The Book Depository Q & A by Vikas Swarup
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Price: £9.99
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: Q & A : Paperback : Transworld Publishers Ltd : 9780552772501 : : 01 Aug 2006 : The bestselling book behind the Oscar-winning film SLUMDOG MILLLIONAIRE directed by Danny Boyle 'An absorbing and richly entertaining read' Times Former tiffinboy Ram Mohammad Thomas has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz-show to win a cool one billion rupees. The Book Depository Q & A by Vikas Swarup - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9780552772501
MPN: 9780552772501
GTIN: 9780552772501
Author: R A
Rating: 5
Review: The book is brilliant, the plot is mind blowing, the storyline convincing, the reality reeling... As Robert Mckee outlines in his book STORY (1999; 28): "Given the choice between trivial material brilliantly told versus profound material badly told, an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly. Master storytellers know how to squeeze the life out of the least of things, while poor storytellers reduce the profound to the banal. You might have the insight of a Buddha, but if you cannot tell story, your ideas turn dry as chalk" Vikas Swarup certainly can tell a story, he is the master storyteller - a story that Mckee would salivate over. The book is no literary feat. It has no fancy quotes or reams of gratuitous prose. It is just a story told remarkably well. There are twists and turns. The character is created with care -the reader is forced to follow his every move with bated breath. I almost read the book in one foul swoop - to put it down requires effort! I have yet to see the film version - but the reviews enticed me to buy the novel. I prefer to plough through the book before going to see the film- I can't do it the other way around! There are genius moments of insight and intricacies of Indian life, Swarup (as Ram Mohammed Thomas) writes: "First there are advertisements. This war is sponsored by Mother India Toothpaste and Jolly Tea. Then we have a broadcast by the Prime Minister..." "Putul is carrying something with him too, but it is not an autograph book. It is a writing book. His dad has told him that no school does not mean no studies. Now every day he will have to sit in his bunker and write essays. Today's topic is 'My Cow', even though Putul doesn't have a cow." The book is tongue in cheek about the Indian obsession with Bollywood and celebrity. The novel shows this is in stark contrast with the gritty reality of the glumness in the form of slums and poverty that make up a part of every city in India. Slumdog Millionaire deals with incest, prostitution, domestic violence, parental neglect, rabies, police torture to name but a few societal ills. Despite this, the penultimate chapter is every bit as uplifting and full of the hope of life as any Bollywood movie is! Amitabh Bacchan has made indignant comments about the film not being a 'true' illustration of Indian life - but which India does Mr Bacchan live in? Definitely not in the slums of Swarup's novel.
Author: S Riaz
Rating: 4
Review: This is more a series of interweaving stories than a novel, but it is still a vastly entertaining journey through the life of Ram Mohammad Thomas - a young, orphaned and poverty stricken waiter who wins a fortune on a game show and is then arrested when accused of cheating. When the lawyer, Smita Shah, rushes in to rescue him from torture, he ends up explaining how he managed to answer all the questions successfully and simply through good luck. Each chapter of the book corresponds to a question and explains how his life gave him the answer. The author weaves young Ram's life backwards and forwards, introducing us to a cast of characters that appear throughout the book - the kindly Father Timothy who took him in as a baby and gave him his religiously tolerant name, his best friend Salim, his beloved Nita and others. The cast of characters include hired assassins, out of work Bollywood actresses, Australian's with a mania for spying on people, voodoo priestesses and more. Overall this is a really fun read and you are really rooting for Ram to beat the system (for once) and emerge victorious. The author has since written another novel,Six Suspects , which I also look forward to reading.
