The White Tiger

A Novel

By: Aravind Adiga

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

British Book Awards, Author of the Year, 2009.

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2008.

No saris. No scents. No spices. No music. No lyricism. No illusions.

This is India now.

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life - having nothing but his own wits to help him along. Born in a village in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for a wealthy man, two Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son.

Through Balram's eyes, we see India as we've never seen it before: the cockroaches and the call centers, the prostitutes and the worshippers, the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger.

With a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create morality and money doesn't solve every problem - but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

©2008 Aravind Adiga (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Balram's evolution from likable village boy to cold-blooded killer is fascinating and believable." ( Library Journal)
"A brutal view of India's class struggles is cunningly presented in Adiga's debut....It's the perfect antidote to lyrical India." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great novel, wrong narrator

Excellent novel, unfortunately ruined by the audiobook narrator, John Lee. Although the narrator’s voice and reading of the novel are fine, the accent he affects is entirely awful. It often has the qualities of a stereotypical, fake Indian accent, which is bad enough, but then it slips into something that is not Indian at all. It’s all over the place. I notice that Lee does a number of different accents in other audiobooks. Maybe those accents slipped into this performance? It’s annoying. Either hire someone who speaks the language and uses the correct accent, or ignore the accent altogether and hire a neutral voice. Halfway does not cut it.

Good audio book

The book is written like a letter to someone, so it works very well as an audiobook. Really enjoyed it.

Excellent novel with perfect narration

This book was worthy of its Man Booker award. Balram Halwai was born into a life of servitude, as was his lot coming from “The Darkness.” His story is a story of the haves vs. the have-not under-castes, who in India, stay trapped in the Rooster Coop. Balram flies the coop through a well-calculated act of murder and theft from his master, a well-intentioned man who didn’t deserve his fate, but he brought it on himself. I enjoyed the cynical wit of this novel, which could have only been written by an Indian, and Aravind Adiga owns a prodigious talent. The incomparable Audible narration by John Lee, an Englishman, brought Balram to life. Recommended.

couldn't stop listening

this is an amazing book. and exceptional audio book. the performance and story are both 5 stars. very interesting novel.

Great book

Definitely worth your time. Takes on real world misery without being a preachy downer. A moving dark comedy, vibes of the movie “parasite”. Stroll with a modern Dante through the darkness, you won’t be disappointed.

Entertaining, thought-provoking, darkly funny

I highly recommend this audio book. I could have listened to all 8 hours in one sitting but wanted to savor it and so spread it out over a week. The story never dragged. The performance by the reader is first-rate, I could almost picture the characters through their voices. The audio book format works particularly well for this book because the story is structured as a narrated letter. I will be recommending this book for my book group because there will be a lot talk about. It may not be for everyone. It deals with themes of poverty, class, corruption, oppression and murder. However, for me, The White Tiger is one of the best, if not the best, audio book I have listened to.

Peculiar rather than entertaining; quirky.

Call me a Westerner; I don't mind. I like a book that has interesting characters and an interesting plot. I know that this author has won awards for this book, and I know that the Man Booker Prize is highly esteemed. However, I think it is a British/Continental award primarily, and the differences between those audiences and Western audiences is great. The book wanders in a completely directionless way through the life of the main character, who we are assured becomes an "entrepreneur" in Bangalore. However, the way in which he does this is inexplicable as far as I am concerned. Again, this may be part of a large East/West dichotomy of which I am ignorant. I trust that most Audible readers are Westerners who would like books they read to be accessible rather than plotless and confusing. One thing I can say that is clearly positive: John Lee's voice is by itself one of the most entertaining things I have ever listened to. If he were telling a story than made more sense, I would find a great deal more enjoyment in the endeavor of listening. The poverty of Indians is described in revolting detail. The trials that these people have to go through just to find a way to make a living for themselves and their families: these are horrendous journeys which would bring most of us Westerners to our knees. However, these struggles do not a novel make. At numerous points this book feels much more like reporting than the work of a fiction writer. All right all ready, I am convinced of the horrifying, degrading poverty above which the lowest caste Indians can barely rise. I understand that the waters of the Ganges River are so disgusting and polluted that you dare not go anywhere near the river lest you become ill with an indescribably vicious wasting disease. I know that the ravenous corruption that runs through the government/bureaucracy that is the structure of the country is impenetrable: I really don't need to hear that much more about it. On the whole, however, I would vastly recommend Shantaram over this book. I found it immediately interesting, full of characters that grabbed me and plots that took me happily careening from one state of India to the next. My interest in Shantaram almost never failed, and that is saying a good deal, as I usually have trouble approaching four-volume tomes. Take my advice here, though. As a average American, I found Shantaram to be wildly entertaining and informative when compared to White Tiger. I cannot recommend White Tiger to anyone but the most sophisticated student of the subcontinent, a person who delights in being entertained by something which I find to be rather less than a novel, and more like an expansive, reportorial description of the daily life of the lower castes in India.

Great, informative tale

Excellent story and narration. Gripping story of the life of the other side of India. Keeps your attention and reveals a great tale of the interaction between rich and poor and the failures of the government. If you liked the
"Kite Runner" you'll love this book as well.

download the other version

Lee is a great narrator but not for this book. In fact, he got in the way--I kept thinking, "That's John Lee trying to speak Indian-English..."

Even so, this is a very satisfying, entertaining and informative listen about the shadow side of India's economic growth, with a catchy set up: A long memo from a dubious Indian entrepreneur who clawed his way from village life, written to the Premier of China (like the Chinese premier, the White Tiger says if he was building a country, he'd put in the infrastructure first, then the democracy)

This is very unlike Rohinton Mistry's quiet excellent novels set in India or Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things. If Q+A/Slumdog Millionaire was like an Indian Dickens, then White Tiger is like Kurt Vonnegut spinning a tragicomedy of the cumulative effects of caste and class meeting globalization and westernization in the "rooster coop" pecking order of India. An interesting study of how an author can make an unlikable character sympathetic.

This is a novel that raises moral questions that will ring in your mind long after you've finished listening.

Ignoring the Booker....an excellent tale

I have high expectations for the Booker winners. When I read one I expect to be completely blown away by lyrical writing, great characters, gripping plot. Don't get me wrong, White Tiger is excellent. But I found myself comparing it to the Booker list and it came up short. It's a great story, a fun story, an excellent insight into India. Read it. Laugh and enjoy. But if you're looking for Booker winners specifically, you may want to turn to something else.