Customer Reviews

Shantaram

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I flat out love this book. At 900 pages, I was actually saddened when it ended. The story reads like prose. At times one wondered if the author was trying too hard to impress, but his beautiful, captivating style was demonstrated so often and almost effortlessly that the thought was put to rest.

One of the things I love is the multitude of genres included in this story. Romance, action,adventure, philosophy. All of these and more are blended in to this one mans figurative and literal journey. Another aspect I both loved and loathed was the jarring change of pace that happened at least 3-4 times. You're cozy, you're enjoying the scenery then WHAM! The trajectory flips 180 degrees and you're shaking your head wondering if it really DID just happen. I grew to love this device as I was never allowed to get TOO comfortable.

If there's one negative, and it's not exactly small- it's that I put the book down twice and had to read 200 pages before I found myself entrenched. I was very close to giving up, but am sooo glad I jumped back on board. After those 200 pages I could not stop reading nor could I wait to get back to find out what was going on with these beautifully imagined characters and the world they inhabited. I work in a book store and whenever this book comes up from someone who's read it, I find myself talking for 5-10 minutes to passionate readers both male and female. If you can, do what I did and don't read what it's about. Just dive in and let the author immerse you in his characters world.

This book is just simply extraordinary in every sense! It has action, excitement, romance, intrigue, history, philosophy, travel, and so much more. One would think, with so many topics covered, that it would be a confusing mish-mash, but it is nothing of the sort. It is spell-binding - very hard to put down - & written with such smooth beauty and depth, that many passages take your breath away. The writer was born to write. It is obviously semi-autobiographical, which makes it even more fascinating. I most highly recommend this novel as an absolutely satisfying and fascinating experience, on many levels! Read it!

The story is superb. It is intriguing, completely out of the ordinary, and a great plot for any novel.

The style of writing is, as a couple of commenters have also echoed, self-indulgent and over-dramatic at times. The author is prone to spending pages waxing poetic on personal ideologies on life, love, and even existentialism. Although these themes may be related to the novel's development, the time and effort dedicated to describing them do not add to the novel. In general, the author tends to be very eloquent, and the language over-use became distracting and made the novel difficult to read as the story wore on.

I loved this well-written story, the character development, and all the plots going on. Awesome book about people and their lives in India, mainly Bombay (Mumbai)!

Great book, one of the best I've read in a while, would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good adventure and love story.

One of the best stories I have read in a long time, captivating book from start to finish. Highly recommend

Growing up in Bombay makes one cynical and cold about a city teeming with millions of people and tonnes of dirt. Shantaram made me see it through new eyes. I almost want to live there - almost!!!

One of those books that is just great to read...It's well written with a lot of insights on Indian culture.

I enjoyed the book so much. There are many pearls of wisdom sprinkled throughout and I came away from the book with great respect for the author and for the people, especially the poor, of India. I spent ten days in another world that I won't forget. My advice....read it slowly and enjoy. Each character is so deftly drawn and each idea is presented in such a way as to make those new ways of thinking about our lives memorable.

The book is fantastic - beautifully poetic language and insights into humanity. The reader of the audio book is potentially even better - he's made it so that you can easily distinguish about 50 different characters based on voice, all with the right accents (French, Italian, Spanish, London, Oxford, US, Australian, and dizzyingly many types of Indian). Also women and men are easily distinguished. A work of art.