Welcome to Litsy!

In order # 8, # 38, and # 39 of this month‘s #roll100!!
One fiction and two nonfictions…better get cracking!

Not accurate Tiger in the picture!

I first read this book in English shortly after it was published. Now after talking with my dear friend from India I wanted to reread it. She stated that at least the movie is relatable to modern day India.

This book shows again that a character doesn't have to be likable to make a good book. Balram is a rather dark dark grey MC and somewhat of an unreliable narrator. Deep insight into the soul of capitalism.

📚 (The) White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
🖊️ Alex Wheatle
🎥 When Harry Met Sally
🎵 Whitesnake
🎶 What, originally recorded by Melinda Marx in 1965; covered by Judy Street in 1968, becoming a Northern Soul classic at Wigan Casino in the 70s. Best know to me in the Soft Cell version of 1982.

#ManicMonday
#LetterW
@CBee

#JanuaryJazz Day 13: There is definitely #Murder in this book. Amazing narrative. Cannot wait to watch the film adaptation. Review is forthcoming.

First book for World Literature this semester done! I think the epistolary style will play really well with my other selection So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba, especially since this book calls into question Balram's reliability as a narrator in a way that Ba's book does not do. I also like the opportunity to think about the value of writing dislikeable characters and/or representations of cultures and areas.

#JumpStart2023

Finally found you, rum chata peppermint bark. When in Antioch.

“I was looking for the key for years, but the door was always open “

One of the blurbs on the back compared this to Native Son and I think that‘s fair. It‘s a different look at oppression in a society. Balram‘s journey from a servant to an entrepreneur is well worth the read. 206/1,001 #1001Books

Balram retells his journey from his native village in North India to Bangalore where he runs a succesfull company. An amazing portait of contemporary India! A must read.

After sitting on my shelf since 2008/2009, I finally read this one. And I really liked it. Dark dark dark, but compelling and propulsive.

These 5 books are on my #tbr and work for Asian American or Pacific Island authors. #integrateyourshelf @Emilymdxn @ChasingOm

I hope to get to The Vegetarian this month!

I might be exiled from litsy for saying this, but I don't mind this tie-in cover. I might go so far to say it's an improvement. With the exception of the logo..

Didn‘t expect to find myself on the side of a murderer but this book had me sort of rooting for the main character, wanting him to escape the life he was describing. #booked2021 Set in UN peacekeeping country.

March 2021 - read before I watch / Indian - well written similar to slumdog millionaire- interested in seeing the series

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #ReadingAsia2021 #India @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle

This book has been on my shelves for years, so I'm very happy to have finally read it.

Adiga did an excellent job with the main character. I felt so many emotions about him as I read. This a a dark, grim novel that exposes the tragedy of the class system in India. Balram is determined to overcome the destiny of his name, and he proves he's willing to do anything.

Not what I was expecting. There were parts that I could have done without and there were parts that could have used a little more.
Wasn‘t my favorite read. It wasn‘t awful. There were points I wanted to not finish it, but I trudged through.
The store wasn‘t terrible. The writing could have been better maybe it was a translation issue 🤷🏻‍♀️
It just wasn‘t my jam.
⭐️⭐️1/2

Up next.
I have a physical copy of this and haven‘t gotten around to reading it. I‘ve seen that one of the streaming services has released a movie or series based on this book, it looked interesting. I like to read the book before seeing the movie/series.

This was so much darker than I was expecting! 😲 loved it tho! Full of suspense, I got completely lost in this world. #readingasia2021 #India

This seemed more a story of place than character to me. It‘s not a very pretty picture of India, but it is one that gives a very strong sense of place. It‘s also one of those stories that starts off with telling what would happen, and I was intrigued through the entire story to see how the main character got there.

#1001books #ReadingAsia2021 #India
#ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #audiobook

#TBRPile 📚 Balram Halwai may be the smartest boy in his village, but his family cannot afford for him to finish school. His break comes when a rich man gives him a job, and takes him to live in Delhi. Surrounded by immense wealth, Balram knows he will never gain access to this glamorous new India... unless he murders his master.

This was a witty, enjoyable book with a hard undertone.

#12Booksof2020
@Andrew65

#ukkindledeal #99ponkindle #Readingasia2021 #India @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

November #BookSpin done! @TheAromaofBooks

For some reason I thought I might not like this one much, that I might find it pretentious/gimmicky (probably a reaction to those hyperbolic blurbs on the cover), but turns out I was completely wrong and I did enjoy it. The epistolary format and narrative voice were well done. No "good guys" here...

Indo-Australian author Adiga dresses up a critical look at corruption, class divides, and poverty in India, in this story of one man‘s rise from poverty and servitude in the “Darkness” (rural India) to entrepreneurship in Bangalore. It‘s a witty, enjoyable book with a hard message, one that, it appears, some Indian people weren‘t too happy with - understandably as Adiga does not paint India in a good light.

#DoubleBookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

Thank you so much @MayJasper !!! The books look awesome and how did you know I‘m in need of coffee?!? Like, desperately! 😂 also the bookmark is so cute!

@rsteve388 @Bookgoil #llfs #litsylovefallswap

This is rightly compared to Wright's Native Son: both feature a protagonist who works as a driver for a wealthy employer and uses that employer's racism/ classism to their advantage. Adiga excels at mining the dark comic potential in weaponizing Balram's intelligence as others mistake him for a benign simpleton. It's all played to perfect satirical effect, exposing truths that India's elite would prefer not to confront about caste and corruption.

1. I don‘t think I have 😬. The one above is in my TBR...uhh...clutter. Pile implies organization.

2. No 😞

3. Yes! Love it! But even more I love Tibeten food which shares a lot of similarities but doesn‘t use peanuts so I can safely eat it.

What a colourful book!

This book won the Man Booker Prize 2008, and I am very excited to read this🥳

A servant gets to know his master's intestinal tract from end to end - from lips to anus.

One fact about India is that you can take almost anything you hear about the country from the prime minister and turn it upside down and then you will have the truth about that thing.

I have been watching this book on my shelf for about a year now. My friend, who studied yoga in India, bought it for Xmas last year. I loved the humor and personality of the narrator. He‘s writing a letter to the “premier of China” and each chapter is a new letter. I love the style because it‘s fast paced and gripping from the beginning. It displays a great portrait of modern India and makes you think about the hierarchy there. Highly recommend!

#Animal #AyUpAugust
A few of the fierce creatures lurking in my TBR shelf.. 😨🐊🐍🐯
@squirrelbrain @Cinfhen

“I am India‘s most faithful voter, and I still have not seen the inside of a voting booth.”

Great story of anIndian chauffeur whose desire to be treated like a man leads to@murder.

Interesting layout to this story.
I found I had to read large chunks at a time in order to keep focused on the narrator.
I appreciated the wit and the self mocking tone whilst realising that it's not actually amusing!

Beaut of a cover.
Started reading last night and whizzing through this entertaining read. I lije his wit and running commentary though the under current of social class and the caste system is apparent and clear.

Can‘t tell you how clever this is. I went in knowing nothing about it, picked at random from #1001books and found it wasn‘t at all the sort of thing I‘d normally read. A kind of Bildungsroman about an increasingly cut-throat, coarse, crafty poor man in India manipulating his way to a massive fortune. I don‘t normally enjoy books about bad people but this was so funny, SO well crafted, really took my breath away.

I put this book off for so long. The cover of the version I had has a little boy on the front and I thought it was going to be a short kids book with a bit of adversity then a sweet ending - boy, was I wrong! The book follows the story of an Indian man and how he became a successful entrepreneur. It is neither sweet nor repulsive. The perspectives shown have compassion and insight into the plights of many people trying to make a living in India.

I liked this one quite a bit!
I enjoyed the narrative and perspective of Balram. I still havent decided if I liked his character or not but I did enjoy the story he tells.
This book was actually quiet humorous. Which I wasnt expecting.
It was interesting to read about India. How the author decribes it, the society, and of masters and servants. And the levels of that.

4 days to go and I can return to my happy place 😊

Thank you @JenP for book. It arrived some time in the last 3 days 😁 #spreadthebooklove

A Lion's Club Book Sale yesterday led to this book haul. Got quite a few that were already on my TBR list, then found more that sounded really interesting. I think I'm going to have to take a break from library books to concentrate on the books I already have!

Accurate portrayal of casteism in India

#nowreading

Today is a good reading day.

On a surface level, this novel is an insight into the twisted psyche of a murderer. Underneath character, the real work of the novel takes place. This book is much more a novel about a place. Adiga is searing in his criticism of modern Indian society. In this way, this is a novel about contradiction and corruption, violence, brutality, and the unceasing drive to seek opportunity, and save oneself in a world where no one else will save you.

True