Shantaram

Shantaram

Gregory David Roberts

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured." So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay's hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere. As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power. Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas—this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature.


From the Forum
  • Interesting narrative style--anyone know any books similar?

    Recently started this book on a friend's recommendation and surprised by the narration style because it says "a novel" on the cover, yet it's told like a diary/real story. In particular, I find his use of phrases like "I didn't know it then but this moment would change my life" interesting. Idk if there's a term for this narrative device? It feels very old-fashioned, almost like Watson's narrative voice in Sherlock Holmes? For a book this long, I find that phrasing makes it feel more digestible--like heads up reader, we'll come back to this. Trying to think of other book parallels... I know this was intentional on the author's part and that the story is partially based on his life.

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