The White Tiger, Fatherland and The Child In Time

I would normally steer well clear of a novel about India. But a Man Booker prizewinner with this on the back cover - "Meet Balram Halwai, 'The White Tiger': Servant, Philosopher, Entrepreneur, Murderer..." had me intrigued. And was I in for a treat. Written as a letter to the Premier of China, Balram recounts his life from the poverty of his rural existence to making a success of sorts in an urban environment. For a first novel, Aravind Adiga has written a masterpiece.

Fatherland is a quite different book. Whereas The White Tiger is almost poetic, Robert Harris is concerned only with plot. Not that it is badly written, just not in the same class. Set in 1964 in a parallel universe, Germany did enough in the second world war to become the strongest nation on earth, although still fighting on the eastern front. The story centres on Detective Xavier March and how he uncovers the reason behind a number of deaths in a very different Berlin. A rattling good yarn.

I am trying to catch up on early Ian McEwan novels. I have read his latest seven (apart from The Daydreamer) and the next one back was The Child In Time. Typical of his intelligent prose, it was not quite on a par with his later books., although still very readable. It seemed if he was practicing for what was to come, but that may be I am reading his work going backwards. It explores the themes of bereavement, time and childhood, with interesting characters that light up the page. Strange at times, but rewarding.