THIRD THURSDAY CLUB
MARCH BOOK DISCUSSION
The Third Thursday Club will
meet on March 19 at the home of Polly Clement.
The selection for this month
is a novel, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga. This book is available
for about $8 from Amazon and there is a wait list at the public library.
Where: Polly
Clement's home
When: Thursday, March
19, 7:30 p.m.
RSVP to: Polly Clement
Newsflash!
In April we will be reading Ethics for the New Millenium by the
Dalai Lama. This is one of the library's Books in a Bag program,
and Polly will be handing out copies of the book to all interested readers
at the March meeting.
Following is a review of
this month's Booker Award winning novel:
Introducing a major literary
talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering
suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating,
and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen. Balram
Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur.
Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light
of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story
of how he came to be a success in life - having nothing but his own
wits to help him along.
Born in the dark heart of India,
Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest
man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very
unlucky) son. From behind the wheels of their Honda City car, Balram's
new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder
Weekly ("Love - Rape - Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt),
and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches
his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls,
drink liquor (single malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster
Coop.
Balram learns how to siphon
gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnny Walker Black
Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop
that no one else inside it can perceive. Balram's eyes penetrate
India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes
and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo
and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible,
the white tiger.
And with a charisma as undeniable
as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue,
and money doesn't solve every problem - but decency can still be found
in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop
on the right conversations.
Sold in sixteen countries around the
world, The White Tiger recalls The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition,
scope, and narrative genius, with a mischief and personality all its own.
Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an
international publishing sensation - and a startling,
provocative debut.
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