On March 17th 2016, we had our meeting at Dar Bistro & Books in Hamra Street at 5:30 p.m. to discuss The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. This book was picked as the second book of out books around the world theme for all of year 2016. The White Tiger is our voted book from India!
The book was a hit, and all those who read it rated it as 3, 4, or 5 stars out of 5 on Goodreads. The discussion leader was Rayane who conducted a 10 questions quiz at the end of the discussion. The winner of the quiz was Salam, our very own white tiger!
I will share here my Goodreads Review :
' The story of a poor man's life is written on his body, in a sharp pen. '
How far would you go to break free from servitude? Would you stop a man's life to start living as a human being?
I felt disgusted by many descriptions in this novel. I can never get the images in my head about the Ganga river! Now, to me, disgust is a more visceral feeling than sadness. So, the author earns points for making my insides churn.
This is an original novel with quite an original narrator and protagonist. Munna, or Balram, was a perfectly crafted realistic character. I have to admit that I felt compassion towards him, and as peaceful as I think I am - thinking I would never murder a soul - I wonder how I would act if I was in his shoes. He gives many good counter arguments as to how humans kill one another seeking freedom and they are dubbed the title of glorious heroes. What was he to do? Was he to remain a soulless servant? He is a white tiger, he had to escape the coop! The novel couldn't have had a happy ending either way.
About India; light and darkness, corruption, castes, religions, and lots of social and economical injustices, well it all broke my heart. Although I think that all governments are corrupt, and all citizens are screwed by their governments and misled in some way, the servitude thing which Adiga compares to a rooster coop is quite alarming; I do not see how such a master-servant system could ever be solved without any spilled blood. We had a civil war in Lebanon fueled by social injustices and excessive greed of the wealthy and powerful. Balram was right in saying that the history of humankind is a long story of fights between the rich and the poor.
Well deserved Booker Prize for Adiga. This novel is a masterpiece.
How far would you go to break free from servitude? Would you stop a man's life to start living as a human being?
I felt disgusted by many descriptions in this novel. I can never get the images in my head about the Ganga river! Now, to me, disgust is a more visceral feeling than sadness. So, the author earns points for making my insides churn.
This is an original novel with quite an original narrator and protagonist. Munna, or Balram, was a perfectly crafted realistic character. I have to admit that I felt compassion towards him, and as peaceful as I think I am - thinking I would never murder a soul - I wonder how I would act if I was in his shoes. He gives many good counter arguments as to how humans kill one another seeking freedom and they are dubbed the title of glorious heroes. What was he to do? Was he to remain a soulless servant? He is a white tiger, he had to escape the coop! The novel couldn't have had a happy ending either way.
About India; light and darkness, corruption, castes, religions, and lots of social and economical injustices, well it all broke my heart. Although I think that all governments are corrupt, and all citizens are screwed by their governments and misled in some way, the servitude thing which Adiga compares to a rooster coop is quite alarming; I do not see how such a master-servant system could ever be solved without any spilled blood. We had a civil war in Lebanon fueled by social injustices and excessive greed of the wealthy and powerful. Balram was right in saying that the history of humankind is a long story of fights between the rich and the poor.
Well deserved Booker Prize for Adiga. This novel is a masterpiece.
