roshk99's review
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
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
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
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.
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
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).
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).
anpurnama's review
4.0
buku ini unik. judul dan ending beda sekali hasilny. buku ini bercerita tentang pembunuhan seorang yang cukup sering lolos dari hukuman. sekarang hukuman tersebut telah di tunaikan. sesuai judulny, ada 6 tersangka. tapi itu yang terlihat, karena ada beberapa orang yang berperan aktif justru ada di balik layar.
6 tersangka ini diceritakan dengan kisahny masing-masing namun tetap memiliki benang merah. karena tiap orang punya motif, saya jadi mereka-reka sendiri berbagai macam kemungkinan-kemungkinan siapa pelaku sebenarny. tapi memang pelaku sebenarny di sini cukup di luar dugaan, karena tidak pernah terbayang sama sekali..
6 tersangka ini diceritakan dengan kisahny masing-masing namun tetap memiliki benang merah. karena tiap orang punya motif, saya jadi mereka-reka sendiri berbagai macam kemungkinan-kemungkinan siapa pelaku sebenarny. tapi memang pelaku sebenarny di sini cukup di luar dugaan, karena tidak pernah terbayang sama sekali..
rick_c137's review
6 lives - 6 different stories in different genres. Spanning across political crime, blackmails, mental illness, slum life, endangering tribes, foreigners.
Each story is interesting and by the end of the book, I felt more curious to know what is going to happen to these people rather than getting the excitement to know who is the killer.! As said, if we treat it as crime thriller, you MAY be disappointed. But, if you can just enjoy reading some good stories, you will like the characters. And will appreciate the effort author has put to build each character with so much detailing.
Each story is interesting and by the end of the book, I felt more curious to know what is going to happen to these people rather than getting the excitement to know who is the killer.! As said, if we treat it as crime thriller, you MAY be disappointed. But, if you can just enjoy reading some good stories, you will like the characters. And will appreciate the effort author has put to build each character with so much detailing.
danserra's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
soohnova's review
4.0
Half way through reading this book I realised that, in my sixty years on earth, I have never read a book by an Indian author. This is weird because I have had a life-long fascination with India. That being said, I felt a bit rudderless. I did not have a point of reference for what I found strange about the book. The plot meandered and there were too many characters at times. I sometimes felt lost and overwhelmed by what was going on. But, I think if I found myself in India, I would feel lost and overwhelmed and that there was too much going on and too many people. The characters in the book were, some more than others, caricatures. I had a hard time deciding if that was satire, or meant seriously, or some kind of weird over-the-top Bollywood extravaganza. Many of the characters were a bit flat and I found it hard to care about them - but again, in a land of a billion people, you can't care much for everyone. So then, what a coincidence, that in a land of a billion people, the six suspects' stories all come together in a tangled web. That's what I mean about the point of reference. When Jane Eyre is half dead of starvation and just happens to almost die on a random isolated doorstep in the middle of nowhere, and then later it transpires that those folks are actually her long lost cousins that she didn't even know existed, we kind of think, 'Oh yes, typical of Victorian literature'. I am going to make a point of reading something by a different Indian author to see..... Despite that, I gave this a 4 star rating - It was fun.
Spoiler
Munna just happens to meet and fall in love with Vicky's sister. Munna's sister just happens to meet and fall in love with Eketi. The money that Munna finds just happens to go through the hands of I have lost count of how many characters, etc etc etc And then in the end it all gets wrapped up, nice and tidy, in a parcel (and then another parcel, and then another parcel)jarichan's review against another edition
4.0
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!
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!