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Shantaram

By Gregory David Roberts

(402)

| Paperback | 9780349117546

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Book Description

"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 contempContinue

"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.

Critics

  • Shantaram

    Con poco più che una leggera sacca da viaggio, un passaporto falso e una chitarra a tracolla, Gregory approda in una Bombay ancora ben lontana dall’espansione economica e dalla recente globalizzazione. Ha davanti a sé un groviglio di volti, culture, ... (read full critics)

    mangialibri published on Fri, 17 Feb 2012

  • Shantaram

    La trama e le recensioni di Shantaram, romanzo di Gregory David Roberts edito da Neri Pozza. Nel 1978, il giovane studente di filosofia e attivista politico Greg Roberts viene condannato a 19 anni di prigione per una serie di rapine a mano armata. È ... (read full critics)

    Qlibri published on Mon, 29 Nov 2010

19 Reviews

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  • 8 people find this helpful

    love, suffering, and love...

    TThis book got on Amazon.com 219 "five stars" out of 281: that's an astounding 4,55 stars average meaning 91% of readers liked it hugely.
    I am in the 9%.
    I mean, this is an excellent craftsman's product and I am sure the author is a nice guy, so I gave him my 4 stars out of 5.
    Also, in some ways t ... (continue)

    TThis book got on Amazon.com 219 "five stars" out of 281: that's an astounding 4,55 stars average meaning 91% of readers liked it hugely.
    I am in the 9%.
    I mean, this is an excellent craftsman's product and I am sure the author is a nice guy, so I gave him my 4 stars out of 5.
    Also, in some ways this novel is a sort of enclyclopedia.
    Let us just take animals: rats, dogs, bears, horses... we'll learn a lot about them thanks to Shantaram (and the book is not about animals!). Same thing for weapons, floods, dope, etc. - name a subject! And some episodes, like how to get into a train or life in the village, are worth re-reading several times. So it's at least a very good holiday reading and let's not forget this novel is part autobiography.

    But Greg Roberts has too put it all together too cunningly for my taste to give it ****.
    Probably Greg had a good autobiography in his hands, but he decided to make the millions with the best-selling novel - who am I to blame him?
    So what really I disliked is Roberts' total lack of fear to become repetitive. But hey, I am not the majority! Many readers DO LOVE to be told the same things over and over again for almost 1000 pages and this probably makes the bestseller.
    Let me give you some examples (before you throw your stones at me, recall I am giving **** at the end of the day):
    -Karla is a beautiful woman, and he loves her, but she is not able to love back. But she is beautiful, the most beautiful woman. And he loves her. But she only likes him, she does not love him...
    Did I forget to mention he loves her but she is not able to love him?)
    -Khader Khan is a philosopher, and a mafia don. Although he is a mafia don, he is a philosopher... The author loves him like a father. Yes, he loves the philosopher-mafia don who could have been his father.
    -Prabu has a wide smile. Prabu's smile is wide. Prabaker, a.k.a. Prabu, really knows how to make a smile. Smiling Prabu... I can't avoid smiling - like Prabu!
    -love, love, love, love, love...
    -suffering, suffering, suffering, suffering...

    Is this helpful?

    Plucino said on Jan 5, 2009 | 2 feedbacks

  • 2 people find this helpful

    Best book I read this year, and I read over 30 each year. Throughout the narration one forgets it is not fiction but a true story.

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    Antonella Mauri said on Dec 7, 2007 | 1 feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Perhaps one of the top ten book writen in the last decade! I loved every page.

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    Marisa said on Feb 25, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • wonderful novel

    This book is simply wonderful. I could feel situations, places, people described so well in this book. The author Gave me a taste of Bombay and a taste of a life damned and holy at the same time. This book is a journey into India, into human life, into the big hearth that we all share in the univers ... (continue)

    This book is simply wonderful. I could feel situations, places, people described so well in this book. The author Gave me a taste of Bombay and a taste of a life damned and holy at the same time. This book is a journey into India, into human life, into the big hearth that we all share in the universe.I really love this book!

    Is this helpful?

    Swdinesh said on Aug 27, 2011 | Add your feedback

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