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jeanetterenee 's review for:
Shantaram
by Gregory David Roberts
The autobiographical nature of this novel is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The author knows his subject deeply and gives a fascinating portrait of underworld Bombay in the 1980s. On the other hand, it seems he's so attached to every detail of his experience that he doesn't want to leave any of it out. Hence, we have a 933-page novel that could stand to lose about thirty percent of its body weight.
The story follows a man who escapes from an Australian prison. He obtains a false New Zealand passport under the name "Lin Ford" and goes to live in Bombay. He makes friends in both the native and expat circles, lives in a slum for awhile, and starts a free medical clinic. He eventually gets sucked into the underworld of the Bombay mafia where he is involved in drug running, false passports, money laundering, illegal arms trading, and eventual paramilitary activity.
This book is a huge commitment, and my interest waxed and waned. This is definitely a portrayal of the seedy side of Bombay life, with little or no picture of more "normal" life in the city. In that way it's much more of a "guy" book, with the power struggles and violence and brotherhood angle.
My favorite parts of the book were when he was with his dear friend Prabaker and the good people in the slum who showed so much dignity and unselfishness and caring for each other in the face of grinding poverty and little opportunity.
It's tempting to assign more stars to this book simply because I invested so much time getting through it. Honestly, though, I think three stars is a fair rating. Maybe 3.5 if we could assign fractional stars.
The story follows a man who escapes from an Australian prison. He obtains a false New Zealand passport under the name "Lin Ford" and goes to live in Bombay. He makes friends in both the native and expat circles, lives in a slum for awhile, and starts a free medical clinic. He eventually gets sucked into the underworld of the Bombay mafia where he is involved in drug running, false passports, money laundering, illegal arms trading, and eventual paramilitary activity.
This book is a huge commitment, and my interest waxed and waned. This is definitely a portrayal of the seedy side of Bombay life, with little or no picture of more "normal" life in the city. In that way it's much more of a "guy" book, with the power struggles and violence and brotherhood angle.
My favorite parts of the book were when he was with his dear friend Prabaker and the good people in the slum who showed so much dignity and unselfishness and caring for each other in the face of grinding poverty and little opportunity.
It's tempting to assign more stars to this book simply because I invested so much time getting through it. Honestly, though, I think three stars is a fair rating. Maybe 3.5 if we could assign fractional stars.