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Literature & Fiction |
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Q & A: A Novel
written by Vikas Swarup
Studio : Scribner
by Scribner
Publisher : Scribner
Released : 2005-07-26
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780743267472
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 27 reviews)
List Price : $25.00
Our Price : $15.75
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Product Description |
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Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question. Ram takes us on an amazing review of his own history -- from the day he was found as a baby in the clothes donation box of a Delhi church to his employment by a faded Bollywood star to his adventure with a security-crazed Australian army colonel to his career as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal. Swarup's Q & A is a beguiling blend of high comedy, drama, and romance that reveals how we know what we know -- not just about trivia, but about life itself. Cutting across humanity in all its squalor and glory, Vikas Swarup presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil -- and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive. |
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Great book |
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You might say that at times this book could be "over the top" or have too many coincidences, but the story is really about luck and the lives of people around the main character, how they affect him and how he affects them. I love the way the book is set out - each chapter is an individual and amazing story that somehow in the end is important and makes a big difference in the course of the main character's life. The story takes us all over India (which was great to me because I have recently been to India and recognized many places, scenes and features of their culture). I think this is an amazing debut novel and everyone should read it if they have, will or want to see the movie. |
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Better than any movie! |
Will go see "Slum Dog Millionaire" but will bet it won't be as good as this book. "First Novel" efforts are often an authors' best effort and that may be true here. We will see. Let us have more to judge!
"Q+A" managed to be frank, yet funny, and offered a view of Indian life that this westerner could relate to. We are not so different! |
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A clever plot that keeps your attention throughout |
Ram Mohammad Thomas is a boy from the Indian slums who has entered a "Who wants to be a millionaire" style television quiz show. Despite his lack of formal education, his life experiences have perfectly equipped him to answer each question that comes up. Because the show's organizers are sure that he must have cheated, they ask him to explain how he was able to answer such difficult and obscure questions. Each chapter deals with another question and answer, and as the book progresses his very colorful life story is also gradually revealed.
This is not the most well written book I've read, but the way that the plot unfolds is very clever and keeps the reader's attention throughout. As each question is revealed, you can't help thinking "okay, now how is he going to integrate THIS into Ram's story?" and it's fun to see the way that he does, while also advancing the central plot. Slumdog Millionaire tears along at a quick pace: some parts are very amusing while others are very sad, but Swarup doesn't dwell on either. The way it all comes together at the end is highly contrived, but does make for a satisfactory conclusion.
If you enjoy books about India, there are other books that are more realistic or better written (I especially recommend the wonderful and highly moving novel "A Fine Balance"), but this is an easy and entertaining story that captures much of the essence of this fascinating country.
UPDATED 12/27: I have now seen the film Slumdog Millionaire. While the film has the taken the central theme and structure of the book, it also has many differences - for starters, the hero's name. Many plot elements of Ram/Dev's life story are entirely different in the film vs the book. Essentially the film is a very simplified version and hinges on the romance with Latika, which is not the case in the book. For me, the film works brilliantly, but it is not a slavish adaptation. This book is more "the book that inspired the film" rather than "the book of the film". |
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started off good and became absurd! |
I ordered this book because i was anxious to read it before seeing the movie. The first half of the book started off really well. Great character description, good feel for India, and exciting story... but, unfortunately, the story became absurd and completely unrealistic... this was the major downfall.
If you want to read an exciting and incredible story based in India try the book Shantaram... you won't be disappointed! |
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Trite, juvenile novel based on a collection of stereotypes |
Vikas Swarup's "Q&A" (now re-titled "Slumdog Millionaire") is simply one of the worst novels ever written. Based on the premise of a poor boy winning the Indian version of the quiz program "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" ("Kaun Banega Crorepati" in India), the novel is simply a collection of chapters that are lifted straight out of various Bollywood movies, telling a series of improbable tales. These purport to be a sociological explanation of modern India, but are in fact little more than an outsider's version of various news stories about the most gory and obscure aspects of India's dark under-belly (Swarup is a diplomat by profession, and has spent almost all his career outside India, with scant first-hand knowledge of any of what he has written about). Writing awful nonsense (in mediocre prose) about India is a sure way to get rich these days (as the west is much more interested in such tawdry stories than the uplifting, genuinely literary offerings of genuinely great writers like Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth).
It is troubling and sad that such trash gets so much press (and is made into Hollywood potboilers too). Hopefully, posterity will know how to separate such chaff from the wheat. |
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