Shantaram [Paperback]

I was ambivalent about rating this book, because I actually enjoyed it very much. On the storytelling alone I would give it 4 stars. Gregory David Roberts' autobiographical novel kept me up late many nights - he certainly has led an unconventional and exciting life on the run in India. My favorite parts of the book were the relationships he had with the slum dwellers, Prabaker in particular. He captured the cadences of their speech perfectly, with humor and deep compassion. On this alone I would give the book 5 stars. However, I had a problem with Karla. I grew tired of the myriad descriptions of her green eyes - the prose was flowery and hard to swallow. And the descriptions of their lovemaking would have been funny were he not so earnest in his quest to be poetic. Just a few too many metaphors and adjectives for me. Karla herself evoked very little sympathy from me, even when the Great Mysterious Secret about her was revealed. To me she was selfish and shallow and not worth the adoration of Lin, the main character. I did not find her so-called clever turns of phrase to be so wise; rather I found them to be the cynical observations of a ruined and bitter woman. There were no ugly women in this book, or even plain women. I guess it is a credit to the author/main character that he finds drop-dead beauty in every woman he meets!
Having gotten that out of the way, let me say the author has done a remarkable job of bringing Bombay to the lay person. He tells of a lush, vibrant city that teems with fascinating characters (Karla aside) and the lessons it has taught him. I am planning a trip there soon; the book has enriched my enduring fascination with India. It is also a story of redemption, and you will have to read it yourself to discover what I mean. There is so much more I could say but I don't want to bore anyone. This is not high literature. But who cares? It is a grand read if you can get past the deep green, dusk-lit lagoons in the swirling maelstrom of Karla's bodacious haunted eyes...

I came to Shantaram through the recommendation of a friend after I expressed joy from reading Suketu Mehta's Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found - a thrilling non-fiction account of modern Bombay's underworld.

Shantaram didn't disappoint. Since it's a 900+ pager, I was engaged with it for several weeks. It so deeply absorbed me I began to feel pangs of sorrow as I approached its end. The universe this book creates was one of only a handful that this voracious reader was terribly saddened to leave at the book's conclusion.

The book covers so many issues in loving detail: Bombay, Asia, the expatriate experience, poverty, crime, heroin addiction, love, betrayal, redemption. I'd love to see Shantaram nominated as a "classic" and read by high school and college students instead of non-starters like Wuthering Heights and The Scarlet Letter. Love learned and lost amongst poverty, crime and deception is love, nevertheless.

I can't wait until the Mira Nair/Johnny Depp film version of the book is released in 2008(?)!

Read, better yet, experience this book--more than once I was moved to tears. I was filled with gratitude at the author's sharing of his soul with me.