Michelin Mishigas

 Aravind Adiga made a big splash with The White Tiger (2008 Booker prize), and I love the intensity of that book, the cynicism, the burning quality on both personal and political levels.  So I’ve looked forward to each of his subsequent publications.  Last Man in Tower disappointed me, and Between the Assassinations, while interesting, is also not a worthy successor to The White Tiger. Though published later, Between the Assassinations was actually completed before The White Tiger, and a few of the incidents in Between the Assassinations also appear in The White Tiger.

The premise of Between the Assassinations is fascinating.  It’s a collection of 14 short stories, all of which take place in the fictional Indian town of Kittur.  (There is a real Kittur in India, but the one in the book is quite different; Adiga has created a fictional city to suit his purposes here.)  Ostensibly the book is laid out as a travel guide, with short descriptions of the prominent areas and features of the city.  Each description prompts a story of fictional characters that live and work there.  It’s a very clever premise, and it works well here.  Each story illustrates a distinct caste, group, or issue, and the contrast between the fake salesy travel blurbs and the all-too-real personal stories is very effective.

Unfortunately the stories themselves, while illustrative and informative, are not all that compelling.  The writing is not particularly interesting, and the characters not especially memorable.  I keep longing for the white-hot intensity of The White Tiger, but it’s just not there.  Nor is the more leisurely approach of Lahiri in The Lowlands.  Lahiri’s characters are unforgettable, even if the plot sprawls a bit here and there. For me, Adiga needs to recover the hard edge that won him the Booker in 2008, or find a different voice that works for him.  I will keep reading and hoping.  The White Tiger was that good.