At the start of this massive, thrillingly undomesticated potboiler, a young Australian man bearing a false New Zealand passport that gives his name as "Lindsay" flies to Bombay some time in the early '80s. On his first day there, Lindsay meets the two people who will largely influence his fate in the city. One is a young tour guide, Prabaker, whose gifts include a large smile and an unstoppably joyful heart. Through Prabaker, Lindsay learns Marathi (a language not often spoken by gora, or for... (show more)
At the start of this massive, thrillingly undomesticated potboiler, a young Australian man bearing a false New Zealand passport that gives his name as "Lindsay" flies to Bombay some time in the early '80s. On his first day there, Lindsay meets the two people who will largely influence his fate in the city. One is a young tour guide, Prabaker, whose gifts include a large smile and an unstoppably joyful heart. Through Prabaker, Lindsay learns Marathi (a language not often spoken by gora, or foreigners), gets to know village India and settles, for a time, in a vast shantytown, operating an illicit free clinic. The second person he meets is Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American woman with sea-green eyes and a circle of expatriate friends. Lin's love for Karla—and her mysterious inability to love in return—gives the book its central tension. "Linbaba's" life in the slum abruptly ends when he is arrested without charge and thrown into the hell of Arthur Road Prison. Upon his release, he moves from the slum and begins laundering money and forging passports for one of the heads of the Bombay mafia, guru/sage Abdel Khader Khan. Eventually, he follows Khader as an improbable guerrilla in the war against the Russians in Afghanistan. There he learns about Karla's connection to Khader and discovers who set him up for arrest. Roberts, who wrote the first drafts of the novel in prison, has poured everything he knows into this book and it shows. It has a heartfelt, cinemascope feel. If there are occasional passages that would make the very angels of purple prose weep, there are also images, plots, characters, philosophical dialogues and mysteries that more than compensate for the novel's flaws. A sensational read, it might well reproduce its bestselling success in Australia here. (show less)
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I would have to say this book is one of the more important books I've read in my life. The reason I say this is because the characters really draw... (show more)
I would have to say this book is one of the more important books I've read in my life. The reason I say this is because the characters really draw in a deep compassion from the reader. Even though some of the acts of these characters are considered atrocious by Western Civilization (American Exceptionalism), it draws out a personal understanding and sensitivity to those in need whether it be those who run the crimes or those who just simply step over the line. When I first got this book (a friend recommended it to me) I was blown away by the 1000 pages. I never thought I would finish it. It did take me a good 6 months to read it. If I actually sat down and took my time to read it, maybe 2 or 3 weeks. There are times where I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was gonna happen next. I found myself in one sitting I read 300+ pages. Strangely enough, I found myself relating to the character in almost all instances. Personally, I struggle with being a good person for the sake of being good, nonreligiously. I found myself being happy when the character was happy, angry and also in love when Lin was also in these the moments. Not because reading it drew me into the characters but because it brought up memories of my own that I connected to Lin's experiences. It seemed the book followed my life in the last 6 months or vice versa. When I lost hope in humanity just as Lin did, I read on and continued on in life and found more reason to give humanity a second chance.
I must also say that the multi-culture of characters in this book is what I hope for in life. To have friends from all cultures and backgrounds. This book does a grand job of capturing many different cultures and personalities from all around the world from Iranian, Hindu Indian, Sikh Indian, Muslim Indian, Afghani, French, Spanish, Swedish, American, Australian, Russian, and more.
If you liked Slumdog Millionaire, you will love this book even more. Want to live in India? Read this book, you'll feel like you were there. (show less)
Finished this a week ago.
A rollicking yarn about an escaped Australian ex-con who finds himself working for the Bombay mafia.
The stories ar... (show more)
Finished this a week ago.
A rollicking yarn about an escaped Australian ex-con who finds himself working for the Bombay mafia.
The stories are so fanciful that you at times wonder how much poetic licence has been administered, SO...as soon as I changed my mindset to - "adventure novel" rather than "life story" my enjoyment of it changed for the better.
I love the characters, and it's going to make a great movie. It's got love, and betrayal, violence, sex, drugs, family and some moral lessons along the way - all will translate well to the big screen.
Could have done with a good edit, the descriptions of people and our hero's relationship with them became a little repetitive - I mean there is only so many times you want to hear about someone's "Proud and Handsome head".
As a result of the repetition of his relationships with those around him, the book gets a little clunky in spots.
Probably 100 or so pages too long.
But, for all if that, its a good adventure... and fine entertainment. (show less)
The author is clearly a gifted storyteller and I enjoyed the first half of the book immensely, particularly the narrator's adventures in Prabakar's village and the slum. However, I lost some interest once the narrator got entangled with the Bombay mafia as I found a lot of the "colleagues" that he admired to be quite despicable. I found the philosophical ramblings not only distracting but sometimes downright amateurish. I also found the characterization of the narrator to be prob... (show more)
The author is clearly a gifted storyteller and I enjoyed the first half of the book immensely, particularly the narrator's adventures in Prabakar's village and the slum. However, I lost some interest once the narrator got entangled with the Bombay mafia as I found a lot of the "colleagues" that he admired to be quite despicable. I found the philosophical ramblings not only distracting but sometimes downright amateurish. I also found the characterization of the narrator to be problematic -- I never quite bought all of his motivations for doing the things that he did. There is also a strain of self-aggrandizement that is a little off putting (the book is semi-autobiographical). However, the author clearly loves Bombay and does a fabulous job bringing the Bombay of the 1980's to life (albeit a limited portion of Bombay as his experience is limited to expats, the slums, and some of the underworld). (show less)
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I'm going to paste a review that describes exactly how i feel about this book.
"Shantaram is one of those books that you wait to find for five years, even a decade. You know how it is. You read a really great book and, on coming to the end page, immediately want to find another book just as good to fill its place. So you go out looking for such a book, but cannot find it. You look for a week, then a month, then months turn to years, and finally,5 to 10 years later, you finally find a b... (show more)
I'm going to paste a review that describes exactly how i feel about this book.
"Shantaram is one of those books that you wait to find for five years, even a decade. You know how it is. You read a really great book and, on coming to the end page, immediately want to find another book just as good to fill its place. So you go out looking for such a book, but cannot find it. You look for a week, then a month, then months turn to years, and finally,5 to 10 years later, you finally find a book that is a really great read.
Shantaram is such a book. It is an A+ story that captivates you on page one and sustains the pace through every one of its 920 pages. It overflows with a wide range of characters of every moral persuasion, good and bad. And it is rich with the big themes on the nature of humanity and the human struggle to survive and thrive, for better or worse. In addition, the actual writing is superb, descriptive and often beautiful, without ever descending into sentimental or maudlin. Roberts always manages to find the right phrase or word to bring into clear focus the incredible wide range of experiences he paints. I might add, this is one book that I do not want to see as a movie, because there is no way that a mere movie could be a fraction as good as this glorious, three dimensional work. "
-I disagree that the movie could not be as good since johnny depp has purchased the rights to this book and would be starring in the movie...he has the depth and character to bring Shantaram to the big screen without sacrificing the content and complexity of the book.
I'll be lucky if I have to wait only another 5 - 10 years to find another book this good. (show less)
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on page 239 and must say it has been a few years since I have enjoyed a book this much. So far I am loving it.
Olga Caprotti 2 days agoI am only on page 250 and I love this book so far. I wonder how much is pulled from real life and how much is fantasized? It doesn't matter too much because I think what the writer is doing he is doing well. I think that the writer has a really beautiful understanding of language and the power it can have-his word usage seriously pleases me (and causes me to grab my dictionary on occasion). I think sometimes the statements by the characters are a little too contrived and the force of fate is not my favorite force but all in all-the philosophical tangents are palatable and i find myself amazed at where the story is leading me. This book is so far so good
Kathryn DeFilippo 20 days agoEpic, a true masterpiece! But I can't help the feeling there's a part two to come.
Deirdre Mulcahy about 1 month agoYou finish reading the entire 900 odd pages of the book, and you feel the book is still incomplete!! You want to know what happens to all of them, Didier if comes back to India? Karla, if she finds Khaled and Khader's teacher, and Shantaram himself, you want to know more about him. A friend had very rightly said, you will miss Shantaram once you finish it. I do!!
Asma Quadri about 1 month agoAn extraordinary book that offers a 3D insight into Indian society by a man that society would look down upon given his openly criminal record. The best novel I have read with philosophical insights.
Remco Van Santen about 1 month agoThis book must appeal more to guys than girls. It was a good story, albeit far too long, but I would not call it a 'literary masterpiece' by any means.
Facebook User about 1 month agoRoberts himself says on his website that you should treat this novel as fiction.
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