March 26, 2010

The White Tiger :: Aravind Adiga

Title: The White Tiger [book club selection, VM]
Author: Aravind Adiga
Read: NYC
Format: Kindle

White Tiger is a gripping, darkly-comic view into modern India told - with gusto - by Balram Halwai, our entrepeneurial, car-service-owning narrator. Ostensibly, the story is about Balram's rise as a businessman, but through his tale we are exposed to the grave disparity among Indians even today. Some of the dualities explored include: Hindu vs Muslim cultures; abject poverty vs burgeoning global power; the urban vs the rural; individual vs familial responsibilities; obedience vs corruption; and western assimilation vs national loyalty.

Clearly, White Tiger is dense with meaning, but it falls shy of actually indicting any one villain for these problems, which is refreshing. Instead, it paints the perhaps heavy-handed portrait of a changing nation.

Told as a missive from the charming, if mentally-unbalanced, Balram to the Prime Minister of China, the novel is at times as funny as it is wrenching. The epistolary structure (if you can call it that, at this length) serves as a great mechanism for Adiga to pull out of some of the more heartbreaking/shocking assessments of India by injecting Balram's humorous voice. Adiga also then returns the reader to the absurd format of an earnest letter from a ridiculous man to a world leader.

Anyway, I liked The White Tiger. I liked the narrator (sociopath or not). I was intrigued by the portrait of India. But, it did leave me (and my fellow book-clubbers) wondering about how exaggerated the account is. But maybe that's part of the point? That is, this depravity (or some degree of it anyway) exists and nobody really knows (or cares to know) exactly how bad it might be.

Provoking and funny. An unusual combination worth checking out.
4 out of 5 stars

March 15, 2010

Lark & Termite :: Jayne Anne Phillips

Title: Lark & Termite
Author: Jayne Anne Phillips
Read: NYC
Format: Trade paperback

Lark & Termite is a multigenerational epic-y tale of the mentally and physically handicapped boy called Termite and his older sister Lark. To understand their lives, we have to first understand their troubled mother - the sister of the aunt with whom they live - and the father that died in the Korean War. While their family is filled with loss, heartache, drama, etc, it's also not wanting for love. The family unit that the youngsters' aunt creates for them is both warm and loving.

Sometimes contrived, but always touching, I do recommend Lark & Termite for it's ability to keep the reader engaged - captivated even - as it unwinds. Phillips' writing, too, is noteworthy. The perspective and time jumps around and even though the character perspective shifts, the changes are never jarring. Phillips maintains consistency in sentences that are always sparse and modern, but never unfeeling. All together it has an almost-musical quality to it; at times it's even beautiful.

Put it on your list.
4 out of 5 stars

March 08, 2010

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass :: Lewis Carroll


Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Read: NYC; JFK > SFO; Palo Alto, CA
Format: mass market paperback

I don't really get this book. But, I'm guessing it's because I'm (a) old, (b) not old enough to care that much about the subtext, (c) expected it to be really great.

Of course I'd seen the cartoon and I'm aware of most of the main characters. I just thought that there would be more plot. Instead, Alice just kind of walks around from one weird symbolic interaction to another. The writing is descriptive and imaginative, but not mind-blowing. In fairness though, over the years Carroll's tableaus have been colorfully imagined so many times - by artists ranging from Disney to Tom Petty - that despite being the inspiration it would appear to fall short, creatively.

I think most books are best enjoyed in specific windows, be they age, date, or circumstance-based. I missed my window with Alice.

It was fine: imaginative, but with no surprises (neither in plot or writing):
3 out of 5 stars

March 03, 2010

Hunger Games, Catching Fire :: Suzanne Collins

Title: Hunger Games, Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Read: Palo Alto, CA; NYC
Format: Hardcover

On an impromptu Barnes & Noble binge, I finally picked up Hunger Games. It had been appearing at the top of my recommendations for awhile, but I'd been ignoring it because of the whole dystopia thing (I'm not so into that stuff). But friends I trust and e-tail algorithms (that I also trust) endorsed it, so I thought, why not? Smart gamble!

Because I think everyone should read these books, I won't give away too much. Basically, America (now Panem), in the not-so-distant future, is divided into 13 districts and ruled by a cruel Capital. After a failed uprising, the Capital demands that each district sacrifice a pair of teenagers, or 'tributes', to participate in the annual Hunger Games. Mandatory viewing for all citizens, the games are an intricately designed fight to the death. These novels, the first two of a trilogy, focus on District 12's tribute Katniss Everdeen as she fights her way through the games.

Told in first person, the reader sees the world through Katniss's eyes and you vividly experience her fears and motivations. Through her, we learn about the despair in the districts and the excesses of the Capital. And as she is plunged into them, the spectacle of the games plays like a train wreck: horrifying, violent, disturbing, and exciting to watch unfold.

When the end of Hunger Games came too quickly, I was glad I could quickly get my hands on the sequel (I thought it was even better than the first). And when Catching Fire came to an end, I couldn't believe I'd have to wait until August for the final installment. Ugh.

Hunger Games:
An amazing new world, 5 out of 5 stars

Catching Fire:
Somehow, even better, 5 out of 5 stars