The White Tiger - any thoughts?

[SouthernMeerkat]

Sorry if this has already been discussed - I couldn't find a thread...

Anyone else read this? It's our book club read and I can't decide what I think about it. Part of me did think it was interesting, but I do think that aside from Balram, the characters seem very two dimensional. Or is that rather the point?!

Is it about a white tiger?

when this won the Booker I thought that it sounded really weird and a bit boring. However, when I read it I loved it and couldn't put it down.

I think that the 'thin' characterisation is perhaps intentional. We only see these other characters as Balram describes them, and they are ultimately defined in terms of their appalling treatment of him - even his own family just want to use him (except his brother). That sort of reflects the fact that to them he is not a person either, even though he is a highly intelligent and exceptional person. It shows how, even in modern India, the class/caste into which you are born can still severely restrict your chances in life.

REad it on holiday..

It's easy to read and pleasant enough but I didn't think it went anywhere and although in the same vein it doesn't have a patch on 'Life of Pi' which also one the booker prize.

I would say easy read and gives a small insight into behind the scenes India

I agree with Latchly re. character definition. I think it is intentioanl and ultimately his interaction with the people around him shape him. It is Ironic that though he becomes wealthy(?) he really choses not to live an extravagant lifestyle

Good point about it being Balram's perception of the characters and therefore as he's obviously rather full of his own self importance as a rare white tiger, it's inevitable that the other characters would have less importance and be less well fleshed out.

I'm still trying to decide if I enjoyed it or even thought it was a good book or not....

I have just read this book. The comparison with Crime and Punishment is inescapable - it's a sort of less powerful copy of that book.
I enjoyed the detailed observation of India, but found the central theme that the hero is allowed to kill someone and sacrifice his whole family so as not to feel like a servant, and that it's justifiable because he is a better master than the old masters, a bit
I think it would have been OK to kill people had he liberated the whole country, but in fact, he just liberates himself. So it is ultimately a bit depressingly selfish, and not a moral pattern for anyone else.
His family are not very uncaring - they are living in desparate poverty while he is in Delhi, it's not surprising they are nagging him to send money home.

I am not surprised that it won the Booker Prize though, as it presses all the chattering class's buttons (India, morally daring).

I'm not sure the book does condone the killings. They were just something that happened in the thread of the story. It's just matter of fact. He "had" to kill them (although actually he didn't) to get the money to change his life.

I'm not expressing that very well. It's a while since I read it but I thought he expressed some regret although not much.

I've only been to India a couple of times and have no true understanding of life there (I don't think anyone can who doesn't live in it, if you see what I mean) despite having read loads about it but the book did seem to reflect the attitudes very well.

When I was there we (the tourists) expressed horror at seeing a bear tethered for dancing etc. Our Indian guide eventually pointed out that we were being unrealistic to expect the locals to care about the fate of one bear when human life was held so cheaply. That put things into perspective for me...

the hero gets rewarded for the killings - he lives a good life, untroubled by guilt (he had one dream about his family, and no more).
Only good things happen to him as a result.

I really liked this book. I thought it was funny, and interesting, and I liked the fast pace and the descriptions of India. The protagonist is such a Del Boy type, and it made me smile reading the way he sees the world. I don?t have much time to post, but I didn?t think we readers were supposed to think that the murders were ok in the circumstances. I thought Balram was more of an anti-hero than a hero. He tries to convince us he is a hero, a success, and that what he did wasn?t so bad given his cirsumstances, but imo he fails totally. What he did is so depressingly selfish. I don?t think we?re supposed to like his opinions or actions at all. I really didn?t like Balram at all, and I think he?s a crazy, deluded, cold-blooded murderer, but I really enjoyed reading his opinions and his story.