The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

first impression counts.. that's what alot of people told me all along.. another key sentence would be "never judge a book by it's cover"... :-)

with THE WHITE TIGER by ARAVIND ADIGA, the cover in indeed the reflection of it's content.. as shown in the attached photo, the cover is funky 1960-ish type with a white tiger displayed prominently as the centerpiece... this picture indeed is worth a thousand words...

storyline revolves around the narrator, third-person-character, story-teller; Balram Halwai and his meteoric rise from being a pariah to become a successful entrepreneur BUT with a big twist as he has murdered someone along the way in order to achieve his aim in life.. interestingly, he managed to do all these with panache amidst the confines of his life..

the beauty of this novel is the ability of the writer to portray real life situation of commoners in rural as well as urban India with sharp contrasting effects on both the well-heeled and poor inhabitants.. this is indeed an insight we rarely read or mentioned in glossy magazines..

overall storyline is smooth with sufficient breather in between so that the reader can savour the progressive incline and change of attitude of Balram Halwai from being a follower to a leader..

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (recommended buy)

Cons:
1) Slightly boring mid part
2) Balram is too lucky to escape with every obstacles without harming himself

Pros:
1) Funky 1960-ish cover
2) portrayal of the real India and it's inhabitants
3) progressive changes of attitude of the characters