Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Speechless,spellbound and totally entranced...is what you experience once you cross your path with an impeccable debut of that of an author like Vikas Swarup for his classic work "Question and Answer". Yeah..! I m in all praise for Vikas's book "Q And A".
It was indeed a pleasure to go through this very exciting, page-turning romp which will oblige you to think and question ... and a book which is already being filmed.

First let me discuss the plot. An ill-educated, 18 year old orphan, working as a waiter in Jimmy's Bar in Mumbai, appears on the latest show in town called W3B - "Who Will Win A Billion" and correctly answers all 12 questions to win the jackpot of one billion rupees. The unscrupulous producers of the show are stunned. How can an illierate waiter, who has never been to a school or has never read a newspaper in his life,answer all these tough questions. So they promptly bribe the police and ask them to frame Ram Mohammad Thomas for cheating. A young lawyer called Smita Shah suddenly appears in the police station where Thomas is being tortured, reads out the law to the Inspector and takes him away to her house. Then, over the course of that night - the longest night of Thomas's life - she gets him to recount the story of his life and how it enabled him to answer the 12 questions on the quiz show, question by question. So, as can guess, the novel has exactly 12 chapters. Every single course of the Ram's life leaves an indelible mark onto your mind and you finally end up in all applause for the author.

Vikas Swarup writes a well-paced novel. Although the action moves back and forth through our anti-hero's young life, the pace of the novel is such that the various strands remain imprinted on your mind. Indeed, the author twists and manipulates your reading, holding back little surprises for you.

This is an exceptional read. It's, and I do not exxagerate, one of the finest debut novels I have ever read. It is the finest novel from an Indian Author I have ever read, because it doesn't pretend to be anything, it doesn't try to be poetic, or flowery. I usually prefer a book by an Indian author to be able to relate my self with the plot.
I finished the book, and aside from an appreciative content smile on my face, only one thing came to mind, "Damn, I wish I could meet in person with this guy". The ending has the kind of twist you expect at the end of a great story and I couldn't help but appreciate the thought and sentiment that goes into coming up with something like that.
What is it?
Read it and find out.
Oh, I'll leave you with the last line though.
"Because luck comes from within."