Romance

Fast moving but not a deep story. ( )

Slumdog Millionaire is an excellent read that is packed full of drama and intrigue.

I watched the movie years ago when it came out. I wasn't totally sold on it, but promised myself I would eventually read the book. I managed to pick this book up at a charity book shop, and it's been staring at me on my TBR shelf ever since. With COVID going on, I decided to pick up a few more popular books to add to my 2020 read line up.

This book is so good! Vikas Swarup has a unique way of telling this narrative, of a man who won the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. His life ends up teaching him almost every answer, and it is heart breaking yet thrilling. Reading about the man's history and all the ways he learned the answers was so cool. The story is woven in a way you get to learn about his life question by question, which just made it way more intriguing.

Also, unlike the film, there is almost no romance in this novel. The film is super romance filled, but this one is just a man existing in his life. There's a pinch of romance, but it's definitely not as romantic as the film might have led you to believe.

What's also super interesting is that this is loosely based on a real story. The plot and characters is all fictional, based on whatever was going on in Vikas's head when he was writing. But, the fact that someone did win a show like this is real! It's super cool, and I liked that this story took it's own swing at it instead of just following the real story.

Overall, it's a great read that is super unique. It's different than my normal read, and it was super refreshing. I highly recommend it if you are looking for an attention grabbing fictional read.

Four out of five stars. ( )

¿Por qué cree usted que Rama Mahoma Thomas, el protagonista de esta novela, un camarero sin un céntimo de Mumbai, está en la cárcel?: A) Por haberle dado un puñetazo a un cliente; B) Por haberle dado un puñetazo a una vaca; C) Por haber robado dinero de la caja; D) Por haber ganado la versión india del programa concurso ¿Quiere ser millonario? Si cree que la respuesta puede ser la D, bienvenido a Dharavi, el mayor suburbio de la India, donde todo es posible. Porque ¿cómo puede ser que un muchacho de dieciocho años, analfabeto y pobre, sepa todas las respuestas del programa concurso más famoso y gane los mil millones de rupias? Así, pregunta tras pregunta, se nos presenta un espejo de la sociedad y la historia de la India.

I saw the movie that was based on this book many years ago and didn't remember anything about it except that I liked it a lot. After I was a few chapters into the audio book, I started re-watching it and realized how different it was from the novel. I didn't finish my re-watch but I did just finish the book so I can't really comment on the differences but, wow, what a good book.

There are some intense moments and a few bits that made me tear up - either with sadness or joy or relief. I'm happy I had the opportunity to listen to this book. I think parts of it will stay with me for a good long time.

I'd give it 4.5 but rounded down on Goodreads because some of the flashback portions were difficult to figure out where they fell on the timeline. ( )