This book reminds me of Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" except that it is set in India. This is the third book I've read set in India by natives of the country. All were definitely a darker India than most Americans see. (Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love.")It also reminds me of a 'slave narrative" like Frederick Douglas or Harriet Jacobs. I wasn't surprised to read that Aravind Adiga was influenced by Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright. The influence of Ellison's "Invisible Man" is definitely obvious even before I read that it was. It is basically the story of a poor man's emanicipation from modern day slavery and the extraordinary lengths he had to go through to become a free man. He is a "white tiger." A white tiger is only born once in a generation and they are exceedingly rare. He is the rare individual who has the ability to break out of cultural, family, and family chains. If you liked this book, you might also like "Sacred Games." It is about how a man became a gangster in India to free himself but it is also the story of a police detective who tries to figure out the gangster's suicide.
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