Recent reading

I just finished reading Aravind Adiga's Booker prize winning novel, The White Tiger. Its fast-paced and engaging. I just couldn't the feeling out of my head that I was reading a novel meant for a Western audience. Much like I felt Slumdog millionaire was made for a Western audience. And it was an engaging movie too. Just didn't appeal to me or touch me in any way. Adiga's novel appealed a little more than SM did. But not too much. It felt a little preachy in parts. Its like he decided to put all his frustration and anger with "the system" in India into his protagonist, Balram Halwai. The black humor sort of felt flat for me. Also, the narrative, a series of letters to the Chinese premier didn't work for me. I felt it was contrived. The whole Darkness vs Light theme was overdone. (the poor are in the darkness, rich are in the light) Where's the nuance? But the story moves quickly, and its an interesting one. No excuses are made for greed and ambition. I see a cinematic version of this happening pretty soon.

Thats just my take on this one. But hey, what do I know? I disliked Slumdog and it won everything at the Golden Globes. Later, I was listening to the sound track. Its a real pity that out of all of Rahman's outstanding work, he wins for a pretty mediocre soundtrack, by his standards. Compare Jai Ho with Taal or Bombay or Roja. Not even close.