Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
pages:  927

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. Written by an Australian, the story follows the basic plot line of the author's bio - he escaped from prison in Australia and made his way to India. He lived in a slum and helped as a doctor, he became a member of the Indian mafia and then was recaptured and completed his jail term. That's the broad strokes of the novel as well.

What I particularly enjoyed about the book is the way he describes his interactions with the Indian people he met, their habits and beliefs. I liked that he wrote the English passages in broken English and with misused words, as it might be spoken by a ESL speaker.

The writing style is conversational, easy to read and occasionally a little philosophical as the character tries to make sense of what's happening in his life and around him. Roberts waxes a little poetic sometimes, but I never found it annoying or intrusive.

Although long at just over 900 pages, I thoroughly enjoyed and was kept engaged in the story for over 700 pages. The last 150 or so were less interesting to me - it describes him and going with a small group to help with the war in Afghanistan - I didn't care about those characters and the writing seemed less appealing.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in a "slice of life" look at a big city in India. I really couldn't put it down!




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