is easy and entertaining to read, which clashes well with the horrors he describes. Balram is the kind of unreliable antihero protagonist that I had given up hope anyone could write in an interesting way. Adiga doesn't use depictions of Balram's vices as a socially condoned excuse to wallow in his own. Instead, they serve to explain something about Balram's context & illustrate his development into a "social entrepreneur."
Adiga pulls off a lot of really difficult literary tricks. His prose is easy and entertaining to read, which clashes well with the horrors he describes. Balram is the kind of unreliable antihero protagonist that I had given up hope anyone could write in an interesting way. Adiga doesn't use depictions of Balram's vices as a socially condoned excuse to wallow in his own. Instead, they serve to explain something about Balram's context & illustrate his development into a "social entrepreneur."
tedcannon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
corin_134340's review
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Physical abuse
ninafcf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jennifertijssen's review against another edition
3.0
Eerste boek dat ik heb gelezen dat in India plaatsvindt, heel tof om daar meer over te leren. Ik begreep de ontrafeling niet helemaal, maar de schetsing van de sociale dynamiek in India was mooi en informatief. En ook op een gekke manier inspirerend als ondernemer.
mollyjones's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting book that is written in the form of letters by the main character to the Chinese Premier who is due to visit India. It goes the through the life of Balram, his early life of poverty to being a driver for a rich family and his experience becoming an entrepreneur. The voice is funny and satirical, making light of some of the more serious plot points in the book which made it more enjoyable to read. I feel like the middle section of the book was a bit too long, you were left waiting quite a long time for any of the more serious action to happen - but apart from that, really good!
alexandre_rl's review against another edition
4.0
Gagnant du prix Booker en 2008, « Le tigre blanc » présente une Inde gangrénée, corrompue, où l’extrême pauvreté côtoie l’extrême richesse. Balram Halwai, habitant du village rural de Laxmangarh, obtient un poste de chauffeur privé pour une famille privilégiée de New Delhi et décide de commettre un geste d’une grande violence contre son employeur pour tirer son épingle du jeu et se défaire des chaînes de la pauvreté. C’est cette histoire qu’il raconte dans une série de lettres adressées au Premier ministre chinois de l’époque, Wen Jiabao, dans le but de lui donner une leçon sur l’entreprenariat indien.
Roman cynique, sombre et amoral où l’on ne s’attache à personne, « Le tigre blanc » n’en demeure pas moins une lecture captivante. Balram Halwai n’agit que pour son propre intérêt, sacrifiant sa famille sans grande difficulté, propulsé par un puissant instinct de survie et une certaine fascination pour le capitalisme sauvage, mais on continue malgré tout de tourner les pages à plein régime pour savoir quelle sera sa prochaine machination. Aravind Adiga adopte un style simple, épuré et qui va droit au but, à l’image de son anti-héros. Son point de vue sur l’Inde est tranchant, brutal. On est loin d’une publicité pour le tourisme indien. Mais malgré tout l’intérêt intellectuel que j’ai eu pour cette histoire, je l’ai terminée sans grande émotion. C’est le désavantage de n’avoir pour personnages que des archétypes et des sociopathes.
Roman cynique, sombre et amoral où l’on ne s’attache à personne, « Le tigre blanc » n’en demeure pas moins une lecture captivante. Balram Halwai n’agit que pour son propre intérêt, sacrifiant sa famille sans grande difficulté, propulsé par un puissant instinct de survie et une certaine fascination pour le capitalisme sauvage, mais on continue malgré tout de tourner les pages à plein régime pour savoir quelle sera sa prochaine machination. Aravind Adiga adopte un style simple, épuré et qui va droit au but, à l’image de son anti-héros. Son point de vue sur l’Inde est tranchant, brutal. On est loin d’une publicité pour le tourisme indien. Mais malgré tout l’intérêt intellectuel que j’ai eu pour cette histoire, je l’ai terminée sans grande émotion. C’est le désavantage de n’avoir pour personnages que des archétypes et des sociopathes.
shasha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
apobec's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
An interesting story of a boy from an Indian village who becomes a servant/driver, then eventually kills his master, runs off and runs his own taxi business. It’s told through the intriguing lens of retrospective letters the protagonist is writing to the Chinese primer minister ahead of an upcoming visit, purporting to use his story to teach the prime minister about Indian entrepreneurship. Through the story we’re treated to a class commentary about how-the-other-half-lives: the mindset of the master and servant classes, the casual cruelty of the privileged few forcing the narrator to a cruelty of his own. At the edges, the moral is reflected at the global scale: the West cruelly takes Indians (and Chinese) for granted, and the protagonist foresees the downtrodden savvy Asians soon overtaking their white “masters”.
The story was interesting, but didn’t pull me in quite as much as some of the other recent prize-winners I’ve read. It drags a bit at times, and I’m not sure I would’ve made it through without a well-timed plane flight. But it’s still an interesting read, a window into another place and people, and a bold storytelling mechanic/frame that stands out. Would certainly recommend to a friend.