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May 05, 2011

mp rated it:

I should mention that this 1-star review is not at all related to my opinion of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" which I absolutely loved. 5 of 5 stars to the movie. I am glad that the movie-makers smartly retained the only decent thing about this novel that is the game show plot device and tossed almost all of the rest into the trash because that's where this novel truly belongs. This book badly needs some editing or even better, a different author. I read in some review that "Slu More...

34 comments like (25 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Lexie rated it:

I have rarely been as ambivalent about a book as I was about Q&A. I realized about half-way through that I could put it down, never pick it up again, and not feel any remorse at all. Yet it was just engaging enough to continue reading, and I finished it. I was moderately intrigued throughout, but nothing in it lit a passion in me at all.

Basically, I'm glad I checked it out of the library.

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Amy rated it:

I was completely unenchanted with the movie Slumdog Millionaire; the story, I felt, was predictable with characters that were totally uninteresting or completely unlikable. However, much as I was unimpressed with the movie, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was the kernel of a very interesting story there, and that maybe, just maybe, I might have a good experience with the book.

I am pleased to report that I was correct - the book [u:]Q&A[/u:] is far superior to the film. A few More...

5 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2008

Leigh-ann rated it:

I was torn about how to rate this book. On one hand, I just loved the unusual plot, and could have easily given it 5 stars. On the other hand, wow, I don't remember the last time I read anything so blatantly homophobic. Three different male characters, two of whom are clearly identified as "gay", were predatory pedophiles who abused young boys. A third man was also a pedophile who abused young boys, but at least the author never claimed he was gay. I didn't feel any of these chara More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2009

Dini rated it:

Kisah yang diadaptasi menjadi film peraih berbagai penghargaan, Slumdog Millionaire. Ram Mohammad Thomas adalah pemuda miskin berusia delapan belas tahun yang secara mengejutkan berhasil memenangkan satu miliar rupee dalam sebuah kuis televisi. Bagaimana caranya ia menjawab pertanyaan kuis yang jawabannya mestinya tak diketahui orang yang tinggal di rumah petak kumuh seperti dirinya?

Kita pun dibawa mengikuti kisah Ram, si anak yatim piatu yang ditinggalkan di depan gereja dan dibesa More...

7 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Literary Feline rated it:

It was a spur of the moment decision to read Vikas Swarup’s novel when I did. I tend to prefer to read the book before seeing the movie it is based on, but I hadn’t known until recently that the movie was actually based on a book. In cases like this, when I really want to see the movie in the theater, I often times will just go ahead and see the movie anyway. The book will have to wait. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on a copy of Slumdog Millionaire, so titled after the movie no less More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Ev rated it:

Good idea for a story. Poor, uneducated orphan kid wins a billion rupees (About $20 million USD) on a game show.

Other than that it was somewhat of a struggle to get through this book. I think it was all the Indian names. I know this book is written by an Indian and was translated into English but I had a hard time getting into it when every sentance had some Indian word I didn't know what it meant and there were no other explaining to help figure it out. Maybe if I spoke that langua More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Nicole rated it:

As a huge fan of the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, I was very excited to read the book on which it was based. However, the only similarity between the book and the film is the general plot of a young man in the slums who goes on a game show and answers questions that are related to his life experiences. The relationships between the characters have changed, almost all of the questions have changed, and the love story is completely different. I still enjoyed the book, although the dialogue is often More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2008

Alan rated it:

I read in Entertainment Weekly about how the film version (Slumdog Millionare) of this book is coming out later this month.
The storyline caught my interest so I bought the book at my local book store. I really enjoyed this book. A poor, uneducated, orphan teen somehow answers all 12 questions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Immediately after winning he is thrown in jail, accused of cheating. The book follows chapter by chapter how he acquired the knowled More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2009

Lesley rated it:

Nice...this book is the basis for the wonderful movie, Slumdog Millionaire. Although the premise is the same, (dirt poor, uneducated Mumbai teen mysteriously answers all the trivia questions on a game show correctly, then explains in flashback how each question is connected to a traumatic life experience) the stories in the book don't hold together as well, and the ending is far weaker. However,some of the individual stories have a terrific creepy quality. Much more emphasis on the frequent degr More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 22, 2009

Scurra rated it:

Finding innovative hooks for short stories has been a staple of literature for centuries (think the Canterbury Tales, the Decameron or the Arabian Nights.) In Q&A Swarup has found a doozy, utilising a format most readers will be able to easily relate to whilst springing continual surprised in the non-linear timeline. Even when you know a particular story is due to be told, when it arrives the details are always fun. And the punchline is fantastically plausible and consistent with the establi More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2009

Bonnie Jeanne rated it:

Interesting premise. An Indian waiter, Ram Mohammed Thomas, wins the big prize in a television game show and is promptly arrested. Game show producers claim he cheated to win, but it is not secret the prize will bankrupt the production company, so the cheating charge is pretty much a necessity.

The arrested young man is visited by a stranger, a woman who says she wants to help him. She wants him to explain how someone with so little formal education could have won the game show quiz. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Trin rated it:

Wow. Simon Beaufoy really deserved that Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. I didn’t think that Slumdog Millionaire was the Best Movie EVAR! as some people seem to, but the book is just awful. Scattered and poorly written, with a narrative that relies on more farfetched coincidences than a cracked-out Dickens novel, Q&A also manages to make its protagonist completely unsympathetic, and its romance entirely unromantic. Oh, and the whole thing—the first few chapters especially—is cringingly homophobic. More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Melissa rated it:

I saw Slumdog Millionaire before I read the book it is loosely based upon. This time, the movie was better than the book. The episodes in the book were much worse, much more disturbing than in the movie. (I'm so tired of books that have boys sexually abused by perverts. Why can't a villain be a villain without being a pervert?) The movie kept a certain level of comedy and humor alongside the darkness. The book didn't manage to do that, and it didn't have the romantic storyline that connected the More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2011

Melly rated it:

I was torn as to how to rate this book. I'm someone who likes to read the book before seeing the movie, but I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" back in 2008 and fell in love with it. I thought it was unique, unusual and magical. I finally decided to read the book last week, and it's very different from the movie. I was completely engaged the entire time and loved seeing what exhilarating yet heartbreaking adventures Ram would find himself in the middle of. However, I did find the book ver More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Joe rated it:

My review is based on the audiobook read by Christopher Simpson, who is absolutely outstanding given his vast array of accents and vocal gymnastics. His readings adds an ingredient that would have been sorely missed without him. Having just visited India, I found I was pulled right into the vivid storyline.

I loved the movie but I found the stories in the book far more appealing. It’s originally entitled "Q&A" which is actually the story’s format. I haven’t been teary-eyed More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Laurel rated it:

I found this book to be quite surprisingly good. I have not seen the movie, and only had a vague idea of what it was about, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I actually didn't even realize the movie was based on a book until one of my goodreads friends added it to her "to-reads" list. :) I was happy to find my library had it on audio.

Originally published under the name of Q & A, the book takes place in India and begins with the arrest of a young quiz show contestant, Ram M More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Najmuddin rated it:

Sebagai orang yang tidak percaya kepada kebetulan seratus peratus, aku agak skeptikal dengan jalan cerita novel ini. Berjaya menjawab 12 soalan untuk memenangi 1 billion rupees, hanya kerana tuah dan kebetulan, adalah mustahil bagi aku. Tidak logik.

Namun, setelah semakin lama menyelam di dasar penceritaan buku ini, aku sedar, soalan-soalan yang dijawab itu bukanlah fokus utama cerita ini. Ia hanyalah pentas untuk mementaskan realiti kehidupan seorang kanak-kanak yatim piatu dan manus More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

Joseph rated it:

This is a case of a terrible ending ruining an otherwise good book. Ram's story stretches credulity throughout the book, but the way everything just happens to fall into place in the last chapter, with multiple shocking revelations tripping over themselves in their hurry to be heard, just breaks any bond of trust between author and reader.

It's a shame, too, because the book, for the most part is as charming as the movie. My one minor nitpick is that Ram narrates his story as though More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Dale rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Cathy rated it:

i looked up "q&a" when i heard that it's one of danny boyle's next projects (under the working title "slumdog millionaire").

a poor uneducated lower-class young man is chosen to be a contestant on a game show similar to "who wants to be a millionaire". this version of the game show, however, involves a billion dollar grand prize. when the main character improbably answers all the questions correctly, the show's producers pull all the sneakiest tricks pos More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 22, 2008

Anne rated it:

I finished reading Q&A this morning, a thoroughly enjoyable read and a real page-turner. If the film, Slumdog Millionaire, based on this novel is anywhere near as good, then it will be one to watch.

Q&A begins with Ram as the winner of the largest prize in a TV quiz show, he is arrested on the grounds of cheating as nobody believes that a waiter in a restaurant in Mumbai could possibly answer all twelve questions correctly.

The following twelve chapters are based on incid More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2009

Coqueline rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2010

e.c.h.a rated it:

Standing Applause buat buku ini *layaknya penonton yang bertepuk tangan saat Ram memenangkan 1.000.000.000 Rupee*

Kisah yang penuh dengan asam, manis, pahit layaknya nonton film khas Bollywood. Agak membosankan di awal karena ceritanya kok klise dan terlalu mendramatisir. Semakin menuju akhir BAM hanya bisa geleng-geleng kepala, gila ini buku menyimpan sesuatu layaknya Intan, jadi mesti diasah dulu baru kelihatan.

Kisah hidup Ram yang penuh warna ternyata membawa arti bagi More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2009

Cait rated it:

I haven't seen the movie yet, for when I spotted the book in the bookshop I decided to read it first. It's quite a nice book, but not as wonderful as all the praise on the cover and all the hooha about the movie suggest (though of course the movie might be better). What I liked about this book, was the way the story skipped around and I got to puzzle things out for myself.

What I didn't like, was that there weren't any real characters. The side characters are cardboard figures whom w More...

0 comments like

Mar 23, 2009

Ririenz rated it:

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
( Film vs Novel )
Setelah rehat kurang lebih 30 menit yang diisi dengan acara nge-teh, film kedua yang diputar adalah film yang baru saja mendapat empat penghargaan Golden Globe dan delapan Oscar “ Slumdog Millionaire “ atau Sang Gembel Milyarder dalam bahasa indonesia. Sebenarnya Aq sudah tahu film ini sejak tahun lalu coz Aq sudah baca novelnya. Seperti yang sudah Aq duga pasti ada perbedaan antara novel dan filmnya meski keduanya sangat menghibur dan mampu men More...

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Jan 16, 2009

Kathleen added it

Q&A, by vikas Swarup. Narrated by Kerry Shale. Produced by Audio Partners, downloaded from Audible.com.

This narrator was truly awesome. He made this intriguing tale a performance, affecting all kinds of different accents: American, English, Australian, and Indian. Publisher’s note:

A small prison cell in India holds an 18-year-old penniless waiter from a Mumbai slum. But Ram Mohammad Thomas isn't a criminal. He is under arrest for
correctly answering 12 tricky More...

0 comments like

Feb 07, 2012

Ben rated it:

Q & A, a 2005 debut novel by Indian writer Vikas Swarup, is now more famous as Slumdog Millionaire, following Danny Boyle’s 2008 critically acclaimed movie that used this novel as its genesis, and indeed has now been repackaged under that more familiar title. I came to Swarup’s novel with hesitation: like a lot of people I thoroughly enjoyed Boyle’s film, its energy and its pace were truly cinematic, and I wondered how this format could successfully work on the page. Well, the first thing to not More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Ms. rated it:

Slumdog Millionaire - originally published as Q&A - by Vikas Swarup

Adult Contemporary Literature or Multicultural Literature ?

Let me just preface by saying that I never saw the movie, nor did I have any idea what it was about.

Slumdog Millionaire is set in India and is the story of Ram Mohammad Thomas who won a billion rupees on a tv show W3B- Who Will Win a Billion? The book begins with his arrest after winning the show, because how could a poor 18 year old More...

0 comments like

Oct 28, 2011

Olivia rated it:

Q and A, Vikas Swarp, Fiction (5 stars)

Ram Mohammad Thomas is in prison for winning one billion rupees on a game show. The uneducated street-boy makes the producers question how he won and if he cheated. But, each question asked has an extraordinary background to how Ram Mohammad Thomas answered. All the questions go back to something that happened in his past, weather good or bad.

Q and A is beautifully written and creates a vivid image in your head of how Ram felt during e More...

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