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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The Mountain Shadow... where to begin.
As a sort of sequel to Shantaram, this inherently book has a lot to live up to. I think, if Shantaram is the book Roberts needed to write, a brilliant work on auto-fiction about some tumultuous years in his life, then TMS is the book he wanted to write to try his hand at pure fiction. Maybe some of the events in this book were based on his experiences, but as a whole, it felt like an episodic drama, sort of like a soap, drama for the sake of it at times.
There is something very likeable about this book, it definitely didn't need to be so long, but it was charming in its own way. Roberts puts feelings into words quite succinctly, at times. There were some quotes in the first half that I really liked. For example:
"‘It’s just that I want a special now, one that’s mine, instead of a constant now, that I constantly share with someone else’s now.’"
However, the aphorisms were a bit much. There were aphorisms and cliched metaphors dotted throughout the 900 pages of this book, but particularly at the end of chapters Roberts would throw a few out there to round things off. I like that there was a scene where he sort of pokes fun at the excessive use of aphorisms, it comes across as if the author is quite self aware and therefore confident in his style. It also marries well with the heavy philosophical overtones throughout, not that I cared for that particularly, but at least it made sense.
If you read Shantaram and you're considering reading this book as a 'sequel', I think you could skip it. I would reccomend you read this book if you really like pondering philosophical ideas - broadly, not so much in detail - and are alright with heavy use of metaphors and axioms. Also if you like an episodic style of drama, you might enjoy this book. It's almost 900 pages, it'll keep you company for a while.
I feel really strange rating this 3 stars since it's been with me for a while and I feel like I got more out of it than a 3 star rating would suggest. But given the issues I had with it combined with how enjoyable it was to read, anything more than a 3 star rating is too high.
As a sort of sequel to Shantaram, this inherently book has a lot to live up to. I think, if Shantaram is the book Roberts needed to write, a brilliant work on auto-fiction about some tumultuous years in his life, then TMS is the book he wanted to write to try his hand at pure fiction. Maybe some of the events in this book were based on his experiences, but as a whole, it felt like an episodic drama, sort of like a soap, drama for the sake of it at times.
There is something very likeable about this book, it definitely didn't need to be so long, but it was charming in its own way. Roberts puts feelings into words quite succinctly, at times. There were some quotes in the first half that I really liked. For example:
"‘It’s just that I want a special now, one that’s mine, instead of a constant now, that I constantly share with someone else’s now.’"
However, the aphorisms were a bit much. There were aphorisms and cliched metaphors dotted throughout the 900 pages of this book, but particularly at the end of chapters Roberts would throw a few out there to round things off. I like that there was a scene where he sort of pokes fun at the excessive use of aphorisms, it comes across as if the author is quite self aware and therefore confident in his style. It also marries well with the heavy philosophical overtones throughout, not that I cared for that particularly, but at least it made sense.
If you read Shantaram and you're considering reading this book as a 'sequel', I think you could skip it. I would reccomend you read this book if you really like pondering philosophical ideas - broadly, not so much in detail - and are alright with heavy use of metaphors and axioms. Also if you like an episodic style of drama, you might enjoy this book. It's almost 900 pages, it'll keep you company for a while.
I feel really strange rating this 3 stars since it's been with me for a while and I feel like I got more out of it than a 3 star rating would suggest. But given the issues I had with it combined with how enjoyable it was to read, anything more than a 3 star rating is too high.
Wanted to love this but found it oddly contained and repetitive compared to the scope and philosophising of the first book.
Not often you get a follow up book thats as good as the original.
I was so so excited for this book and anticipated it for a long time after I read Shantaram. Any info about if it was still being written and when it would be released was so secretive (atleast as far as what I could find). I preordered it and was so excited to have an actual hard cover copy. I enjoyed being back in the world of Shantaram, however, this book didn't draw me in like Shantaram did. There were times, I thought, that there were tangential story lines that distracted me. The wonderful and brilliant writing is better than anything I could ever write so I am not one to criticize. I am solely comparing it to Shantaram of which there is no way to follow up because it is so good. I am glad to know what happens to the characters I loved from Shantaram-whether it was a good outcome or a bad one. Anyone who read and loved Shantaram will enjoy this book-just don't expect it to be as amazing as GDR's first book.
Does not measure up to the original. I put it down unfinished.
I have started this book with very low expectations, since it is a sequel to a brilliant book and I doubted that it could be repeated. But I think that's exactly what "saved" the book for me and made me enjoy it as much as I did.
It is a story about life, people, choices, relationships. It is about good people living bad lives. About bad people doing good things. It has just the right mix of fiction with details of criminal life in Bombay, in the center of which Lin constantly finds himself. But it also has an adorable sprinkle of Indian spice in it, that makes you long to be in Bombay, experiencing the enchanting disorder and chaos that is India. It has a fair bit of "spiritual talk" with conversations that Lin has with different people and a big part of it are the talks of Idriss (this wise holy man on a mountain - totally Indian style). I could go on and on, you get the idea.
This book concentrates a lot more relationships, than Shantaram (or so it seemed to me), especially Lin and Karla's love. That last part was adorable and amazing and I loved the way it was described without too much drama/sentiment, but at the same time overflowing with feeling. I loved the story lines of people that surrounded Lin, the trust, the devotion, the respect and absolute loyalty. The friends to die for. I loved how strong the women were. How cunning, wise and ambitious. It was great to see (for once) that Karla was considered by everyone as a wiser, richer, more feared person.
SPOILER ALERT! I loved how GDR managed to drag his characters out of "bad way", how he gave them their happy ending (although admittedly not a lot of them got it, many just died). And maybe someone would say that this is too naive and moralistic and bla-bla-bla, but I thought it was great.
In short, I loved the book. It opened a whole world to me and I gratefully immersed myself in it. Not at all disappointed by it.
Quotes:
pp.314-315
- Good pride does not say Im better than someone else, which is what bad pride says. Good pride says For all my faults, I have a born right to exist, and I have a will, which is the instrument I can use to improve myself.
- Obey the universal law of consciousness, that everything you think or say or do has an effect greater than zero, even if it’s only an effect on yourself, which why you must minimize the negative in what you think and say and do, and maximize the positive.
- It took so long, 14 billion years, for this part of the universe ti bring into being a consciousness, capable of knowing and calculating that it took 14 thousand million years to make the calculation. And we don’t have the moral right to waste, or kill, or damage the consciousness. We have a duty to study, learn, to question, to be fair and honest and positive citizens.
p.453 - If there were no Good and Evil in the world, why would we have laws? And what are laws, but our fumbling, and constantly evolving attempt to establish what is Evil, if not what is Good?
It is a story about life, people, choices, relationships. It is about good people living bad lives. About bad people doing good things. It has just the right mix of fiction with details of criminal life in Bombay, in the center of which Lin constantly finds himself. But it also has an adorable sprinkle of Indian spice in it, that makes you long to be in Bombay, experiencing the enchanting disorder and chaos that is India. It has a fair bit of "spiritual talk" with conversations that Lin has with different people and a big part of it are the talks of Idriss (this wise holy man on a mountain - totally Indian style). I could go on and on, you get the idea.
This book concentrates a lot more relationships, than Shantaram (or so it seemed to me), especially Lin and Karla's love. That last part was adorable and amazing and I loved the way it was described without too much drama/sentiment, but at the same time overflowing with feeling. I loved the story lines of people that surrounded Lin, the trust, the devotion, the respect and absolute loyalty. The friends to die for. I loved how strong the women were. How cunning, wise and ambitious. It was great to see (for once) that Karla was considered by everyone as a wiser, richer, more feared person.
SPOILER ALERT! I loved how GDR managed to drag his characters out of "bad way", how he gave them their happy ending (although admittedly not a lot of them got it, many just died). And maybe someone would say that this is too naive and moralistic and bla-bla-bla, but I thought it was great.
In short, I loved the book. It opened a whole world to me and I gratefully immersed myself in it. Not at all disappointed by it.
Quotes:
pp.314-315
- Good pride does not say Im better than someone else, which is what bad pride says. Good pride says For all my faults, I have a born right to exist, and I have a will, which is the instrument I can use to improve myself.
- Obey the universal law of consciousness, that everything you think or say or do has an effect greater than zero, even if it’s only an effect on yourself, which why you must minimize the negative in what you think and say and do, and maximize the positive.
- It took so long, 14 billion years, for this part of the universe ti bring into being a consciousness, capable of knowing and calculating that it took 14 thousand million years to make the calculation. And we don’t have the moral right to waste, or kill, or damage the consciousness. We have a duty to study, learn, to question, to be fair and honest and positive citizens.
p.453 - If there were no Good and Evil in the world, why would we have laws? And what are laws, but our fumbling, and constantly evolving attempt to establish what is Evil, if not what is Good?
I loved Shantaram so it was with too high expectations that I started reading this one. The first 300 pages were a pain to go through. I was getting annoyed by the characters and the predictability of the story. I almost gave up. I'm glad I didn't. It is worth sticking through it although it is not a page turner as Shantaram is.
ik vond hem een stuk minder goed dan zijn vorige boek. Hij gebruikt te veel geforceerd aanvoelend poëtische bewoordingen. Het verhaal gaat te veel over de mafia en zijn relatie met Karla, er zit te weinig structuur in.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While it does not eclipse its genre-defying, entrancing, and beloved predecessor, Roberts continues his saga of life, love, faith, and death within the magical Island City. A satisfying sequel, albeit a little slow, and chock-full of spiritual wisdom, complex characters, and a moving and intriguing protagonist.
The plot to this one was much more plodding than Shantaram, and honestly didn't feel much like things were happening even when they were. As much as my date range might belie this, I did tend to read it in big chunks and then put it down for several days (or weeks), and the story didn't really suffer for it. The philosophical points were, as ever, thought-provoking.