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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
This book was wonderfully written, captivating, and original. It was cleverly planned out and each chapter was jam packed with so much detail, it felt as if I was reading 13 novellas instead of one larger novel. The chapter lengths are perfect too! If you’re not a fast reader, or find it difficult to remember what happens in a novel, I’d recommend this book. I took a month break while reading it, but since I’d stopped between chapters it felt very easy getting back into things! Very well structured !!
I loved the ending; it was a happy, hopeful moment in spite of the trials and tribulations of Ram’s life. There was even a moment my jaw dropped in shock!
I will warn, however, that Ram has lived a brutal life. There are no pulled punches when describing Ram’s tumultuous life. I was also surprised by the homophobia and general xenophobic actions from characters through the book. My surprise may come from the cultural differences I have, but it was a shock.
I haven’t seen the movie (Dev Patel i LOVE you), but I have heard it’s quite different and more heartwarming than this is.
I loved the ending; it was a happy, hopeful moment in spite of the trials and tribulations of Ram’s life. There was even a moment my jaw dropped in shock!
I will warn, however, that Ram has lived a brutal life. There are no pulled punches when describing Ram’s tumultuous life. I was also surprised by the homophobia and general xenophobic actions from characters through the book. My surprise may come from the cultural differences I have, but it was a shock.
I haven’t seen the movie (Dev Patel i LOVE you), but I have heard it’s quite different and more heartwarming than this is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Xenophobia
This is one of those rare occasions when I am going to have to say that I like the movie much more than the book. For one, the movie has the absolutely adorable Dev Patel. For two, I think that it was a fantastic decision on the part of Danny Boyle et. al. to edit out the homophobic stereotyping that permeates the beginning of this book.
I’ve only read seventy five pages, so maybe it gets better. I don’t know. This sort of thing tends to bother me quite a bit and I just can’t get past it.
Let’s review specifically what has turned me away from finishing this book:
1) In the vignette for the opening question, the hero’s childhood best friend is obsessed with film star Armaan Ali, who has recently been featured in the gossip rags for a very public break up with his co-star. What’s even worse is that those slanderous writers have accused him of homosexual tendencies, which leads the best friend to buy up all the copies of said magazine that he can afford and burn them. The hero tells us that his friend “hates homosexuals” and then goes on to say:
”I, too, know of perverts and what they do to unsuspecting boys. In dark halls. In public toilets. In municipal gardens. In juvenile homes."
2) As the hero and his BFF are watching Armaan’s latest, a creepy old man sits down next to them, and then proceeds to fondle himself and molest the best friend, prompting the friend to jump up and threaten murder. In a brief moment of clarity, they realize that their attacker is none other than Armaan himself, wearing a fake beard.
3) For the very next vignette, the child hero is living in a church, as the ward of a priest. When a young priest arrives, the hero spies on him and observes homosexual pornography stuffed in his mattress, men dressed in leather and chains (and riding motorcycles!) showing up at all hours of the night, and cocaine use. The young priest cheekily flaunts his behavior and taunts the young hero.
4) About 24 hours after a 15 year old visitor arrives at the church, the hero walks in on the young priest raping him.
Now, if you can read all of that and it doesn’t bother you at all, I suggest you pick up this book. Maybe I am overreacting, but this feels too much like blatant stereotyping of homosexuals as perverted pedophiles. It’s the broadcasting of the homophobic belief that homosexual men will “go after” young boys at any opportunity. A belief that, in 1970, 70% of Americans agreed with.(1) In a 2005 survey, only 54% of Americans said that they “would allow gay people to be elementary school teachers.”(1)
So, I think that this erroneous belief is still out there, and I don’t intend to support anything that keeps it alive. Now, in fairness, Vikas Swarup has stated that he did not intend for this to be homophobic, but instead highlight the “exploitation of the weak by the strong.”(2) Honestly, I don’t buy that at all. I hope that this review can inform those that, like me, have a very low tolerance for this sort of thing.
Perfect Musical Pairing
Street Sweeper Social Club – Paper Planes
Sure, Tom Morello is a guitar-playing god, but doesn’t this second rate cover just make you want to listen to the M.I.A. version? Likewise this book just makes me long for the much more intelligent movie.
1. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html
2. http://www.thefullwiki.org/Q_%26_A_(novel)
I’ve only read seventy five pages, so maybe it gets better. I don’t know. This sort of thing tends to bother me quite a bit and I just can’t get past it.
Let’s review specifically what has turned me away from finishing this book:
1) In the vignette for the opening question, the hero’s childhood best friend is obsessed with film star Armaan Ali, who has recently been featured in the gossip rags for a very public break up with his co-star. What’s even worse is that those slanderous writers have accused him of homosexual tendencies, which leads the best friend to buy up all the copies of said magazine that he can afford and burn them. The hero tells us that his friend “hates homosexuals” and then goes on to say:
”I, too, know of perverts and what they do to unsuspecting boys. In dark halls. In public toilets. In municipal gardens. In juvenile homes."
2) As the hero and his BFF are watching Armaan’s latest, a creepy old man sits down next to them, and then proceeds to fondle himself and molest the best friend, prompting the friend to jump up and threaten murder. In a brief moment of clarity, they realize that their attacker is none other than Armaan himself, wearing a fake beard.
3) For the very next vignette, the child hero is living in a church, as the ward of a priest. When a young priest arrives, the hero spies on him and observes homosexual pornography stuffed in his mattress, men dressed in leather and chains (and riding motorcycles!) showing up at all hours of the night, and cocaine use. The young priest cheekily flaunts his behavior and taunts the young hero.
4) About 24 hours after a 15 year old visitor arrives at the church, the hero walks in on the young priest raping him.
Now, if you can read all of that and it doesn’t bother you at all, I suggest you pick up this book. Maybe I am overreacting, but this feels too much like blatant stereotyping of homosexuals as perverted pedophiles. It’s the broadcasting of the homophobic belief that homosexual men will “go after” young boys at any opportunity. A belief that, in 1970, 70% of Americans agreed with.(1) In a 2005 survey, only 54% of Americans said that they “would allow gay people to be elementary school teachers.”(1)
So, I think that this erroneous belief is still out there, and I don’t intend to support anything that keeps it alive. Now, in fairness, Vikas Swarup has stated that he did not intend for this to be homophobic, but instead highlight the “exploitation of the weak by the strong.”(2) Honestly, I don’t buy that at all. I hope that this review can inform those that, like me, have a very low tolerance for this sort of thing.
Perfect Musical Pairing
Street Sweeper Social Club – Paper Planes
Sure, Tom Morello is a guitar-playing god, but doesn’t this second rate cover just make you want to listen to the M.I.A. version? Likewise this book just makes me long for the much more intelligent movie.
1. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html
2. http://www.thefullwiki.org/Q_%26_A_(novel)
Published in 2005, Q&A was Vikas Swarup’s debut novel, and went on to be adapted into the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire. Hopping between Delhi and Mumbai, it features Ram, a young orphan who finds himself the unexpected winner of Who Will Win a Billion? – India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Arrested on suspicion of cheating by the show’s organisers, Ram finds himself telling much of his life story in order to explain how a poor, uneducated orphan could know the answers to the quiz show’s questions.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/qa-vikas-swarup/#more-1221
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/qa-vikas-swarup/#more-1221
-wish I had read this before I saw Slumdog Millionaire so that I could have been more enchanted by the way the story unfolded.
-I liked the creative style of storytelling through flashbacks that were not in chronological order.
-fast paced and engaging, but the easy happy ending is a little too unbelievable after the vivid description of abuse, violence, and poverty.
-I liked the creative style of storytelling through flashbacks that were not in chronological order.
-fast paced and engaging, but the easy happy ending is a little too unbelievable after the vivid description of abuse, violence, and poverty.
So, I've obviously seen this film first, and of course it's never the way round you should do things. Book first then movie, right? Well, if I'd read the book first, then I would never have been enticed to watch the movie and would have therefore missed out. This book is ... not good. I mean, the concept's there and... Yeah, that's it. Other than the plot, which I like (which is why I liked the film), it's just lacking. Even the plot, which is the best part, has been changed a lot in the film, for the better. The pace was all over the place. The author managed to shoehorn a million different grievances into one poor boy's life without really feeling the gravitas of each thing, but would spend pages and pages describing a film plot or an old war story that is irrelevant. The characters were two dimensional, with either good characters or bad characters. Ironically, the main character was neither, but not in an interesting way, he definitely fancied himself as something of a hero. I don't mind the 'bad' things that he did, it was more that his general attitude was kind of aloof? Indifferent? But I don't think the author was intending this. Maybe it was just the lack of detail in general. I guess he just annoyed me. The writing style was pretty basic, kind of amateurish, maybe better suited for a younger audience? But the content definitely wasn't. There were questionable aspects, like the weird depictions of homosexuality, with it either being perverse or immoral in some way (ie. adulterous or paedophilic). And all the many incidences of covert misogyny, sometimes disguised by male saviourism - "she doesn't deserve this treatment and I will save her!" kind of stuff - with every woman in the story being either in distress or just a bad person. There were so many horrible scenes, mostly involving women. Yeah, this guy's life is not the best but he seemed to get out of things pretty much scot-free most of the time, but the amount of women around him who were abused made me want any of them to have won the jackpot in the end. Spoiler, he wins money on a gameshow. I don't think that's a spoiler because that's the name of the novel. Does he get to keep it? Well, I'll keep you guessing there. Or just watch the film. Actually yes, do that.
Oh, one good thing I got from this book was I kept getting the song 'Jai Ho' featuring the Pussycat Dolls stuck in my head because of the book cover. That was alright actually.
Oh, one good thing I got from this book was I kept getting the song 'Jai Ho' featuring the Pussycat Dolls stuck in my head because of the book cover. That was alright actually.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Really really great book about a young man who wins the Indian version of 'Who wants to be a Millionaire', and is arrested because the shows producers think he has cheated his way to the top. Its brilliantly written, the stories told within are fabulous, a must read for any reader!
I have attempted to read this book before, and only completing half. I don't regret the fact because I'm not sure if I was ready for what the novel has to offer two years ago. Now that I've read it, I thank myself for hastily picking it up from my bookshelf while packing for a summer trip. I don't read books that have happy endings as often as the next person, because I think it's better when someone is in ease with themselves instead. When their problem is solved, and they have learned something from it, unlike Ariel from The Little Mermaid (all aside, that is still one of my favorite Disney movies). Slumdog Millionaire has so much to offer when it comes to a satisfying ending of my taste. Salim prompts a hit man to murder Maman, and Ram saves his damsel in distress, gives a portion of his earnings to the poor; never forgetting where he came from.
This is one of the best work to be read in a date as after watching it's movie adaptation , and after reading it shows the difference between the story is like showing what is not to be shown on t.v. have some changes that are then in a book.
This book is a lifetime experience. as a man reaches on the platform which is like impossible for him and got to know the answers as life teaches him during when he was struggling throughout his childhood and adulthood and also show the aspects how his brother got corrupted by the wrong people influence and his love who became someone mistress. It has a deep impact on him and he started working in call centre from where you get a chance to grow on this prestigious platform of life show . The question which came to him and he answered is all from his experience from childhood as that came handy to him during the show. He lost his family very early And life changes for him at that point he lost his brother when he win in a show but found is love. Its a happy ending
This book is a lifetime experience. as a man reaches on the platform which is like impossible for him and got to know the answers as life teaches him during when he was struggling throughout his childhood and adulthood and also show the aspects how his brother got corrupted by the wrong people influence and his love who became someone mistress. It has a deep impact on him and he started working in call centre from where you get a chance to grow on this prestigious platform of life show . The question which came to him and he answered is all from his experience from childhood as that came handy to him during the show. He lost his family very early And life changes for him at that point he lost his brother when he win in a show but found is love. Its a happy ending