I have read Slumdog Millionaire written by the Indian author Vikas Swarup. Slumdog millionaire was published in 2005 and was originally called Q&A. However, after the popular film adaptation the book’s name was changed to Slumdog millionaire, the same as the movie.
This book is a drama with many intense parts where you are thrown back and forth between hope and despair.
It takes place in modern day India. The environment is mostly dark and goes hand in hand with the story. When times are bad the environment is dark and full of shadows and when the main character experiences something positive the world brightens a bit. Even when all seems good the world still seems grey and dull.
You get to meet a lot of different and interesting characters in this book and I have chosen to take a closer look at some of them. There is one main character Ram Mohammad Thomas who is also the narrator of the story. He takes part in the Indian TV-show “Who Will Win a Billion?”. Ram has lived a hard life but has managed to withstand falling in to darkness and has become a better person. Through his experiences in life he is able to answer the 12 questions in the game show. Other personal traits that I have picked up are that he is stubborn and is determined not to fail at anything he attempts to do. There are two main supporting characters one is named Salim and the other one is named Nita. Salim is Ram’s best friend and dreams of becoming a movie star. He is a part of the adventures in Ram’s flashbacks and seems to be a person who dares to follow his dreams. I believe that Salim does not realize the seriousness in some situations and does not understand the consequences of his actions. Ram is totally different he is more realistic and does not trust people as easily as Salim. You could say that Ram is a bit of a protector to Salim. Nita is a prostitute who Ram meets when he makes a living as a Taj Mahal tour guide. They instantly connect and Nita strikes me as a beautiful but yet a bit unsure young girl.
The story is about Ram Mohammad Thomas who is one question away from winning a billion rupees on the TV-show “Who Will Win a Billion?”. But instead of giving him the final question the game host makes sure that Ram gets arrested, accused of cheating. How is it possible that an 18-year old boy from the slums can out smart doctors and teachers? He must be cheating, or is he? Ram is very confused and angry by this and demands that he can explain all this to someone. He gets to talk to his lawyer Sitka and he tells her just how he got to know all the right answers. The reason why he gets all the questions right is because of life experience. For every question asked he gets a flashback from his life that is in some way connected to the question and is able to get the right answer. The reason why he is participating in the TV-show is because he wants to free his one true love Nita from her pimp. The pimp refuses to give her away without pay and this is what drives Ram.
The language of the book was relatively easy to follow. There are a few hick ups here and there where the author uses difficult words and sayings. That makes you have to read the sentence one or two times extra to figure out what he means. These small bumps in the road are a rare find in Q&A and for the most part the English is readable for almost anyone with basic English knowledge.
The message of the book according to me is a very big part of this particular book. Because it flows through the whole story and with every decision the main character makes. I think the message is too and that nothing is impossible. The main character achieves the impossible by coming from a seemingly treacherous situation where his one and true love never can become his because of a pimp. Then turning it around and against all odds wins a TV-show all to free her and reunite with her. I guess another obvious message is if you set your mind to something you should not give up because if you just believe and maintain on the right track your goal is reachable.
I think that this book gives a great view of society and the poverty and what really is going on in such places in India. The character descriptions make you get a great connection to each character in the book and the way they act and what the go through is really moving. This also makes the characters come alive. The story itself is exciting from the first page to the last and it leaves me with a sort of feel-good sense. Yet I feel touched and angry about how some people are treated and that this exists in real life. To summarize it simple I can only say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. I think it has it all, excitement, romance and drama. I would be crazy not to recommend this to anyone. Everybody should read this book because it makes you think and it is just absolutely fantastic.
Written by Rebecca
1 comment:
This book was fantastic, gutsy, and brave. It was written in a very unorthodox style that not only managed to keep your knowledge of the time and place in perfect order, despite nothing happening in chronological order (which I loved!), and also the issues discussed here are hard to swallow and, in my opinion, very important for people to read about.
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