Q & A (original 2005; edition 2005)

Vikas Swarup's debut novel follows the story of Ram Mohammed Thomas, a young Indian man who has been arrested after winning a billion rupees on a TV quiz show. The show's producers do not want to pay him and are positive that he cheated in some way.

The story unfolds as Ram Mohammed Thomas goes through each question on the show with a woman who will be his lawyer. Each question has a story that accompanies it, explaining how it is that Ram knew the answer.

While the book and the movie have the same general premise, the two mediums are actually very different things. When I closed the book today, I was overcome with a sensation of being underwhelmed. While Swarup's novel is creative and compelling enough, it leaves something to be desired.

Oddly enough, the movie allows you to feel for the characters in a way that the book does not. The changes made in the movie seem to benefit both the characters and the story, and allow for a deeper relationship to develop between the characters. There is something detached from Swarup's novel, and it left this reader quite cold.

That is not to say that the book isn't worth checking out. The book is interesting enough on its own and provides a different (the stories in the book are very different from those in the film) viewpoint of Mumbai and India.

However, the strongest urge this reader felt upon finishing the book was to go rent the movie. ( )

This is the book one of my favorite movies was based upon. There is a slight similarity between it and that film (Slumdog Millionaire), but enough differences that it's really a new story. There's not much to say except the story kept me reading, the descriptions really good, and I liked the author's style. I may add more to this at a later date, but for now, that's it! ( )

A very entertaining read. Some of the coincidences are stretched a bit too thin for my taste -- I had trouble suspending disbelief. But it's an interesting look into India and the incredible gaps between rich and poor there.

The plot is pretty different from the movie. ( )

I bought this book out of curiosity. Usually I like the book better than 'the movie based on'. This is the film version of Q&A and I wondered what all the fuss was about.
Did not see the movie (yet), because I always watch the movie after reading a book, not the other way 'round. That way my own private 'in-mind-movie' is not spoiled by images from the film.

Well, my review. When I started out in the book, I thought hmmm. The first chapter really made me hesitate: would I read on, or give up? I did not really like what I was reading, the story, setting, or whatever it was, did not grab me.
Only when I was well into the answer to the second question I got really into the story. I got so very much into it, that I read it out in one read. Only stopped to make me some coffee...

The story of Thomas' life is a sad one. At times it is funny, but mostly it describes how a poor boy tries to survive. Misfortune constantly crosses his path, sometimes so often, that it is hard to believe that things like this really do happen.

After he wins the Q&A he's rich. What I like is that he uses the money partially to correct some things he came across while he was poor. On the other hand, the end was really happy, all came out right, even with the girl he loves. That was too much for me, too sweet.
But, despite the contents it was a nice read. Not too difficult, just good as an in-between. ( )

I should mention that this 1-star review is not at all related to my opinion of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" which I liked much better than the book. I am glad that the movie-makers smartly retained the only decent thing about this novel that is the game show plot device and tossed almost all of the rest into the trash because that's where this novel truly belongs. This book badly needs some editing or even better, a different author. I read in some review that "Slumdog Millionaire" feels like a juvenile's attempt at writing and I have to agree. It is not even L of literature. It does not take long to get tired of the flat narration.

Anyway, writing style is perhaps not the biggest problem with this novel. The story is so full of cliches. Every episode in the life of the protagonist seems as if it is pulled out of some cheap bollywood masala movie (the episodes in the movie Slumdog are way better). Swarup took all the vices and social issues he could think of and stitched it all together into a story. Child abuse, murder, suicide, incest, prostitution, theft, robbery, corruption, eve-teasing, poverty, riots, religious squabbles, underworld, India-Pak war it's all there. Homophobia and pedophilia is way overdone. Such is the cheap drivel Swarup is selling in the name of realism. He has played out the religion card too and named the hero 'Ram Mohammed Thomas'. With this selling recipe in place Mr.Swarup perhaps didn't think there was any need put an effort into the actual writing anymore.

These are a few snippets of this book's review from Amazon by people outside India:


"Despite heartrending descriptions of sexual abuse, racism, poverty, homeless and much, much, more in modern India, this is an utterly enjoyable picaresque adventure that is one of the best reads of the year."

"..this is an easy and entertaining story that captures much of the essence of this fascinating country. "

"It offers a very good look at several different societies and life-styles in India."

"...an exciting and fascinating glimpse into the life in modern India. Well written and full of both common day-life and historical facts about the densely populated peninsula,..."

"Gives some overview of reality in India."

"...that gives you enough of the misery that exists in India.."

"It is well-written and describes India, as it is today."


Oh, Puhleeze! This ain't modern India (or even India in the older times for that matter). None of the episodes in the book has even a faint resemblance to the life of a common man in India. A common man doesn't spend all his life amidst every imaginable crime and misery. Swarup is pandering to the western audience by giving an impression that abuse, poverty, misery and what not is all there is to Indian way of life. And that too from a person like Vikas Swarup who is an India diplomat and is supposed to represent India to the world outside. At least I think it was pretty clear in the movie that it was just a story of an orphan boy from slums.The depiction of Bombay slum life as a backdrop was perhaps much closer to reality in the movie than Swarup's novel. The movie never seemed to claim that that was the essence of life in India. Swarup, on the other hand, draws his characters from different economic classes, different religions, people ranging from movie stars to diplomats, priests, businessmen, middle-class, slum-dwellers and all. And he presents every possible way of life in India with just a dark side to it.

Swarup himself does not even live in India. And even during his visits to India I am sure he has only experienced the life of rich upper class who form only a small fraction of our population. It is not a surprise that he is completely out of the touch of the reality of common life in India. Someone please tell him that watching a bunch of bollywood movies is not how you get an experience of Indian life. ( )