Shantaram: A Novel Paperback – October 1, 2005

Shantaram by Gregory David RobertsBy Michael HooperShantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an epic story about one man’s struggle for freedom, friendship, adventure, love, camaraderie, peace and redemption.The book is about a man who escapes a prison in Australia and moves to Bombay, where he reinvents himself. He calls himself Lin, which is the name on his fake passport.In Bombay, he falls into a crowd of expatriates and slum dwellers. One of the first people he meets is Prabakar, a runner/salesman, who meets tourists at train stations, and brings them to hotels and restaurants and takes a cut from the proprietors. He also helps them exchange money, and score hashish. Prabakar takes a liking to Lin and recruits him into his business as a runner helping tourists. Prabaker calls him Linbaba.I can relate to this job because I worked as a runner helping tourists find hotel rooms in Athens, Greece, when I was a young man.Prabakar introduces Lin to his mother, who gives him a new name Shantaram, which means man of peace. Although he is not afraid to fight for his freedom, it seems that Lin is struggling for peace and redemption. He had been a heroin addict in Australia, where he lost his wife and child in a divorce. He was arrested for burglary and armed robbery, put in jail but he escapes over the wall and travels to Bombay.In Bombay, he falls in love with the city, the first thing he notices is its smell, "its sweet sweating smell of hope" and its "sour stifled smell of greed."One of my favorite places in the book is Leopold’s, a coffee shop bar where he and his friends meet on a regular basis to talk about politics and business and gossip. There he meets people like Karla and Didier Levy, Vickram and Ulla.His friend Prabakar invites him to live in the slum with him and his family. There he sees great need for medical care, and he starts a free medical clinic. Needing antibiotics and other medical supplies he makes a connection with the lepers of Bombay, who somehow acquire these medical supplies and sell them to him at a discount. He is not a medical doctor, but they call him a doctor. He’s actually trained in ambulatory care He helps people get through many struggles, cuts, bruising, inflections and an outbreak of cholera.Love is an abiding theme in this book, there is brotherly love, the love of friends and camaraderie, and the love of a father, or a father figure and romantic love.He falls in love with Karla, who is a very mysterious person with a past in Europe and America. She speaks multiple languages and blends in beautifully into the Bombay lifestyle. Lin is enchanted with her green eyes and beautiful hair and lovely clothing but perhaps most of all he is curious about her mysterious history. His love for Karla is complex taking on various forms -- from friendship to making love to her on a beach under moonlight. He loves their ability to talk for hours and connect.This book is one part James Michener and one part Ernest Hemingway and another part uniquely Australian.It captures the pure Wonderlust of Australians. I’ve met so many Australians, who have traveled the world, they’ve been everywhere and done all kinds of different things. The author Gregory David Roberts wrote this book so well because he lived it. He actually did lose his wife and child, while addicted to heroin and getting busted for armed robbery and ending up in jail in Australia. He broke out of jail and went to Bombay to start his life all over again.One of the most powerful man in Bombay is Abdel Khader Khan, a poet, philosopher and lord of gang of people who work in the black market trades, false passport industry, the gold trade, and the money exchange trade.Lin works for Khader Khan, who wants him to learn everything about his business.The book goes into detail on how his goondas make money in these trades.Abdel Kader Khan believes there are various levels of evil depending on the sin. Some sins are worse than others. Lin is really amazed at the man’s commanding presence and ability to generate extreme loyalty. While working in the false passport trade with two specialists, Lin acquires for himself about five passports. When someone’s visa is out of order, they could fix that with a specialty stamp.Lin goes to great links for Khader Khan.Another fascinating character in the book is Didier Levy, a 35 year old French Jew, who is a wonderful gossip talk head, who spends a lot of time at Leopold‘s, drinking alcohol and talking with friends, and watching business transact all around them, and getting a cut here and there from some of this business.He talks about the hashish trade and the local gangsters.And he talks about Karla. He says she has the power to make men shine like the stars, or crush them to dust.Karla and Didier once lived together for about a year in Bombay sharing a crazy fractured little apartment. Page 58.There are many funny and shocking stories in the book, including a description of how the locals in Bombay treat a person who is at fault for a car accident. The locals actually drag the driver out of the car and beat him up. There's also an endearing story about a beloved bear who gets locked up in prison. His caretakers stay in prison with him, so he is not lonely.Perhaps my favorite theme in the book is camaraderie among friends, especially when they gather at Leopold’s. I believe every person needs a group of friends. It’s tough being alone in this world, indeed it's even tougher when you are in a foreign country and you don't know anybody.There is some evidence that a person will live longer if they have regular contact with people. I go to a local coffee two or three times a week to visit with my friends. My comrades there are very special to me.Yet Leopold's is a different kind of place, because it attracts people from all walks of life, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Franch, American, Indian, and Iranians, and Afghans and Arabs and Africans all gathering at this place. There’s nothing quite like it in Topeka, but when I was in Barcelona in 1990 I fell into a crowd of expatriates. I was walking along Las Ramblas, enjoying the sights of people and places along this famous boardwalk. I saw a group of young men led by a tall, gregarious man. He said hello to me, and I said hello back and he asked if I were English, I said America. He asked, "Do you get high?" and I said, "yes," and he said "follow me." We ended at a coffee shop in a Square just off Las Ramblas, where we drank beer and smoked spliff’s. Perhaps my favorite birthday was when I announced that in five minutes, I would be 27 years old. Everybody started singing, happy birthday to me and sharing drinks and joints. We stayed up all night partying and I ended up sleeping on the beach with my comrade Eamon strumming his guitar. It was one of the most exhilarating, romantic, and illuminating experiences in my life.Shantaram is a huge book at 933 pages. I enjoyed 95% of it. There is some warlord gang fighting that occurs toward the end of the book and this seems to drag on for a while but all in all, I enjoyed the book very muchShantaram is on Apple TV. The 12 part miniseries is fantastic, but unfortunately was discontinued. I believe Gregory David Roberts was involved in writing the script. In some ways, the book is much better with more detail about life in India.There is a great deal of charity in the soul of Linbaba, he is always trying to support his friends, and the poor people who live in the slums.I think the spirit of Linbaba is a man who loves people, who cares about the suffering in the world. Shantaram is an appropriate name for this evolving man of the world.

Excellent book ,Robert's descriptions of his life is amazingly great read. I'm not a big fiction fan but this story is so much more that fiction. He had to survive.much of this story. He is Excellent at bringing ubthere with him. I know it's based on his life .

Reading “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts was one wild and crazy roller coaster ride.“Shantaram” is a stranger than fiction autobiography of a young Australian man bearing a false New Zealand passport that gives his name as “Lindsay” who flies to Bombay some time in the early ’80s. On his first day there, Lindsay meets the two people who will largely influence his fate in the city. One is a young tour guide, Prabaker, whose gifts include a large smile and an unstoppably joyful heart. The second is Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American woman with sea-green eyes and a circle of expatriate friends. Lin’s love for Karla—and her mysterious inability to love in return—gives the book its central tension.For a 995 page- book it will seem quite intimidating for any one, however, once you start reading it you will definitely be transfixed by the characters, the language and the thought provoking and inspiring stories within it.While reading the first two parts of the book, I found it not only beautiful in its words and the poetry within the authors prose but also inspiring. I had already decided that it is a life-changing inspiring and motivating book, until I reached the next parts where my feelings towards the book, “Lin” and other characters changed dramatically.But isn’t this how life really is? Characters and people change, develop, and mature due to different circumstances, which makes the book more realistic, even more realistic than most of the readers can handle. I guess that is the reason why this book had as many negative reviews as good ones. It is notable though that the majority of the negative reviews I read where based on the personality of the main character “Lindsay” rather than the book itself and the story as a whole.The timeline of the story moves forward chronologically, and takes place in different cities, and countries starting from Bombay; the city our main character falls deeply in love with, to Pakistan and Afghanistan.The poetic prose in this book deepens whenever he talks about any of his loves; his love for Karla, his love for his good friend and brother Prabaker, his love for his friends, love for the man he wishes to be his father, love for the city, love for all humanity and love for life. If you ever thought otherwise, let me tell you this: this story is definitely and without a doubt a love story of different dimensions.The plots are several and endless, up to the last page plots are still there keeping you engaged. As a matter of fact this might be consider one of the few flaws I found in this book is that it ends leaving you with several unanswered questions and untied knots. Confusing, as I can’t tell was it because he wrote more but manuscript was lost/ damaged or he just felt that this is enough for the reader. I know 995 pages is already a little too much, but I think it could have been edited to end it in a better way and keep it within a reasonable number of pages.This book definitely had a major effect on me, the smart and intellectual conversations between “Lin” and “Khader Khan” came to me at precisely the right time when I was having all of these existential questions roaming in my head. These conversations inspired me and enlightened me in some way. Lin’s story in general was inspiring in different ways, his love for the people around him and his unbounded kindness will leave you rethinking your life and your attitude towards people.Love and gratitude is all what you’ll be thinking about while flipping the pages of this book.Rating this book is undeniably challenging, there were parts where I would give it 1/5, whereas in other parts I would crown it as the best book ever to be written. I guess that’s what makes good art; the way it fills you up with volatile and perplexed feelings, and usually that is the reason why I would love a good book. I love books that makes me ponder and think about life while reading it and maybe even, ask mind blowing questions or take some life changing decisions.Shantaram is that kind of book.“every human heart beat is a universe of possibilities.”As a poet and lover of words and language I am inclined to rate this book at no less than 4/5 and highly recommend it to be read; because even if you didn’t love it as much as I did or enjoy it as much, it will without a question leave a mark on your soul.“But the soul has no culture. The soul has no nations. The soul has no colour or accent or way of life. The soul is forever. The soul is one. And when the heart has its moment of truth and sorrow, the soul can’t be stilled.”