Slumdog Millionaire

By: Vikas Swarup

Narrated by: Christopher Simpson

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel, the inspiration for the award-winning film, opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all 12 questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion?

It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales, Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question. In his warm-hearted tale lies all the comedy, tragedy, joy and pathos of modern India.

Hear the whole story behind the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire!

©2005 Vikas Swarup (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks America

Same Framework as the Movie, Different Vignettes

A contestant who wins the ultimate prize on India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is accused of cheating -- how could a street kid from the slums of Mumbai know all of those answers? If you saw the movie, you know why -- there is a back story from his life that explains how he came to know each of the answers. The famous TV show acts as an excellent framing device, each question and answer (Q&A, the novel's original title) serving as the jumping off point for each part of the back story.

The vignettes in the book are mostly different than the ones in the movie -- it's very important you know this before reading this book so that you're not disappointed by the wide differences. But they just are as effective. The author knew in advance of the changes that were going to be made for the film and approved them, finding them better suited to cinema, and was happy that the screenplay retained his Millionaire framework.

This is a good example of the audio edition improving on a novel, the narrator Christopher Simpson reading in an authentic Indian voice. He is not the first reader to do this, but he takes it one step further, far beyond stereotype, capturing the wonder and enthusiasm of Ram, the main character, as he guides us through his various experiences and how they shaped his answers to the Millionaire questions (Billionaire in the book, since India deals in rupees).

Given a first person protagonist who is central to most of his stories, and given how vividly he is brought to life by the narrator, Ram is quite a memorable character. But what makes this book so interesting, just like the movie, is the great variety of characters he encounters in his personal journey (even if many of those in the book are different than those in the film). Rather than be distressed that the vignettes in the book are not the same as in the movie, look at it as a new set of stories to add to those that are in the movie -- they are just as good.

Great story & narration, but very mature content

I listened to the book in less than a 24 hour period because it was that riveting. It has very graphic scenes, especially at the beginning but if you watched the movie you know that this only impresses upon the reader how different out lives are from that of the main character.

I highly recommend giving it a listen and in case you were wondering this is the book that the movie was based off of but they renamed it to match the title of the movie, likely so that more people could find jt.

Gripping story narrated perfectly!

Incredilbly narrated, Swarup's novel fuses tragedy, romance, and thrill. Q&A will make you cry, laugh, and cheer as Ram Muhammed Thomas recounts his life experiences that will leave you questioning your role in society. This story focuses on the influence of greed, wealth, and power and sheds new light on issues of poverty and injustice that exist in our world today.

Award quality writing AND performance

I haven't seen the movie yet, so I came to the audiobook without any preconceptions. Wow! What a fantastic "read". I listen only while commuting and it got to the point that I resented getting to the end of my ride, I was so eager to hear what was going to happen next. The actor is terrific: the novel has a speaking cast of thousands, it seems, and the reader differentiates among all the characters well, making the Scheherazade-like tale easy to follow. Pure delight.

Loved it!

The narrator made you feel like you were there in the story. Hard to put down!

Powerful

This audiobook is masterfully read by Christopher Simpson, who is absolutely outstanding given his vast array of accents and vocal gymnastics. His reading adds an ingredient that would have been sorely missed without him. Having just visited India, I found I was pulled right into the vivid storyline.

I loved the movie but I found the stories in the book far more moving. It's originally entitled Q&A which is actually the story's format. I haven't been teary-eyed over many stories, but this one really touched my heart. The narrative jumps around a bit, but it all still plays out quite powerfully. The movie is based on the dynamics from this book, but I wish it used a few more of these stories (while politically, I can understand why they didn't). Ram Mohammad Thomas (Jamal in the movie), is still quite unforgettable. Salim and the host of other good and bad guys and all of their stories will stay with me for a long time. Even the charismatic TV show emcee has important history; I loved it. It's heavy at times, but a powerful read.

Highly recommended.

Terrific book and the best narration ever!

I wasn't sure I was going to like this; I tend not to go for much in the way of popular culture, and the movie tie-in made me leery. Thank heavens I got over it! This is a wonderful book with great writing and characters, alternately deeply moving and very funny. There is a lot of depth here; the humanity and compassion of the book's narrator and those who help him through life far outweigh the cruelty of his enemies and the grinding poverty he strives so hard to overcome. It's simply a terrific book. Christopher Simpson does a superb job with the narration. The characters are so vivid and real, and he never hits a wrong note. Please give us more books narrated by this guy!

I can't recommend this highly enough. Go listen to it!

Fantastic

I can sure see why a movie was produced based loosely on this book. Everything about it was brilliant. I was pleasantly surprised at how different the novel was from the movie. I love how the stories within the novel all link so well. The main character, Ram's, honesty, kindness, naivety and obvious intelligence made for an unusual and interesting character and the narrator portrayed all the traits very well. I found myself following Ram around the Indian country side on Google Map and looking up many different things that were referred to in the book. It's one of those books that I'll likely listen to again someday.

Better than I anticipated

What did you love best about Slumdog Millionaire?

I was not expecting to enjoy this story as much as I did. It had a lot of heart, humanity and real-ness. A great read.

Not at all like the movie

What did you love best about Slumdog Millionaire?

I went into this audiobook thinking it would be very similar to the movie. I was incredibly wrong and happy to be that way. Q&A stands up on its own quite well. I truly enjoyed Simpson's performance and Swarup's story.

What about Christopher Simpson’s performance did you like?

His ability to manage a convincing Indian accent along with an Indian with a thick accent imitating an Australian voice. He has a very impressive range of voices.