You may have seen the Slumdog Millionaire film which was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. I myself saw it and like thousands of other people, loved it, which made me buy the book. If you think the book is like the film you will be disappointed. It is nothing like the film as it is completely different. Do not let this put you off however because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book was originally called, ‘ Q & A ‘ but when the film came out it was changed to ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It starts the same as the film but then changes dramatically when he goes home and plays the video of the show to the lawyer. As with the classic ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ there are 15 questions. These questions are in the form of a chapter, which starts off with telling a story. At the end of each chapter you get to then hear the question asked on the show and thus know how he knew the answer due to what you have just read.

What is different to the film is that the main character is called Jamal, whereas he is called Ram Mohammad Thomas in the book. Salim is also not his brother in the book and is younger then the main character when in the film he is two years older. Also, Jamal’s lover is not mentioned in the book. This clearly shows how a book can be changed to make it more Hollywood material.

One of the major differences I found from reading this book was the violence. There are also more adult themes in this book then the film. This makes it more graphic but more like reality of the area where he was brought up. This is because the author, Vikas Swarup, came from the region.

Overall, I would say the book is definitely a must read. I could not put it down and even though it is different to the film, it is still amazing due to the different adventures he experiences to be able to enter the show in the first place.

This was written by Natalie Ridout