The White Tiger Pb

For progress of English language skills

Libro totalmente nuevo, en excelente estado, llego 1 día antes de lo marcado

Das Buch ist echt aussergewöhnlich sowohl von der Erzählform und dem Stil her, als auch vom Inhalt. Muss man gelesen haben.Die Geschichte wird erzählt als eine Folge von E-Mails des Protagonisten an den chinesischen Premier, welcher in Kürze das Land besuchen wird. Dabei ist sowohl die Sprach-Mentalität -- das kann man nicht beschreiben, aber jeder, der schon regelmässig mit Indern kommuniziert hat, erkennt es sofort wieder -- umwerfend gut getroffen, als auch die ungeschönte Schilderung der Lebensumstände, der offenen Menschenverachtung und des offenen Rassismus, welche im größeren Teil der Welt vorherrschen. Auch der "Erfolg" zu jedem Preis, der in weiten Teilen der Welt vorherrscht ("erfolgreich sein" ist in einigen Ländern auch sprachlich synonym mit "Geld haben"). Mit dem Geld kommt automatisch Ansehen und rechtsfreiheit -- egal, wieviele Verbrechen man auf dem Weg begangen hat. Auch die tiefgreifende Verlogenheit und Korruption des angeblich sozialen/sozialdemokratischen Staatssystems, welches die Armen ausbeutet und die Reichen reicher macht -- mit "the Great Socialist" umschrieben -- die man ja eigentlich überall auf der Welt antrifft (auch bei uns, nur spricht nicht darüber) ist umwerfend gut geschildert -- inklusive Wahlbetrug und Handel mit Ämtern.Wer noch nicht in Indien gewesen ist (oder nur als Tourist im "Licht"), dem mag die Schilderung teilweise übertrieben oder sogar bösartig verleumderisch vorkommen. Wer aber Indien oder Südostasien generell schon "hautnah" erlebt hat, und auch erlebt hat wie wenig ein Leben wert ist, wenn einer kein Geld hat, und dass man andererseits mit 10 Euro so ziemlich alles und jeden kaufen kann, der wird beeindruckt sein von der Detailtreue sowie dem Mut des Autors, die Wahrheit tatsächlich so unverblümt aufzuschreiben. Gut für ihn, dass er in Australien wohnt, denn in Indien kann er sich wohl nicht mehr blicken lassen.Das mir gelieferte Exemplar war -- vom Inhalt abgesehen -- etwas schlecht gearbeitet, die Seiten teils nicht richtig geschnitten, und teils eingerissen. Schade, aber bei einem Taschenbuch für 6€ ist das verschmerzbar.

I was surprised at how intriguing this book was. It was a requirement for school but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me think about things I never thought to think about before. If you are a person who likes a wide range of books, likes to learn, likes well written works or likes to learn about other cultures this book will be for you. I thought this book would be boring but it inspired much passion for me, I'd reccomend it.

Every once in a while comes a book that challenges what passes for mainstream opinion. 'The White Tiger' is one such book which came around the time when India was hailed as a rising power with the holy grail of Superpower-dom just a few steps away. Adiga's novel throws cold water on the face of the people with such grand delusions and forces them to stare hard at reality. It definitely deserved the Booker prize as it presented the stark realities of modern India much to the displeasure of the 'shining India' crowd raised on fantasies of superpower-dom.It is written as a dramatic monologue which reminds one of the narrator from 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' but only more angrier. The story takes us through the protagonist Balram Halwai's birth and upbringing in the 'darkness' of eastern India with its stark caste and religious conflicts where 'one cannot be a good man even if one wants to be' to the radiant 'light' of Bangalore bustling with call centers symbolizing new India. The contrast between this 'darkness' and 'light' is one of the central themes of the book and shows two disparate countries within one. The people from each of these Indias might as well been from different planets, such is the contrast.Balram typifies the plight of the rural poor as he grows up in an impoverished village wrought by landlords termed with imaginative names like 'Stork' and 'Buffalo' who cruelly fatten on the labors of the poor. He is sent to a dysfunctional school where the teacher collaborates to rip the students of the government funds . He is then rudely taken out of school to supplement the family income after they 'suffer' the marriage of a sister. He goes on to work as a 'human spider' working the tables in one of the ubiquitous tea shops and finally ends up in the local town where he learns to drive and lands a job as a driver.As a driver he experiences the unfairness of the master-servant relationship which seems to mirror the rich-poor relationship outside. The inherent injustice in the relationship is best brought out by an incident which culminates in Balram being asked to take responsibility for an accident caused by the madam of the house. Although the charge is never pressed, just the fact that the master - and shockingly he himself - had found it normal that a driver take the blame disillusions him. Balram starts to relate his own state with that of the poor outside and feels that both of them are like roosters trapped within a coop which condition them to bear the injustices without rebelling.The 'Rooster Coop' is the most abiding image from the novel. Adiga compares the disillusioned poor tempered by history to be inherently subservient to roosters in a coop. Like the roosters in the coop they do not rebel even in the face of impending doom as the 'coop is guarded from inside'. As Balram says himself, the coop is so sturdy that it would take an extraordinary 'freak of nature' - a white tiger like himself someone who is born 'once in a generation' to break out of this coop. Although one can argue with the means used by Balram to break out of the coop one has to sympathize with his helplessness and also that of the poor in general who have no means of breaking out of this coop. Balram sees his act in a larger context of breaking out of the coop and terms himself as 'neither man nor a demon' but simply someone who has 'woken up' in an unjust world and has decided to act rather than face his inevitable fate of dying a pitiful death like many of his ilk. In other words violence becomes an acceptable currency of transaction for the poor in an unjust world. Although one does not agree with his actions one does understand his motivations.Adiga's writing is flawless and the images he conjures stick in your mind for a long time. As Dickens and Flaubert exposed the cruelties bred by industrialization in 19th century England and France Adiga does the same exposé with the 21st century growing India. Adiga also doffs his hat in the direction of Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man' who he acknowledges as an inspiration. As Ellison brought out the issue of racism from the perspective of the black man Adiga endeavors to bring out the perspective of poverty and caste discrimination from the perspective of the Indian poor and succeeds marvelously.

Well, it has now won the Man Booker prize for 2008. But how good is it?This is a book dowsed in cumin, the sour spice that provides the background to countless curries. The novel, as you probably know from other reviewers is about a young man from the 'Darkness', a metaphorical name for the ancient, rural, landlord-tyrannised, peasant India, who writes a series of letters to the premier of China in anticipation of his forthcoming visit to India. His aim is to tell the truth about an India bifurcated into darkness and light, but these letters largely succeed only in casting a grievous pall across both affluent, corrupt, urban India (the Light) and the Darkness, the traditional life of the villagers, painted as bigoted, often unpleasant and oppressed. If anything, the truth is an inversion: it is the darkness of the light that most shades this book.This is not a funny or easy book, despite what others say and the amusing touches, whose gleam in my opinion only highlight the darkness. Consider it against the tradition of tragedy: e.g. Sophocles, Shakespeare, Goethe and Dostoevsky. Aravind Adiga's book is a subversion of the entire tragic tradition. Here, hubris wins and the Furies visit the chorus, not the protagonist. Crime is not punished: indeed the theme of the book is that entrepreneurial India has achieved its leg up by sidelining morality. There are two justice systems: for the rich and the poor. There are two lifestyles: for the rich and the poor. There are two worlds of opportunity: for the rich and the poor. And corruption and vice are praised, indeed recommended for China to encourage entrepreneurship.Compare this contemporary dystopia with Shakespeare's Macbeth, an appropriate counterpoint since both works concern the killing of a master. Macbeth is indelibly touched; steeped in gore, he loses his way and ease of mind. In contrast, the brilliantly realised cynical protagonist, Balram Halwai, alias the White Tiger, basks in contentment and self-satisfaction.I think the strength of this book is the way that it can be read on the one hand as a half serious, half satirical revelation of modern India and its corruption and vice - a dark cesspit that blots the view of 'saintly India'; while it can also be seen as a mythic account of the loss of innocence, with a twist. For centuries, we are used tales drawing on the archetypal tragic loss, the Fall of Man, or on the moral and economic destruction that accompanies loss of discipline, such as the Rake's progress, or the plain and simple evil come-uppance that has given shape to countless westerns and other literature.So how should we read our times when this darkly subversive tale is so praised for its humour and refreshing outlook?The fact that such analogies and questions seem valid seems to me to prove its literary worth and importance. And it is very readable, despite being dowsed in fenugreek, tamarind and cumin. A sad and tragic masterpiece.