Shantaram

You will not regret buying this!

The writing is captivating im 200 pages in and I love it!

Very good

Very interesting book!

I recommend this book to all my friends. I loved it so much. It's big but it's like watching a TV show, you can't stop. And you feel you're in the streets of Bombay.

Long read but worth it. So many amazing insights and reflections along a wonderful story that immerses you completely into the world of Shantaram.

I never heard of this guy before. This book was a word of mouth suggestion by someone who I've actually forgotten! Quite long at over 900 pages but worth the read. Reading this book is an experience of the trials and tribulations of Shantaram. His Indian nickname. From the Mumbai slums to the mountains of Afghanistan and everywhere else in between, this book is part truth part fiction. The story of a reformed heroin addict who escapes prison in Australia and travels to India to try to begin a new life. He's a reformed character in more ways than one. Apparently he tried to write this book three times and even spent time in an Indian prison, all the while being subjected to severe beatings by his captors. I think for this alone, it's worth the effort to read as the effort he had to publish it! Unfortunately the follow up The Mountain Shadow isn't as great. If you want to finish the story

Shantaram, is a favourite amongst gap year students - presumably imagining they are the hero of the story.This is a long read, 932 pages, of varying pace. The author presents himself as a lovable character, liked by almost everyone. His crimes are presented as regrettable but somehow noble...which can be difficult to swallow as the reader.An entertaining story, though one that could perhaps have been edited down. Full of emotion, tragedy and adventure. It perhaps tries to be more philosophical than deserves at times. The most tantalising aspect is the unrecorded trip to the war in Sri Lanka, making it despite its length feel like it is missing closure - an irony as much of the book is about the protagonists achieving this themselves!

After 2 years, I've finally just finished this book (I'm not a big reader)... it is a brilliant book. It is beautifully written, a masterclass in EQ in terms of self understanding and language. The story is exciting and you care about the characters.It is a long book, and I wonder if Robert's, the writer, could have achieved in 400 pages what has taken him 800+ pages - however it is a book that keeps your attention in both its story, and the beauty of how its told.Defo recommend this book, you're in for a hell of a ride.The ending is really nice too, a bit of closure.

I was so touched by this book that I felt moved to write a poem. There is part of me that rejoices to know that it is largely fiction - because I would spare some of the characters the sadness and pain experienced in the book. The book, though, for me, is a wise exploration of life's great questions and dilemmas. In as much as you can associate with the main characters, you can explore those moral and emotional dilemmas without having to live through such harsh lessons in your own 'real' life. The book reminded me again of true wealth, and of why I live to read. Here is the poem:ShantaramI'd found my escape through the pages of your book,Fleeing beside you with each turn we took;You released me from my mundane strugglesThus, I'd take you to bed, and down we'd snuggle...I lived again, through you, vicariously it seems for yearsYour life, your loves, your hopes, your fears;Knowing you more deeply with each turn of the pagesTaking only hours to read events that took ages.They say, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."So I say, "thank you!" that my teacher drew nearAnd walked at my pace until I began to understandWhat life's decisions can do to a man.(That life's decisions make a man.)Good deeds, bad choices, the road that's not taken;Regrets and remorse, and beliefs that are shaken.New chapters and beginnings, great loss and then redemption;Such sadness, such joy, such dilemmas, such tension.You have made a roller-coaster of my heart -The whole gamut of emotions rise and fall:Joy, sorrow, relief, and grief -I've travelled through them all.And now our journey's at its endI'm proud to count you as my intimate friend.Go and make friends with this book x

Gregory David Roberts's Shantaram is supposed to be partly autobiographical, or at least loosely based on the author's own experience. That the novel is not entirely fictive is part of its appeal, veracity making its white-knuckle-ride of a plot all the more gripping. Still, be aware that Roberts himself has stated that the characters and plot details are imaginary, if grounded in real life.Shantaram relates the adventures of an escaped Australian convict, named Lin, in Bombay and its underworld. (Roberts himself escaped from an Australian prison and lived in India, and belonged to a Bombay mafia for a number of years.) Lin, having arrived almost by chance, soon grows roots in the great metropolis. He learns Hindi and Marathi, moves into a slum where he works as a doctor, befriends a migrant from a remote rural area, falls in love, saves a bear from prison, rescues an American girl from a notorious madame, and moves on to become a member of the city's most prominent gang, not all in that order. At some stage he is also jailed, and he goes to fight in Afghanistan for a spell (against the Soviets, as this takes place in the 1980s). The story is well told and the style of writing both agreeable and effective. Far from being written like a thriller, indeed, Shantaram has a distinct literary turn, with interesting observations and aphorisms. Perhaps its weakness is that it can be florid, and even preachy, at times. I would describe it as a cross between Paulo Coelho and Vikram Chandra. Anyway, this is well worth reading and is unlikely to disappoint.