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A review by morgob
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
5.0
What to say about Shantaram? This book was a life. An entire lifetime was in this book. It was recommended to me by one of my good friends from college, who I looked up to a lot, and she told me it was sort of like Les Miserables, like a Jean Valjean sort of story. I would partially agree with that, after having finished it. I was nervous to start it for so long because of how long it was, and I knew it was not going to be a light story. That, at least, was completely true. There were times I had to stop and take a break just because of how much there was. Sometimes my heart feels really heavy after so long (like while watching the Lord of the Rings movies) and this book definitely gave me that feeling more than once. There was a lot of sadness.
The actual story, I loved. A man escapes from prison and goes on to do some wonderful things and meet wonderful people. Part of it is the story I love: people affecting many other people, the goodness in the world. But part of it is definitely not about the goodness in the world; it's about "doing the wrong thing for the right reasons," it's about humanity, failure, grief, guilt, vain hope, love, family, morality, and so much more. That's the reason why this book is a life. It has it all. Most of the main characters are not completely good people. I mean, they do good things and they do bad things, and sometimes the bad things define who they are and sometimes not. There are exceptions, of course. Prabaker is a wholly good character, and I cried for him several times. The bear and his handlers, those are completely good characters. Actually, one of my favorite things about this book was how some things kept coming back, like the bear, Didier, and the main character's strength and hope in humanity. One of the characters tells him (Lin/Shantaram) that he believes in people, and that's what they like about him. I'd like to think I am also like that, that I believe in people.
Wow, this review is going all over the place. Who knew it would be so hard to organize your thoughts about a book that seemed to last twenty years? I don't mean that in a bad way, it actually went by pretty fast. I finished it in nine days. But the story seemed to span a lifetime, even though I have no clue how much time actually passed between the start and end of the story. That's my one qualm, I think. It was not clear at all how much time had passed. There is just so much in this book that I want to talk about and not enough space to do it. I think I'll share some of my favorite quotes, though. The first is this: "Personality and personal identity are in some ways like co-ordinates on the street map drawn by our intersecting relationships. We know who we are and we define what we are by the references to the people we love and our reasons for loving them." I love that because I think one of the themes of the book is just that, our interactions and relationships with people and who we are because of them. It says a lot about the main character, actually. The other one I really loved was this: "The truth is that, no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter how good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love." And that, my friends, is the book on the whole. I think those two quotes sum it up rather well. I won't ramble on forever, but I did have to think for a moment whether to give it four or five stars. I was just so full of emotion at the end, but after a night of thought, it can't be anything but five stars. Also, the fact that when I looked on the back flap I saw that the author's own story was remarkably similar to this one just blew me away! He wrote about his own life!! That makes the book even more spectacular, and it explains so much about it, like the detail, the history, how it seems to have happy and sad parts interspersed, just like a real life. It makes the book make more sense, is all. The whole time I was thinking, "How did this guy come up with all of this?" Now that I know it's based on his life, it really makes the plot make sense, and the characters. It seems so real because, in a lot of ways probably, it is real. It was incredible. This book was an experience I am glad I took part in.
The actual story, I loved. A man escapes from prison and goes on to do some wonderful things and meet wonderful people. Part of it is the story I love: people affecting many other people, the goodness in the world. But part of it is definitely not about the goodness in the world; it's about "doing the wrong thing for the right reasons," it's about humanity, failure, grief, guilt, vain hope, love, family, morality, and so much more. That's the reason why this book is a life. It has it all. Most of the main characters are not completely good people. I mean, they do good things and they do bad things, and sometimes the bad things define who they are and sometimes not. There are exceptions, of course. Prabaker is a wholly good character, and I cried for him several times. The bear and his handlers, those are completely good characters. Actually, one of my favorite things about this book was how some things kept coming back, like the bear, Didier, and the main character's strength and hope in humanity. One of the characters tells him (Lin/Shantaram) that he believes in people, and that's what they like about him. I'd like to think I am also like that, that I believe in people.
Wow, this review is going all over the place. Who knew it would be so hard to organize your thoughts about a book that seemed to last twenty years? I don't mean that in a bad way, it actually went by pretty fast. I finished it in nine days. But the story seemed to span a lifetime, even though I have no clue how much time actually passed between the start and end of the story. That's my one qualm, I think. It was not clear at all how much time had passed. There is just so much in this book that I want to talk about and not enough space to do it. I think I'll share some of my favorite quotes, though. The first is this: "Personality and personal identity are in some ways like co-ordinates on the street map drawn by our intersecting relationships. We know who we are and we define what we are by the references to the people we love and our reasons for loving them." I love that because I think one of the themes of the book is just that, our interactions and relationships with people and who we are because of them. It says a lot about the main character, actually. The other one I really loved was this: "The truth is that, no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter how good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love." And that, my friends, is the book on the whole. I think those two quotes sum it up rather well. I won't ramble on forever, but I did have to think for a moment whether to give it four or five stars. I was just so full of emotion at the end, but after a night of thought, it can't be anything but five stars. Also, the fact that when I looked on the back flap I saw that the author's own story was remarkably similar to this one just blew me away! He wrote about his own life!! That makes the book even more spectacular, and it explains so much about it, like the detail, the history, how it seems to have happy and sad parts interspersed, just like a real life. It makes the book make more sense, is all. The whole time I was thinking, "How did this guy come up with all of this?" Now that I know it's based on his life, it really makes the plot make sense, and the characters. It seems so real because, in a lot of ways probably, it is real. It was incredible. This book was an experience I am glad I took part in.