If you think of India as a lush, lovely, spiritual place, you must read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, a debut novel that won the Man Booker Prize.Balram Halwai, the narrator, hears on the radio that the Premier of China is planning to visit Bangalore and wants to meet some Indian entrepreneurs. Although they will never actually meet, Balram writes a series of letters to the Premier to explain his own rise from poor villager to driver for a wealthy family to successful entrepreneur.
As Balram says in the first letter, "Apparently, sir, you Chinese are far ahead of us in every respect, except that you don't have entrepreneurs. And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy, or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs."
And so Balram explains how, despite crushing poverty, a rigid social system, and a corrupt elite class, he managed to succeed by relying on his own wits, keenly observing those around him, and murdering his employer.
The White Tiger is smart, angry, dark, and funny. Recommended.
