The Unyielding Clamor of the Night by Neil Bissoondath

I picked up this book because of it's intriguing title and stayed with it because it brought back all the memories of tropical rain in far away places - of living in a culture where you share the same food and clothing and life in general but come from a different history. Arun chooses to leave his privileged life behind to teach the in the rural south of this imaginary island country off the coast of India. He resents the policy of the government which assumes that this population is lazy and stupid and limits the opportunities to leave their difficult lives to 2% of the people living there. He tries to make connections to the people in the small town where he is assigned and soon discovers that many harbor a secret connection to the rebel group known as the Boys. He is also drawn into the circle of the military group assigned to repress the rebels in the area. He tries to remain apolitical but his efforts are no more successful than is his plan to teach them out of poverty. Eventually he finds himself a willing? unwilling? (you decide) pawn in this universal struggle between the haves and the have nots.