Q & A

Book Title: Q & A

Author: Vikas Swarup

Length: 360 pages

Brief 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.

Why I Recommend It:

It is interesting that the Publishers Weeky review compares this book to Rushdie's Midnight's Chilldren, because not only are the two books similar (although Rushdie's work is more complex and textured), both are two of my favourite books. Q&A is brilliant in that the story of Ram has a piece of all of us in it and the author is able to make that connectedness without ever making it more than a subtle process. I enjoyed the creativity of the writing and how the author was able to bring to life many of the stories within Ram's life so I as the reader felt like I was right there with Ram. There are stories within stories in this novel and that enables you to read it again and discover more about it.

Do I have a copy others can borrow:

No, but this is a book that was published last year so it should still be available in most bookstores and libraries.