The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This book is brilliant. It is such an amazing book! Ugh. Okay. Let’s make coherent sentences now.

What is the book about?

The book is about Balram Halwai, and his journey from the “Darkness” into the “Light”. It is written in a letter format to the Chinese Premier, who is apparently coming to visit India. These letters are written by our protagonist as an attempt to show the Chinese Premier the reality behind the propaganda that the Indian Politicians are most likely to present him with. This attempt is followed through by Balram telling his life story over the course of seven nights.

How much do I rate the book?

I rate the book 4 out of 5 stars. It missed by a hair on getting the full 5/5 stars just because of the fact that I thought it would make me cry. I am a crier, so it was a surprise that I didn’t shed a single tear while reading the book. But that is on me, and my presumption of the things the book would make me feel. What I can say, though, is that I have never read anything like it before.

My Review and Thoughts

One sentence, and one sentence only:

The book did not win the Man Booker Prize for no reason.

It is gripping, it is intriguing, and it is witty to another level. The tone of the protagonist is shockingly cordial for a man who is so, so angry at the system. It is written so brilliantly that I legit did not have words for writing this review for two whole weeks.

I did make a video of myself reading the book for my YouTube Channel, and you can check it out here. It’s actually my first ever YouTube video, woohoo! But, looking back at the footage of when I’m trying to explain how I feel about the book is so funny because I literally can’t say anything except for the fact that it is brilliant.

Okay. I digress.

It definitely made me think about my privilege. Not just the monetary and material privilege, but also the emotional privilege, that so many of us take for granted.

For example: The protagonist’s parents didn’t even bother to name him!

The kids in the book were just seen as assets to bring in enough money so that the family can have a decent meal. At the cost of sounding ignorant and inconsiderate, I am going to say that I am glad that my parents see me as their kid, and not as an asset.

There is obviously a lot of political commentary, because India and politics is like rajma-chawal: they go together.

The book needs to be talked about more.

The fact that we are surrounded by privilege and not doing anything to make it better for those who aren’t, needs to be talked about more.

If we really want to bring about a change, we need to start by checking our own privilege first.

I do think that it is not my place to empathise with the character, because I have never been anywhere near to the situations he was in. However, I have tried my best to do so. And, I wish with all my being, that this system that runs on hierarchy, didn’t have to.

But, everything, all this wishing for equality and my review, the fact that I am able to read the book, and write this review in the first place, runs on the fact that I am privileged; and there’s nothing I can do to change that. What I can do, and well, you can too, is treat everyone with kindness. It’s a piece of cake, trust me.

Let’s change the world, folks! One book, one realisation, one person, at a time.

And if you want to see me do some stupid shit and blabber about non-sense things, and watch me read click here for my reading vlog!

xx,

kaavya 🙂