|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
When Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned, uneducated waiter from Mumbai, wins a billion rupees on a quiz show, he finds himself thrown in jail. (Unable to pay out the prize, the program's producers bribed local authorities to declare Ram a cheater.) Enter attractive lawyer Smita Shah, to get Ram out of prison and listen to him explain, via flashbacks, how he knew the answers to all the show's questions. Indian diplomat Swarup's fanciful debut is based on a sound premise: you learn a lot about the world by living in it (Ram has survived abandonment, child abuse, murder). And just as the quiz show format is meant to distill his life story (each question prompts a separate flashback), Ram's life seems intended to distill the predicament of India's underclass in general. Rushdie's Midnight's Children may have been a model: Ram's brash yet innocent voice recalls that of Saleem Sinai, Rushdie's narrator, and the sheer number of Ram's near-death adventures represents the life of the underprivileged in India, just as Saleem wore a map of India, quite literally, on his face. But Swarup's prose is sometimes flat and the story's picaresque form turns predictable. Ram is a likable fellow, but this q&a with him, though clever, grows wearying.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Swarup's inventive debut traces the fortunes of Ram Mohammad Thomas from "Asia's biggest slum" to his sudden acquisition of enormous wealth as the biggest winner on the popular quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? A poor, uneducated waiter, Ram is arrested after the final episode in the belief that he must have cheated. In jail he shares his hardscrabble life with his lawyer: his abandonment at birth in a used clothing bin, the church orphanage where he was dubbed an "idiot orphan boy," the foster home where children were purposely crippled and forced to beg, the estate of an Australian diplomat who was really a spy, the home of an aging Bollywood actress, and his meager waiter job. Each chapter in Ram's life provided him with a correct answer on the show, as a la Forrest Gump, he has been in the right place at the right time. Ram's funny and poignant odyssey explores the causes of good and evil and illustrates how, with a little luck, the best man sometimes wins. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
THE THIRD BELL HAS SOUNDED. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE THIRD BELL HAS SOUNDED. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpectedly hilarious and heartbreaking,
By Aldora (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Q & A (Hardcover)
The book is about a man who was brought to the police station and tortured because he had won 1 billion rupees (Indian currency) in a local Tv Show. He then told the story of his life that is related to each of the 12 questions asked in the show, to proove that for all of the questions asked, he knew the answers; even though there are many things in the world that he doesn't know of (like Bush is the US president).The book is really funny and sad at the same time. It opens eyes about the reality of quality of living of poor people in India. A MUST READ. Worth my time :) I can't tell you anymore as you might not enjoy it as much as I did!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not like the movie, but equally as good!,
By
This review is from: Q & A (Paperback)
I read the book after I saw the movie, and I couldn't believe how different the two are from each other. I loved the movie but I also absolutly loved the book. It was well written and flowed very well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!,
By
This review is from: Slumdog Millionaire (Paperback)
This was a really good book. Once I started it I couldn't put it down, read it in 2 days. A few days later I rented the DVD. Boy, what a disappointment! I recommend you read the book and skip the movie.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
