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  • The White Tiger

  • By: Aravind Adiga
  • Narrated by: Kerry Shale
  • Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (117 ratings)
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The White Tiger cover art

The White Tiger

By: Aravind Adiga
Narrated by: Kerry Shale
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Summary

Meet Balram Halwal, the 'White Tiger': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur, murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells his story....

Born in a village in the dark heart of India, the son of a rickshaw puller, Balram is taken out of school by his family and put to work in a tea shop. As he crushes coal and wipes tables, he nurses a dream of escape, of breaking away from the banks of Mother Ganga, into whose murky depths have seeped the remains of a hundred generations.

His big chance comes when a rich village landlord hires him as a chauffeur for his son, his daughter-in-law, and their two Pomeranian dogs. From behind the wheel of a Honda, Balram first sees Delhi.

.The city is a revelation. Amid the cockroaches and call centres, the 36,000,004 gods, the slums, the shopping malls and the crippling traffic jams, Balram's reeducation begins. Caught between his instinct to be a loyal son and servant and his desire to better himself, he learns of a new morality at the heart of a new India.

As the other servants flick through the pages of Murder Weekly, Balram begins to see how the tiger might escape his cage. For surely any successful man must spill a little blood on his way to the top.

The White Tiger is a tale of two Indias. Balram's journey from the darkness of village life to the light of entrepreneurial success is utterly amoral, brilliantly irreverent, deeply endearing and altogether unforgettable.

©2008 Aravind Adiga (P)2008 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about The White Tiger

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Frustrating and irritating

This story while being completely politically incorrect, as someone of Indian descent, I can say there are some home truths. No doubt corruption is rampant in India, however, I don't think Aravind Adiga has the right to sit on his middle class Oxford educated pedestal and lecture the working class masses for their aspirations. This should have been written from a naval gazing perspective, in the circles that Adiga is more familiar with.

The performance by Kerry Shale was equally irritating, as it was clear that an English man was imitating the accent adding insult to injury. He could not pronounce any of the place names correctly which was a massive giveaway in terms of the accent. It does make sense though why no Asian person would touch this with a bargepole. Slightly astounded that this won the Man Booker Prize.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Couldn't put it down

Engaging... not what I expected. Humorous and I the narrator is more likable. Highly recommend!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Second half flourish

The performance from the narrator is fantastic- the depth of character is translated through his broad range of tones and clever stylistic choices. Lovely pauses.

The first half of the story is a bit hacky. It takes too long to set up. However, from the midpoint onwards it is more interesting. The themes of master/slave are well worn and finding new nuance is difficult. The writer is moderately successful.

Overall, it is an enjoyable experience full of colour and colloquial language. I can’t shake the feeling I’ve heard the skeleton of this story many times before and accomplished with greater intensity.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Mesmerising storytelling

I was transported into another world. The story telling from kerry shale was fantastic.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Read - interesting Story

Interesting Story, though I was listening to this audiobook while following the words in the soft back book and it frequently misses chucks of the story which is a bit irritating.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary!

What a story.
Loved it.
Performance is fabulous - would be hard to listen to unless it was spot on, which it was.
Highly recommend

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent story enhanced by story telling

Great story - if a little far fetched - excellently read which brings characters to life

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great performance

I thought the performance was awesome, so many different voices, really engaging.

Another review said the author had no right to comment on the political goings on in India, but I don’t think the story should be taken so literally, I think the ideas in the book are really interesting- and it’s just a story after all, an entertaining one at that.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Shockingly entertaining

I know nothing about India so have no way of knowing how accurately this novel reflects the issues of that society. But it is novel structured with the same skill of setting, plot & characterisation as a an old classic such books by Thomas Hardy. The performance was compelling but had me wondering about accent stereotypes - whilst the variety of accents etc made a good dramatic telling occasionally it became a distraction from the powerful writing.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very colorful description of Life in India

Being in Bangalore and Delhi I can say i recognize very well the various descriptions. It is an eye opening book especially for citizens of civilized countries who complain about the quality of their lives…very well written but terribly sad all in all

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