“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 by Gregory David Roberts, set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who … 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.
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This book has been with me for a while. So long, in fact, that I’m sad to see it end. But Shantaram is a story that stays in a person’s heart. I’ll never forget it.
One of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read.
This may be my very favorite book in the world. There is no story I’ve ever read that comes close to the sheer range of emotions, experiences and intellect that this book brings forth. I don’t have the words to convey the beauty of this novel.
This is one of my all-time favorite books that I am reading again for the third time. Gregory David Roberts, in perfectly beautiful language created a world that I can never forget. It is based on his real-life experiences from losing himself in drugs, turning to crime to support his habit, going to prison, escaping a maximum security prison in Australia and traveling to Bombay on a fake passport. This huge book gives you time to live in a more colorful world than you can imagine. Bombay’s underworld contains crime, goodness, love, lessons and an opportunity to find one’s goodness and strength. If somehow you missed this book decades ago, please give yourself this amazing gift. Shantaram is truly a magnificent experience. I can never forget it because I will visit that world again.
Insights into the society and living conditions in India. It is also quasi autobiographical. Very lively story line and interesting content.
Loved this great big sprawling novel that sweeps you up & envelopes you with its huge heart. Here is an obvious love for everything Indian. The scenery, the adventures, the characters all make for an enchanting read. And don’t let the size of this book scare you off! The passion for India, based on the author’s life, will ensure that you’re glad you did read this great novel.
I read this book many years ago, and to this day it will be a book that I never forget. I remember the day my parents told me that it was a classic and that I should definitely make sure I read this book before I die. I looked at the sheer size of it 900+ pages and gulped. I never have been the strongest of readers. I can not express to you enough how happy I am to have read Shantaram, the moment I started reading I couldn’t bring myself to put it down. The life of Gregory David Roberts is by far one of the most colourful and interesting accounts I have ever come across. From battling with addictions to convicted bank robber to escapee. Gregory David Roberts flees to India to escape being kept in jail back in Australia. Gregory David Roberts uses such beautiful imagery and description throughout the book, I literally felt as though I was amongst the gangsters, the sewers, the hustle and the colourful characters.
This is well worth the very long time it takes to read it. I have never written down so many passages from a book as with this one. Learned so much about India. Characters are well developed and very real.
This is my favorite book. I have recommended this to numerous people and everyone loved this book- both men and women thoroughly loved this true story.
My favourite book!
This is the book I always recommend to new friends. Loosely based on the true events of an escape from prison for a man who then finds himself the only white doctor in one of the largest slums in India. Then crimes, love, heartache and adventure. So good!
Fantastic character development; expressive, vivid, and perfectly detailed writing.
Hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read!
A central character with a very human mix of virtues and faults; a journey to possible redemption; real insights into ways of life foreign to me and a apage turner. One quibble – a tendency to too much repeated detail
This is just a simply must read book
As a former foreign resident of India, Roberts’ autobiography rang true for me. As a former corrections officer in a Texas prison, that includes his experience in prison. As befits a significant chunk of a person’s life, the book is quite long, providing hours of entertainment.
Picked this book up while in Florence, Italy – bases on the author’s actual life story – His story unfolds as his words create visual images of his daring, the fear, the wide range of emotions as he escapes into the dark world of Bombay. Shantrarm is an amazing journey into the extreme – what will one man do to survive in Bombay? – the dark underworld of Bombay – taking up arms with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and the redemption of setting up a free health clinic one of the slums. It was a great read, so well done – I could not stop until it was done. WOW on so many levels.
Hauntingly informative novel of India. Loved it
Wonderfully realistic story about life in Mumbai: the slum dwellers and the underworld. Fabulous read before a trip to India
I LOVED the performance of the Audible version.
Terrific book based on a true story!