Reviews

Wie auch schon bei meiner Rezension zu Karpyshyns "Die Dunkle Flamme" vermerkt, tendiere ich dazu, bei längeren Büchern die Geduld zu verlieren und nur noch quer zu lesen. Bei genanntem Titel war dies nicht der Fall, ebensowenig bei Vikas Swarup.

Dafür ist das das Buch, das bisher am längsten auf meinem SUB lag. Immer wieder wollte ich es aussortieren, brachte es aber auch nicht übers Herz. Doch der Umfang hielt mich davon ab, es früher zu lesen. Ich Ignorant.

Ich weiss doch, dass ich die Bücher von Vikas Swarup mag. Dieses hier macht keinen Unterschied. Zwar hatte ich manchmal Mühe, einige Figuren wiederzuerkennen, aber das war es auch schon. Ich mag Geschichten, die aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven geschildert werden und am Schluss zusammentreffen. Genauso wie es hier der Fall ist.

Dabei schildert Swarup das Leben im modernen Indien aus den verschiedensten Sichtweisen, von reich bis arm, von Trendsetter bis Ausländer. Sie alle erzählen uns, was sie erleben und wie sie dieses facettenreiche Land wahrnehmen. Wer sich also für die Gesellschaft Indiens interessiert, der ist mit diesem Werk gut bedient. Oder mit irgendeinem Buch von Swarup.

Ein weiteres Beispiel dafür, dass auf unseren SUBs wundervolle Geschichten darauf warten, gelesen zu werden. Also ran an den Stapel!

roshk99's review against another edition

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4.0

Overly exaggerated and overtly cynical view of India. The corruption, poverty, deception, selfishness, and narcissism are exposed in gory detail and the author just goes to show that these qualities appearing all echelons of society. The mystery itself was not the main focus but the expose of the culture was a lot more interesting.

lexlad's review against another edition

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2.0

I liked the different characters and perspectives the book was written in. I can respect anyone who can write in different voices. Overall it was a good book and good story, just not as memorable as other books I've read.

battlekitty's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

neen_mai's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars and a night of no sleep.

I 'accidentally' picked this up as I was dusting my bookshelf and noticed that I have this book for ages but haven't read. I thought of just flipping through a few pages for a quick break. The rest's history and so too my vacuuming. So cliche...

I'm not good in doing reviews and I think with 400plus people discussing about this book are enough to give any new guy what to expect. I just want to put here my reaction to the book. It was fun and engaging, sometimes depressing with a tint of hopelessness. It was mysterious enough for my mind to keep going but not too complicated that would make me want to continue with my other unfinished books.

The highlight suspect was that poor Page guy from Waco. He was soo 'stereotypical stupid American' that made me cringe everytime he's on. But kudos to Swarup- You scored one against all those corny and cheesy Asians we got from some western authors.

ld153's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was a very intriguing book. It is about a murder. A guy called Vicky Rai was acquitted of murdering a girl (who refused to serve him a drink), and he throws an acquittal party... where he is murdered. Six people (six suspects) are found in the house in possession of guns. This book went back in time and showed the six suspects and their journey to ending up at Vicky's party. There is a corrupt politician, a mobile phone thief, a movie star, a tribal, an American, and a corrupt bureaucrat who seems to be possessed by Gandhi... There were a few different sections in this book, the murder, the suspects, the motives, the evidence, the solution and the confession.

This book was very interesting and it was a challenge to guess which of the six suspects were the murderer as many of them had very good motives for wanting Vicky dead, and others were stupid so they could have killed him by accident. I thoroughly enjoyed this book once I got into it and the way it is written. Would recommend this book to people who enjoyed the author's previous book, 'Q & A' (a.k.a. Slumdog Millionaire).

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