Shantaram, a book I had not heard of until my colleague was raving about it in work. A weapon of a novel, purely because of its brick like size, that read like a fiction but is seemingly an autobiography.
Gregory David Roberts has so far lived a life unlike any other life that I have heard of. From escaping prison, to moving to India as a fugitive, to joining the Mafia. Each instance seemed more surreal than the next…almost unbelievable at times!
But I knew that I had to give it a go to see what all the fuss was about…
THE REVIEW
Summary of the book
“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.
My thoughts: The layout of the book
This book was half audiobook and half physical book, but I will be basing my thoughts on the layout of book mainly on the audiobook.
The narrator is what got me through this book. He made the book more bareable to read/listen to.
The writing style was not the style that I normally enjoy reading, purely because of the length of the chapters. In the copy that I have, there are 936 pages and 42 chapters, which means roughly 22 pages per chapter, which thinking about it is not too long. But I think what made it long is the fact that Roberts likes to go off on tangents, and those tangents are often unrelated to the story.
The tangents varied from stories that were unrelated to the happenings of the current chapter, to philosophical remarks on what was happening. At times, it broke the flow and made it that much more of a chore to complete the chapter or the section.
The book is split into 5 parts for five different sections within the story, but I feel like for a book this long it should have been split into multiple books in all honesty. Or just made shorter. I can guarantee this book could have been, and should have been, 400 – 300 pages shorter.
My thoughts general
To put it short and sweet: the audiobook was 43 hours long, and I cannot take these hours back.
I found that his ‘deep thoughts’ and philosophies were just a bit underrated. Like when I was reading them I just felt completely underwhelmed.
What I did not know until after finishing the book was that there was a tv series adaptation through Apple TV of this book. When I saw this I looked in further, and in fact it was due to be made into a film shortly after it was published at the beginning of the 2000s but it seemed like the planning for the film fell through. To be honest, I have watched the trailer for the series, and it looks a bit too action man for how I interpreted the book to have been.
Also I have a bone to pick. I was told by my colleague that this was an autobiography, however it is only loosely based on events that happened to the author, and this has slightly annoyed me. The reviews on the back of the book said things that also insinuated that the book was an autobiography. I just feel lied to…damn.
Anyway because of my rating it shows that there were some good parts such as the theme of friendship especially the friendship with Prabaker. I feel like the theme of friendship throughout the book is ultimately what made it so long because the protagonist encounters so many people and creates so many friendships, meaning that this theme is integral to its plot.
There were certain instances where I also laughed due to language differences. As someone who has studied languages there were instances in the book that I could relate to such as the Bear Hug scene. I really enjoyed that scene, and scenes like that were the reason why this was a 2 star rather than just a 1 star read.
But I honestly feel deflated after reading the book and not getting more from it in terms of enjoyment and just meaning, because there has to be some sort of sustenance to it seeing as it is 936 pages? I think that is why this review is quite short…
Would I recommend the book
I feel like I was not the target audience for this book, and that I was also in the minority. My rating does not reflect the 4.27 average that is displayed on Goodreads.
That being said, I must emphasize that this book would only be up your street if you enjoy long ramblings and do not mind being in a book that is over 900 pages long.
It just was not for me, and that is why the rating is low!
The Little Sunflower Library 
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