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Compelling! I have not seen the movie Slumdog Millionare that was made from this title but I can understand why the story would be a great film. It was a little too far-fetched for me but it's fiction so I'll let that slide. :)
Book that Slumdog Millionaire was based on. So much better than the movie! The story is so much more complex and not as focused on the cheesy love story. Definitely read it if you haven't seen the movie!
My review is based on the Audio Book with excellent narration by Christopher Simpson. I had seen the movie several years ago so can’t recall which events or how were they adapted for the film.
I remember the furore generated because “the West loves to depict India and Indians in a disgusting, filthy light.” It is therefore difficult for some readers who have commented on this site, to accept that the author is an Indian and a diplomat to boot! So, he is blamed for “pandering to the West!” I have personally witnessed young, homeless boys being buggered by rickshaw pullers late at night in Kashmiri Gate, Delhi; young cousins being molested by “uncles” at family weddings; the treatment of domestic staff by “middle class” families and the complete obliviousness to filth strewn neighborhoods. India exists and survives at multiple levels and only those who approach it with a pair of unjaundiced, nonjudgmental eyes can witness life as it unfolds - not just in India, but anywhere, anytime.
The theme is commendable but the narrative style dull, plodding and repetitive. Usually, I root for the written work over the visual movie but in this instance, the movie wins hands down.
I remember the furore generated because “the West loves to depict India and Indians in a disgusting, filthy light.” It is therefore difficult for some readers who have commented on this site, to accept that the author is an Indian and a diplomat to boot! So, he is blamed for “pandering to the West!” I have personally witnessed young, homeless boys being buggered by rickshaw pullers late at night in Kashmiri Gate, Delhi; young cousins being molested by “uncles” at family weddings; the treatment of domestic staff by “middle class” families and the complete obliviousness to filth strewn neighborhoods. India exists and survives at multiple levels and only those who approach it with a pair of unjaundiced, nonjudgmental eyes can witness life as it unfolds - not just in India, but anywhere, anytime.
The theme is commendable but the narrative style dull, plodding and repetitive. Usually, I root for the written work over the visual movie but in this instance, the movie wins hands down.
Soap opera in book form. The plot jumped around at leisure. You could tell the whole thing was written in a rush. Any beauty in the prose was lost in translation
When Ram Mohammad Thomas wins a billion rupees on an Indian quiz show, the show's producers, not wanting to pay out the jackpot and not believeing that an 18 year-old waiter from the slums of Mumbai could correctly answer all the questions without cheating, have the police arrest him. A lawyer with a surprising connection to Ram's past frees him from police custody. To prove to the lawyer that he did not cheat, Ram explains how he knew all the answers on the quiz. Each chapter of the book gives the back story of Ram's knowledge and ends with Ram and his lawyer watching the taped snippet from the quiz show where he correctly answers the question. At times ludicrous, at times comical, at times horrifying and yet oddly uplifting, the novel keeps the reader wondering until the end: what were the quiz questions and will Ram get to keep the billion rupees?
This was a fascinating book to listen to. The reader did a good job with accents, which helped keep the characters straight, and the story was more compelling than the movie.
The main character, Ram Mohammed Thomas, tells his story in the weary way that I would expect from someone who has no expectation that anything good will ever happen in his life. He expects nothing but discrimination and toil, and if anything bad will happen, it will. His life is a series of unfortunate events.
But all those events led to his having answers to a quiz show, despite his lack of formal education and a dramatic turn of luck.
The stories of his life were gritty, creepy, and dark, sometimes hard to listen to, but Thomas' will to live and thrive despite having no reason to expect life to get better makes the story redemptive and inspiring.
The main character, Ram Mohammed Thomas, tells his story in the weary way that I would expect from someone who has no expectation that anything good will ever happen in his life. He expects nothing but discrimination and toil, and if anything bad will happen, it will. His life is a series of unfortunate events.
But all those events led to his having answers to a quiz show, despite his lack of formal education and a dramatic turn of luck.
The stories of his life were gritty, creepy, and dark, sometimes hard to listen to, but Thomas' will to live and thrive despite having no reason to expect life to get better makes the story redemptive and inspiring.
An excellent novel.
The story opens up with a young man being accused of cheating India's version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire." A lawyer comes in to defend him and the novel is framed in the manner that the young man is recounting his life's story to the lawyer in order to explain to her how he knew all the answers to the questions on the show. The young man tells his remarkable life story that is filled with hope and tragedy. Each story really touched some part of me- I often found myself yelling at the book and the characters in it.
SPOILER:
Ultimately it ends happy and things come full circle. He wins the money and uses it to touch all the people he has encountered in his life. A recommended read for sure.
The story opens up with a young man being accused of cheating India's version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire." A lawyer comes in to defend him and the novel is framed in the manner that the young man is recounting his life's story to the lawyer in order to explain to her how he knew all the answers to the questions on the show. The young man tells his remarkable life story that is filled with hope and tragedy. Each story really touched some part of me- I often found myself yelling at the book and the characters in it.
SPOILER:
Ultimately it ends happy and things come full circle. He wins the money and uses it to touch all the people he has encountered in his life. A recommended read for sure.
I enjoyed the film, Slumdog Millionaire, enough to buy it; but now I want to watch it again. It seems like the book is quite different. The female lead and the romantic interest in the book seem to be of a completely different construct and many of the backstories which explain Ram's background knowledge that helped him correctly answer the questions on the televised quiz show are also completely different.
Essentially the story is the same and it's inspirational, if nothing other than that the hero, Ram Mohammad Thomas is a selfless, kind person who, despite hardships few of us could even imagine, has managed to retain some goodness and resilience that offers the reader hope.
Essentially the story is the same and it's inspirational, if nothing other than that the hero, Ram Mohammad Thomas is a selfless, kind person who, despite hardships few of us could even imagine, has managed to retain some goodness and resilience that offers the reader hope.
I've read reviews that said the film was preferable to the book because the vignettes were of better quality, so I'm interested in seeing the film to compare. The story, while an original concept, was both unbelievable and superficial. Thomas came off as whiny several times throughout his narration, and I left the book feeling no real emotional response to any of these characters. Plus, the cover of the book would lead you to believe that love was Thomas' main motivation when that is hardly the case. Love doesn't even enter the picture until about halfway through the third act. Without seeing the film, I could easily see this as being that rare case where the film is better than the book.
Ini buku berbahaya.
Buku ini susah dilepas sebelum selesai dibaca. Demikianlah pengalaman saya yang mendapat buku ini di stand Serambi saat di Islamic Book Fair Istora hari ini, lalu iseng merobek plastik pembungkusnya di dalam mikrolet M19 saat tersendat-sendat di Gudang Seng. Dan selesai malam ini juga.
Huufff... bagaimanapun, ceritanya tetaplah sangat Indiheeee...
Buku ini susah dilepas sebelum selesai dibaca. Demikianlah pengalaman saya yang mendapat buku ini di stand Serambi saat di Islamic Book Fair Istora hari ini, lalu iseng merobek plastik pembungkusnya di dalam mikrolet M19 saat tersendat-sendat di Gudang Seng. Dan selesai malam ini juga.
Huufff... bagaimanapun, ceritanya tetaplah sangat Indiheeee...