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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I have feelings about this book.
It's portrayals over everyday life for poor people in India? Very well written. You get to read about tons of different aspects of Indian life, which, as someone who went into the novel unfamiliar with Indian life, I'm going to take at face value.
It's portrayals of women as constantly weak, naïve, and needing protection/avenging? Yeah, not great. Ram is primarily motivated, over and over and over and over and over, by violence happening to the women around him. I get it, it can be a powerful motivation, but every major female character in the novel is physically harmed, which gives Ram is primary motivation. There's a few spoiler-y moments where this approach is almost vindicated, but the excessive use of fridging knocks two stars of the novel for me.
Audiobook sidenote: The accents are very well used. They definitely could have been over/poorly done, but I thought they added to the overall feel of the novel.
It's portrayals over everyday life for poor people in India? Very well written. You get to read about tons of different aspects of Indian life, which, as someone who went into the novel unfamiliar with Indian life, I'm going to take at face value.
It's portrayals of women as constantly weak, naïve, and needing protection/avenging? Yeah, not great. Ram is primarily motivated, over and over and over and over and over, by violence happening to the women around him. I get it, it can be a powerful motivation, but every major female character in the novel is physically harmed, which gives Ram is primary motivation. There's a few spoiler-y moments where this approach is almost vindicated, but the excessive use of fridging knocks two stars of the novel for me.
Audiobook sidenote: The accents are very well used. They definitely could have been over/poorly done, but I thought they added to the overall feel of the novel.
I don't really know what to say. I mean I had to read this for my literature class and so I did. It's sad that the narrator never felt like a real character to me, but his story is okay. I think he told it in too much detail, explaining and telling things that weren't necessary to explain why he knew the answers. And I also find it a bit weird that the author has never been to the places he writes about because that makes it seem as though this is just how he sees India and not at all what it's really like. I don't know it's hard to explain, but it feels as though he wanted to tell a story and felt the need to add much more violence and rape into the mix than was ever necessary to explain the knowing of the answers. (Example: knowing Pluto is the smallest planet because a girl you knew had a cat named Pluto because her dad was an astronomer. Going into detail about how he also felt entitled to his daughter body, raped and burnt her wasn't really necessary to some extent)
I really don't know how to explain my feelings on this book, it's just that I don't recommend it unless you enjoy stories that go into so much detail, you sometimes forget what the heck is going on.
I really don't know how to explain my feelings on this book, it's just that I don't recommend it unless you enjoy stories that go into so much detail, you sometimes forget what the heck is going on.
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars, not what I'd consider great literature but a good read and clever format
Swarup sketches the scenes very well.
The film is very different, but I liked them both.
The film is very different, but I liked them both.
I really liked the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" as did many other people. The book was good but not great, and I enjoyed the movie was adapted from the book much more.
Worth reading, but I think the movie version did a better job at telling a story based on the same idea. The language was a bit repetative and not very believable as an eighteen-year old boy. However, some of the individual stories were well-written and memorable.
It's an interesting book, though this is the movie book the real book is called Q&A. Enjoy :)
I love Indian literature - there is always a magical element to it. This book, however showed a darker side to the culture. The concept was great but I found some of the connections between characters unlikely. Still overall kept me engaged and now I want to see the film.
This novel was actually called "Q&A," but they changed the title after the movie was made. I haven't yet seen the movie, but many reviewers say the movie is actually BETTER than the book.
I had mixed feelings about the book. I'm not generally a big fan of plots that jump around in time, and this novel did that in every chapter.
The plot and circumstances were infinitely implausible, and it seemed as if the main character, Ram Mohammed Thomas, had both the best luck and the worst luck possible.
Some Indians have commented that this story does not make India look very good, and others have criticized the movie for the same reasons. The author is an Indian diplomat, who grew up in a privileged environment. I imagine that he has no direct experience of the Indian slums in Mumbai, Delhi, and Agra.
What I find fascinating about India is the combination of beauty and horror, tragedy and comedy, poignancy and pain. This book touches on all of these, but doesn't do so in a particularly elegant way.
I've read a lot of Indian fiction, and this was not in my top 10. But it was an interesting story about an orphan boy who wins big...as long as you are able to suspend belief for a couple of hundred pages.
I had mixed feelings about the book. I'm not generally a big fan of plots that jump around in time, and this novel did that in every chapter.
The plot and circumstances were infinitely implausible, and it seemed as if the main character, Ram Mohammed Thomas, had both the best luck and the worst luck possible.
Some Indians have commented that this story does not make India look very good, and others have criticized the movie for the same reasons. The author is an Indian diplomat, who grew up in a privileged environment. I imagine that he has no direct experience of the Indian slums in Mumbai, Delhi, and Agra.
What I find fascinating about India is the combination of beauty and horror, tragedy and comedy, poignancy and pain. This book touches on all of these, but doesn't do so in a particularly elegant way.
I've read a lot of Indian fiction, and this was not in my top 10. But it was an interesting story about an orphan boy who wins big...as long as you are able to suspend belief for a couple of hundred pages.