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Q and A (filmed as Slumdog Millionaire)
 
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Q and A (filmed as Slumdog Millionaire) (Paperback)

by Vikas Swarup (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Slumdog Millionaire [DVD] [2008] DVD ~ Dev Patel

Q and A (filmed as Slumdog Millionaire) + Slumdog Millionaire [DVD] [2008]

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan; New edition edition (1 Feb 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 055277250X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552772501
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.2 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 14,120 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Sunday Telegraph

A colourful portrait of Indian society is painted with remarkable
lightness and wit.


Independent on Sunday

A hugely successful mixture of satire and intrigue.

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Customer Reviews

71 Reviews
5 star:
 (43)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (71 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
93 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, page-turning romp, 20 May 2005
By Budge Burgess (Kilmarnock, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Q and A (Hardcover)
Ram Mohammed Thomas, a poor, 18-year old waiter from the wrong side of the tracks, becomes the biggest quiz-show winner in history, scooping a billion rupee prize in an Indian television programme which goes one better than 'Millionaire'. Unfortunately, the producers don't have the money to pay him, so instead, charge him with fraud. Fortunately, a young lawyer comes to his assistance. Chapter by chapter, the young man recounts his autobiography, the narrative of his fraught life illustrating how it is that an ignorant, uneducated teenager comes to know the answers to all the questions he is asked on the show.

This is a wonderful adventure as we piece together the life of young Ram Mohammed Thomas. He is a man with three names - no one can quite work out whether he is Hindu, Moslem, or Christian. He is a young man with many more identities. Vikas Swarup (an Indian diplomat), leads us through a lifestyle which passes sardonic, not to mention savage commentary on contemporary India.

The tale is almost Dickensian in the range of characters who appear on the pages, wholly Dickensian in its theme of the homeless orphan setting out to find his way in the world, transforming survival into fortune.

The tale is told in a dozen short stories which are woven together into a whole autobiography. We move backwards and forwards through Ram Mohammed Thomas' life, encountering the varied characters who shape his destiny. We have gangsters and robbers, Bollywood, poverty and exploitation, espionage and a wry dig at diplomacy and notions of racial and cultural superiority, and a reflection on how truth is always the first casualty of war as India and Pakistan square up.

Vikas Swarup writes a well-paced novel. Although the action moves back and forth through our anti-hero's young life, the pace of the novel is such that the various strands remain imprinted on your mind. Indeed, the author twists and manipulates your reading, holding back little surprises for you.

He comments on religious bigotry and the abuse of children. He presents cinema as the opium of the people, the glitz and glamour disguising the truth. He savages the role of television in pandering to the lowest common denominator, feeding greed, yet interrupting news coverage of the outbreak of war with adverts and the mundane. And Swarup also makes emphatic the gulf which exists in a world where caste, class, and money dominate and the rich cannot conceive that the poor might have knowledge, intelligence, and street-wise education.

An exciting, page-turning romp which will oblige you to think and question ... and a book which is already being widely touted as likely to be filmed in the near future.

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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Flat out fantastic!, 3 Mar 2005
This review is from: Q and A (Hardcover)
Q&A is an amazing book. One of the finest novels you will ever read. Possibly the best debut novel by an Indian Author. And the reason is not hard to find. Its the best marriage I have ever seen between prose and plot.

First the plot. An ill-educated, 18 year old orphan, working as a waiter in Jimmy's Bar in Mumbai, appears on the latest show in town called W3B - "Who Will Win A Billion" and correctly answers all 12 questions to win the jackpot of one billion rupees. The unscrupulous producers of the show are stunned. How can an illierate water answer all these tough questions. So they promptly bribe the police and ask them to frame Ram Mohammad Thomas for cheating. A young lawyer called Smita Shah suddenly appears in the police station where Thomas is being tortured, reads out the law to the Inspector and takes him away to her house. Then, over the course of that night - the longest night of Thomas's life - she gets him to recount the story of his life and how it enabled him to answer the 12 questions on the quiz show, question by question. So, as can guess, the novel has exactly 12 chapters.

Now for the prose. The story is narrated in a stunningly original first person voice. Simple yet supple. Non-melodramatic, yet lyrical. It made me laugh and it made me cry. Here's a sample- Ram Mohammad Thomas talking about his life in a juvenile home: "We huddle around the twenty-one-inch Dyanora TV and watch Hindi film songs and Channel V and middle-class soaps on Doordarshan. We especially like watching the films on Sunday.These films are about a fantasy world. A world in which kids have mothers and fathers, and birthdays. A world in which they live in huge houses, drive in huge cars and get huge presents. We saw this fantasy world, but we never got carried away by it. We knew we could never have a life like Amitabh Bachchan's or Shah Rukh Khan's. The most we could aspire to was to become one of those who held power over us. So whenever the teacher asked us 'What do you want to become when you grow up?' 'No one said Pilot or Prime Minister or Banker or Actor. We said cook or cleaner or sports teacher or, at the very best, warden. The Juvenile Home diminished us in our own eyes." The best thing about this novel is that it really makes you believe in luck, that indeed it could happen this way and the underdog can really have the most unlikely of triumphs.

For all those of you who have become jaded with exotic generational sagas from India or magical realist fables with talking parrots and flying carpets, Q&A will come as a breath of much needed fresh air.

Go read it!

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable insight into Indian society, 3 Aug 2006
By P. DATTA "Pritthijit Datta" (Stockton on Tees, Teesside) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Q & A by Vikas Swarup provides the reader a valuable insight into Indian society, which is beatifully narratted and delivered in this novel. The key areas pointed out in this novel, which charaterized modern Indian society are the caste system, corruption, illegal sex, widespread poverty and long standing passion for Bollywood and cricket.

The story runs in parrallel with Ram Mohammad Thomas a contestant in a quiz show along with various events occurring in his life. He is accussed of cheating in the show in which he wins a billion. The idea is based on the army general who cheated in Who want to win a millionaire in UK. That is the general gist of the story. A section which accompanies this novel is an interview with the author. This section is interesting to read.

Overall, Q & A is an enjoyable read and gives you a real taste of Indian culture. There is contrasting sides to the Indian society you will witness as a reader. The good side combined with the dark side.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
This is a brilliant book. Masterfully constructed with a twist in the tail. Vivid depiction of life for a poor orphan boy vs the ultra rich in India today. Read more
Published 1 month ago by G. W. Jackson

4.0 out of 5 stars Q & A (filmed as Slumdog Millionaire)
I felt that this book was more gently written than the explosion which is the film. It goes through the questions that the main character was asked in the Indian version of 'Who... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mrs. H. N. Robinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
If you loved the film, then you should read the book. I was captured by the fantastic storyline, which is unlike the film in many respects, but better. Read more
Published 2 months ago by BL

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read
I would recommend that you watch the film before reading this as it leaves you with a happier upbeat feeling. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Uzma Farooq

5.0 out of 5 stars worth reading
Q and A (filmed as Slumdog Millionaire)

This book is definately worth reading, I am part of a book club and wouldn't of picked it to read as I had seen the film but... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Cally

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly fascinating & entertaining story!
I enjoyed this book so much from the very first sentence to the very last. It is so well written and the plot is great. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ingrid

5.0 out of 5 stars Slumdog Millionaire
This was an amazing book that is written perfectly. I definitely recommend this to people who have a lot of spare time as you won't want to put it down. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Paisley

4.0 out of 5 stars Q&A
I heard part of this book which was serialised on Radio 4 & decided to buy it. It was a good read, not quite a 5* read, but an enjoyable book.
Published 3 months ago by Pat Bunce

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, also fun to see how it was adapted for the film
Reading the book after watching the film adds layers and complexity to the story and glimpse of life in India. Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. Mielniczek

3.0 out of 5 stars Slumdog review
Although slightly different to the successful film, the book has the same sense of liveliness and vibrancy which makes it an enjoyable read. Ideal holiday reading! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. Y. Haynes

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