Book Review of The Month: "Slumdog Millionaire" by Vikas Swarup

You obviously heard the title of this novel somewhere...oh,yes...in a movie of the same name, a movie that won Oscar awards and received thousands of positive reviews.

Originally published as "Q&A", it was later changed to "Slumdog Millionaire" after the movie has been released, which means that it was published earlier than the movie (like all novels) back in 2005. Written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat who is presently serving in South Africa.

I am not cocking about any of this review, this book was an actual blockbuster that was translated into 34 different languages, It consists of 318 breathtaking pages that will never be enough for you, making you wishing it was longer.

For those of you who watched the movie; you know the story already although there are little changes in the novel such as Jamal's name and other scenarios...

So here is a brief summary of the novel:
Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphan born in Mumbai, India applies to the "Who will Win a Billion?" quiz show in which later he gets questioned 13 questions...getting each one right and winning 1,000,000,000 Indian Rupees. After doing so, police authorities suspect that Ram has been cheating and conclude that there is no way that an orphan who has never read a book or held a newspaper or even gone to school could have answered his way to a billion Rupees. As the story unfolds, Ram explains to his lawyer how he knew the answer to each question by telling him a chapter of his amazing life, from the day he was salvaged from a dustbin to his meeting with an Australian security-crazed army colonel while performing as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal. Stunning a television audience of millions, Ram draws on a store of street wisdom and accidental encounters that provides him the key to answering the quiz show questions.

I am curious to prove that the novel is way much better than the movie itself IF and only IF you read it and understood the storyline correctly, and as I said it features many differences to character names, the actual age of Ram, and the plots and events that take place throughout the novel. So how does this sum up? well, story is not only perfect, but gives you the courage to learn more in your real life to gain more life experience like Ram...so, its inspiring. Not very long, or very short...318 pages makes it readable for some. Unlike "The Kite Runner" which I reviewed last month, this has a fast paced storyline that sucks you into the book and drags you through sleepless night, I finished this book in 2 weeks without not hastle. Characters are lively and act as real humans in real life making it somehow realistic and very dramatic.

So what about the cons?...I actually didn't notice any major con...seriously, I didn't...but it might be from the countless number of events taking place that you can't recall what happened in a particular chapter and the open-ending which I dislike in any book I read since I was a child...so you never know whether he reclaims the billion Rupees or not at the end.

I am going to give this book 9/10 which makes it close to the fun I had for "The Kite Runner" having 2 minor cons I mentioned above other than that, its pure class.

In the end, I tell you go grab this book from your nearest bookstore or library, take it as a word of mouth and you won't regret it...I didn't like it...I LOVED IT!