Shantaram
Shantaram, By Gregory David Roberts
Abacus - ISBN 0-349-11754-3 (UK Edition, Paperback)
“I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum security prison...”
I’ve never lived the life of a foreigner. Nor have I lived the life of an addict, or a slum dweller, or the mafia, or a doctor, or a….
In this autobiographical book, the author Gregory David Roberts, does that and much much more. In the year 1978, heroin addict, Roberts was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment in a maximum security jail in Australia. He escaped to New Zealand after making a daring daylight escape. After a brief period there, he arrived in Bombay on a false passport. This is where the story of Shantaram begins.
Roberts or Shantaram or Linbaba, as he is known is the reason why I loved the book so much. It’s heartening to read about a foreigner to takes to India from the very moment he steps foot in it; and this at time when we cant stop criticizing our country.
The book starts with Roberts forging a close friendship with his guide Prabhakar who lives in the slums. Through Prabhakar, he meets several interesting characters whose distinct personalities take you for a roller coaster ride throughout the book. There is Didier, who is almost never without his whiskey, and then there is Karla, the mysterious lady who never quite reveals what’s on her mind. In the words of Karla, “Happiness is a myth. It was invented to make us buy new things”
Roberts appreciates everything around him; the crowded slums, the 5 star hotels, the touts, the underground businesses, the mafia and so on. He starts to make his living by serving as a guide to visiting foreigners. At the same time he even lives in a slum. While the initial few days are hard for him, he soon adjusts. Just when you thought that a foreigner living in a Bombay slum was implausible enough, Shantaram goes and creates a clinic within the slum.
Society would have you believe that an escaped convict couldn’t piece together a nursery rhyme, let alone a tome of the magnitude of 940 pages. Roberts does that and more. His command over the words that make up Shantaram is masterful. His sentences stay with you long after you have passes the page.
For example when he advises Karla, “If you make your heart into a weapon, you always end up using it on yourself”. These and many other profound statements are bound to stay with you, the reader, long after you have finished reading the book.
Roberts even finds his was into the Bombay underworld. His musings with the don Khaderbhai make for superb reading. Khaderbhai shares his theory of how the universe works with Roberts, a discourse reserved for his most trusted aides. This fascinating portion of the story deals with his work as a loyal foot soldier in the currency changing, gold smuggling and fake passports business.
All throughout the book our protagonist is faced with choices. Should he stay with the girl he loves, or be loyal to the man who saved his life?
Should he help someone knowing fully well that it could get him killed?
Can he continue to live normally if his closest friend dies?
Perhaps the biggest virtue of the protagonist is his ability to learn from past happenings. Shantaram perennially searches for the truth. However, he finds fresh perspectives on it as he muses, “Truth is a bully we all pretend to like”.
You wonder to yourself, will Roberts ever stop risking life and limb.
It’s the promise of answers to these questions that spur the reader on through each of the 900+ pages. This book is a page turner.
I’ve never lived the life of a foreigner. Nor have I lived the life of an addict, or a slum dweller, or the mafia or a doctor. But while reading this book I’ve lived them all.
Roberts notices things about India, I fail to notice. While in the slum he understands that it’s all about ‘heart’. You think and do with your heart. Friendships are above all else and honor the cornerstone to life. He loves his friends to bits, and they love him back.
Read this book for inspiration. Read this book for a glimpse into India. Read this book for the literary masterpiece it is. My guess is that you will come out of it a new person.
Abacus - ISBN 0-349-11754-3 (UK Edition, Paperback)
“I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum security prison...”
I’ve never lived the life of a foreigner. Nor have I lived the life of an addict, or a slum dweller, or the mafia, or a doctor, or a….
In this autobiographical book, the author Gregory David Roberts, does that and much much more. In the year 1978, heroin addict, Roberts was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment in a maximum security jail in Australia. He escaped to New Zealand after making a daring daylight escape. After a brief period there, he arrived in Bombay on a false passport. This is where the story of Shantaram begins.
Roberts or Shantaram or Linbaba, as he is known is the reason why I loved the book so much. It’s heartening to read about a foreigner to takes to India from the very moment he steps foot in it; and this at time when we cant stop criticizing our country.
The book starts with Roberts forging a close friendship with his guide Prabhakar who lives in the slums. Through Prabhakar, he meets several interesting characters whose distinct personalities take you for a roller coaster ride throughout the book. There is Didier, who is almost never without his whiskey, and then there is Karla, the mysterious lady who never quite reveals what’s on her mind. In the words of Karla, “Happiness is a myth. It was invented to make us buy new things”
Roberts appreciates everything around him; the crowded slums, the 5 star hotels, the touts, the underground businesses, the mafia and so on. He starts to make his living by serving as a guide to visiting foreigners. At the same time he even lives in a slum. While the initial few days are hard for him, he soon adjusts. Just when you thought that a foreigner living in a Bombay slum was implausible enough, Shantaram goes and creates a clinic within the slum.
Society would have you believe that an escaped convict couldn’t piece together a nursery rhyme, let alone a tome of the magnitude of 940 pages. Roberts does that and more. His command over the words that make up Shantaram is masterful. His sentences stay with you long after you have passes the page.
For example when he advises Karla, “If you make your heart into a weapon, you always end up using it on yourself”. These and many other profound statements are bound to stay with you, the reader, long after you have finished reading the book.
Roberts even finds his was into the Bombay underworld. His musings with the don Khaderbhai make for superb reading. Khaderbhai shares his theory of how the universe works with Roberts, a discourse reserved for his most trusted aides. This fascinating portion of the story deals with his work as a loyal foot soldier in the currency changing, gold smuggling and fake passports business.
All throughout the book our protagonist is faced with choices. Should he stay with the girl he loves, or be loyal to the man who saved his life?
Should he help someone knowing fully well that it could get him killed?
Can he continue to live normally if his closest friend dies?
Perhaps the biggest virtue of the protagonist is his ability to learn from past happenings. Shantaram perennially searches for the truth. However, he finds fresh perspectives on it as he muses, “Truth is a bully we all pretend to like”.
You wonder to yourself, will Roberts ever stop risking life and limb.
It’s the promise of answers to these questions that spur the reader on through each of the 900+ pages. This book is a page turner.
I’ve never lived the life of a foreigner. Nor have I lived the life of an addict, or a slum dweller, or the mafia or a doctor. But while reading this book I’ve lived them all.
Roberts notices things about India, I fail to notice. While in the slum he understands that it’s all about ‘heart’. You think and do with your heart. Friendships are above all else and honor the cornerstone to life. He loves his friends to bits, and they love him back.
Read this book for inspiration. Read this book for a glimpse into India. Read this book for the literary masterpiece it is. My guess is that you will come out of it a new person.
3 comments:
Nice post.. have been hearing about the book from various people... sadly.. my limited interest in english litrature.. will not let me complete the 900 odd page book... if only one simplified it and gave me a copy :-)
@subir, Thanks. But trust me... This is one of those i like to call the 'godfather' books.
You dont need to be scholarly to finish this book - just believe in what it says.
alright sold. that's what i'm reading next. i love that heart line. fuck! so true, so precise.
you heard of jean dreze? prof at d school economics. lives in a slum too. belgian methinks.....
BELGIAN! my bf/dating guy is belgian. last night we were trying to figure 3 famous belgians from history, and tintin and the smurfs do not count. so i came up with herge and rene margaritte but now it is indeed jean dreze! thank you cynical consultant for seemingly solving this riddle for me. isn't that what consultants do anyway? seemingly solve riddles? :)
hmmm.....the guy who invented the saxophone something mr. sax (i shit you not) is also belgian i am certain of this. i know this from an episode of the bournvita quiz contest ages ago.
sigh....i always leave comments that have NOTHING to do with the chappie's post. due apologies.
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