Shantaram: A Novel
Oct 2004 · Sold by St. Martin's Press
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262 reviews
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Now a major television series from Apple TV+ starring Charlie Hunnam!
“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.”
An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter the city’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.
“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.”
An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter the city’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.
Now a major television series from Apple TV+ starring Charlie Hunnam!
“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.”
An escaped convi...
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Ratings and reviews
262 reviews
A Google user
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August 17, 2011
I started reading this for a book group, and I have to say I've found it very impressive. I mean it's not often I find a work of fiction so unbelievably horrible that after investing the time read 500 pages, I simply can't bring myself to read another. And yet somehow this one manages it. Gregory David Roberts - I congratulate you.
Somewhere buried deep in the countless chapters of meaningless philosophy and cringe-worthy metaphors that Roberts seem to think make him a good author is hidden a somewhat interesting plot, I will admit. Unfortunately for both Roberts and his readers, having an interesting story to tell doesn't automatically make one a writer, and if Shantaram succeeds in anything at all, it's in proving that fact beyond any reasonable doubt.
A Google user
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December 4, 2013
If a story can be told in one hundred words, Gregory David Roberts will tell it in one hundred thousand. For most authors, being so overly verbose would be the kiss of death, but for some reason, he gets away with it, and makes this a page-turner. I bought a paperback copy several years ago, and got into this pattern of reading until my eyes blurred, I’d put it down, do something else, return to it months later, and repeat the pattern. That copy became so dog-eared, and ragged that I got the eBook version here on Google Play, thinking it would be more likely to endure as I continue working through it. Several years ago some “Hollywood types” (led by Johnny Depp) bought the film rights, and I was elated. If they could condense this into a three hour movie within the next five years, I could watch that before I could hope to finish the book. Alas, nothing came of it. I suspect they’re still reading it, too. I’m calling this a “weird” novel, because its style wouldn’t have worked for many other writers, and I suspect the author’s (virtually unlimited) time in prison gave him the opportunity to think it through. It’s truly a “page turner,” and I’m counting it among my favorite
13 people found this review helpful
A Google user
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October 22, 2012
Fantastic book - touching, gripping, philosophical yet extremely live with action. A bit too much of philosophy toward the end and overall the book not as strong in the second half but the first half is a must read.
About the author
Gregory David Roberts, the author of Shantaram and its sequel, The Mountain Shadow, was born in Melbourne, Australia. Sentenced to nineteen years in prison for a series of armed robberies, he escaped and spent ten of his fugitive years in Bombay—where he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for a branch of the Bombay mafia. Recaptured, he served out his sentence, and established a successful multimedia company upon his release. Roberts is now a full-time writer and lives in Bombay.
Gregory David Roberts, the author of Shantaram and its sequel, The Mountain Shadow, was born in Melbourne, Australia. Sentenced to nineteen years in prison for a series of armed robberies, he escaped and spent ten of his fugitive years in Bombay—where he established a free medical clinic for slum...
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