Read it in: probably two weeks

Yes, I know, I read this book sometime last year (for an English course, actually), but I thought if something’s good enough to win the Man Booker Prize I’d better write about it.  Just in case some of that talent rubs off on me, perhaps.  Seeing as I did read it to study, I did have to analyse it inside out, but thankfully for everyone, I’ve forgotten most of what that analysis was.

What I loved most about this book was its ambiguity.  In every scene you didn’t know whether you should trust the narrator’s account – as you usually do automatically – and whether the events depicted really happened that way.  Furthermore, we readers find ourselves wondering as the book progresses how much we even like our narrator character.  He doesn’t do particularly nice things, he doesn’t easily win our sympathy and, what’s more, we can’t even be sure whether he’s telling the truth.

Alright, so it’s about an Indian man who is telling us the marvelous tale of how he rose from a boy of lowly caste working in a tea shop to a leading entrepreneur with his own business, controlling many people.  It sounds like an ad for an accountant, but really it’s much more than this.  First of all, you realise from early on that he’s gotten to where he is now by playing dirty.  It seems an inherent part of his character, or even more than that, in the situation, a part of the rules of the game in which he is a player.

This is a very interesting read, well worth picking up.  It’s quite a gripping story, it hooks you in with the narrator’s interesting voice, the way he tells the story in his cynical but humorous manner, the way the events seem even more unlikely as time goes on.  It’s a clever satire of the culture in which the character lives and works, a satire of human nature as well.

Read it if you: enjoy character ambiguity, appreciate an interesting narrator voice, like interesting and sometimes surprising plots, enjoy a good, clever narrative, want to know how to succeed in India as a lower caste member, however I wouldn’t say this book is quite instructional, as I don’t think anyone would like to emulate the main character’s chosen path to success.

While reading, listen to: Split Needles The Shins, Binti Jua (Faux Pas Remix) Rat vs. Possum, Pity and Fear Death Cab for Cutie, Feeling Good Muse