“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 shows a life that encounters many different ways to live! Wonderful
One of my favourite books of all time. Love Roberts’ perseverance, bravery, heart and style.
This is a big read written by a man while he was in prison. Appears to be a fictionalized account of his time in India. Starts with prison escape,life in slums of India,rise to power,Indian mafia,Indian prison,return to original prison. I loved this book
Amazing read….in depth view of life in Bombay.
Superbly well-written auto-biographical story set in 70’s Mumbai. Great insights into human nature in general – painted on the most amazing tapestry of social and interpersonal interactions in the harshest settings imaginable (for example slums in Bombay, Indian Mafia). About the length of “Count of Monte Cristo” and damn near as good.