Slumdog Millionaire / Q & A (Vikas Swarup)

* Ram Mohammad Thomas has been arrested. Because how can a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school correctly answer all twelve questions on the television game show Who Will Win a Billion? - unless he cheated.

As the story unfolds, Ram explains to his lawyer how he knew the answer to each question by telling a chapter of his amazing life - from the day he was salvaged from a dustbin to his meeting with a security-crazed Australian 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 with the essential keys not only to the quiz show but also to life itself.

In a beguiling blend of high comedy and poignancy, Vikas Swarup has created a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle of good against evil, and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

I am not a big fan of movies based on books. I'm sure most bookworms out there feel the same as I do. For us, the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. So as much as possible, I try not to compare the two and not expect too much from the movie.

I usually read the book first before watching the movie. In this case, however, I watched the movie first before reading the book. I like the movie and I think it really deserves the awards given to it. This prompted me to read the book. Since the movie is good, I set a high expectation on the book.

I wish I hadn't.

I got disappointed. The movie is better than the book. The book is not that horrible. But it wasn't that good either.

The start of the book is exciting. Ram was in jail because he got arrested for winning a quiz show. He narrated his experience there and how he got out through the help of a lawyer, Smita. Then he narrated to her the experiences he had behind each question from the game show.

The stories behind each question are from different times in his life. The events are not presented in a chronological order (childhood to teenager or adult) like in the movie. That is more realistic. However, I found myself confused most of the time because I have to figure out Ram's age when the event happened. There are times when his age is not stated clearly. So I had a hard time imagining Ram in my head. I don't know if the Ram I should imagine is a child or a teenager.

There are also some boring parts in the book. Even his love story is not that exciting or touching. As for the ending... It is corny. But at least it did not end with a dance sequence.

Like what I said, I tried not to compare the book and the movie. But I couldn't help it. So I think it's better to just watch the movie.

Rating: 2/5