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Shantaram [French] [Paperback]

Gregory David Roberts (Author)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (556 customer reviews)

RRP:	�10.99
Price:	�7.09 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery in the UK on orders over �10. See details and conditions
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Book Description

Publication Date: 24 Mar 2005

A novel of high adventure, great storytelling and moral purpose, based on an extraordinary true story of eight years in the Bombay underworld.

'In the early 80s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum. There, he established a free health clinic and also joined the mafia, working as a money launderer, forger and street soldier. He found time to learn Hindi and Marathi, fall in love, and spend time being worked over in an Indian jail. Then, in case anyone thought he was slacking, he acted in Bollywood and fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan . . . Amazingly, Roberts wrote Shantaram three times after prison guards trashed the first two versions. It's a profound tribute to his willpower . . . At once a high-kicking, eye-gouging adventure, a love saga and a savage yet tenderly lyrical fugitive vision.' Time Out

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A novel of high adventure, great storytelling and moral purpose, based on an extraordinary true story of eight years in the Bombay underworld.

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Product details

Paperback: 944 pages
Publisher: Abacus; New Ed edition (24 Mar 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0349117543
ISBN-13: 978-0349117546
Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.7 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (556 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Gregory David Roberts Page

Gregory David Roberts was born in Melbourne in 1952. After surviving the events dealt with in Shantaram, he was captured in Germany in 1990 and eventually extradited to Australia. On completing his prison sentence, he established a small multi-media company and is now a full-time writer. He lives in Melbourne.

Product Description

Review

A literary masterpiece ... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny ... it has the grit and pace of a thriller (DAILY TELEGRAPH)

Powerful and original ... a remarkable achievement (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

Extraordinarily vivid ... a gigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga (DAILY MAIL)

A publishing phenomenon (SUNDAY TIMES)

Book Description

* A publishing sensation: a stunning novel based on the author's dramatic and extraordinary true story of life on the run in the Bombay underworld

* 'A literary masterpiece ... it has the grit and pace of a thriller' DAILY TELEGRAPH

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Immersive and evocative read 11 April 2005

By dhbooks

Format:Paperback

Based on a true story, the tale of a wanted Australian ex-convict who moves to Bombay; sets up a medical clinic in the slums; joins the Indian mafia and even goes to war in Afghanistan is gripping stuff. Those looking for a thriller or fast-paced ride will be disappointed - whilst Roberts includes plenty of action, he also vividly describes not only his surroundings but also his personal interactions with the residents and foreign nationals in Bombay. It is in this way that Shantaram excels, as a tale of how Roberts fits into the hugely varied Bombay lifestyle. In one way, Shantaram is almost a love story, with many of Roberts' actions revolving around a woman he loves - however, his propensity for getting into various dangerous situations meant that I couldn't put the book down. Whilst it is quite long, almost 1,000 pages of small type, it will keep you entertained and fascinated throughout, with Roberts' descriptions of India totally immersing you in his experiences.

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190 of 209 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Confused? 3 April 2007

By John Reader

Format:Paperback

Hmmm...I've read with interest the reviews of this book and I think that you'll agree they are somewhat polarised!

My reading tastes are quite varied, from the Classics to Alex Garland and although I will try to be as objective as possible, the fact is that I really enjoyed this book.

Firstly, I am motivated to write a review for this book because I am at a loss as to how anyone could so vehemently be opposed to it without having an axe to grind with the author, (as opposed to reviewing the actual story), but predominantly because, like other reviewers here, I absolutely loved it and naturally want to share my enthusiasm and recommend it to others.

For me, Shantaram is a truly engaging read. It is exceptionally well paced and will take you on a journey that will, at times, leave you breathless and unable to turn the pages quickly enough. The authors' consummate depiction of character, place and drama will absorb you entirely in a relentless m�lée between the most noble and absolute base capabilities of human nature. Love, loathing, beauty, repugnance, tenderness and brutality - it's all here, in spades. However, there are two sections of this book which will enable you to catch up and assimilate, placed roughly at intervals between the first and second third of the narrative, and again between the second and third section. Believe me, you'll need these opportunities to relax a little.

The story of Lin, his travels, trials, dilemma and relationships with the individuals within the book are both enthralling and captivating in extremis. I would make claim that it is easily placed in my top five `you must read this' books. Read more ›

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An epic achievement but far from perfect . 25 Oct 2009

By Dario McGeachy

Format:Paperback

A brutally honest, searingly beautiful, astonishing but true, life story? Or a hotch potch of collected anecdotes stitched together with really really bad prose? Well I'm gonna lean towards the former but only just...

It really is a beast of a book, weighting in at just under 1000 pages but that length never feels unjustified. We take in the 8 years the author, or 'Lin' as he is know us, lived on the run in the steaming urban metropolis of Bombay in the mid eighties. Roberts tells us of his passion for India, details the workings of the criminal underworld as he rises through its ranks, describes the day to day routine of hardship and joy lived in Bombay's slums, the same slums which so captivated the world in Danny Boyles 'Slumdog Millionaire' and even presents us with his theories on particle physics as well as taking in a war and offering in depth discourses on grief, love, friendship and living with guilt. The characters are probably numbered in the hundreds but only occasionally did i find myself struggling to place names. The book is never dull and for a 'true story' all the main players have well plotted character arch's and all the lose ends are tied up.

So far so good right? Yes this is thoroughly engrossing book and a huge achievement for the author. I loved learning about India and life in the slums. Several characters leap from the page, the guide Prabaker with his broken English and huge smile and the Gay French borderline alcoholic Didier are huge fun and vividly realised. The descriptions of prison life and the torture Roberts experienced there (he claims on his website that these bits are true and here in reality worse than described) are brutal and brilliantly described. However i have two major problems, firstly I came to this book believing it to be a far more accurate autobiography than turns out to be the case. Now while reading it i did have more than a few moments of 'hang on a minute' and 'really? that's what happened? Really?' but overall i chose to suspend my disbelief and just go with it, all the while anticipating finishing the book and being able to find out more about this remarkable man and what happened to him. Anyway turns out that while the time line is more or less true and the broad facts can be checked out(his time in prison for example), this is as much a work of fiction as it is autobiographical. This in itself is fine, one of my favorite books of all time 'On the Road' is certainly guilty of the same thing but where Kerouac gives all the glory to those around him, this is all about the author. We get it your a tough guy, your sensitive and people love you... Again while your believing that all this actually happened that's fine, i mean if i had done all this stuff I'd wanna write about it to and whats the point in false modesty but the second there is doubt and you have an author attributing heroic and noble acts to himself then it stops sitting right with me.

This takes me to the second problem. The writing.
'I was staring at the river but i was thinking about a different river. One that flows through all of us. The river of the heart', or how about 'some things are so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you.' They're just a couple of examples which have stuck with me, there are much worse.
Now that maybe okay for a stoned hippy but i found so much of the descriptive writing so bad, so overwrought, so purple that i skimmed though much of it. This really does link to the first point. If your a man who happens to have had this amazing life then puts it in a book, some bad writing is forgivable, after all your not a writer you just have an incredible story to tell. However if you are a writer and your making this stuff up then you have to be judged on the quality of the writing and this really isn't good enough.

Negative points aside the book really is worth reading, the colossal achievement of getting this all down on paper, all the characters, places and plots is truly astounding and in itself worthy of high praise. The dialogue also snaps with authenticity and is frequently peppered with a gentle humour which serves as a welcome counter point to the brutality of the books darker moments. The pace of the book should also be mentioned, to have all the aforementioned plots and characters is one think but to keep them within a narrative which is structured and focused and cracks along at a fast pace is another feat to be proud of. Also to be completely fair to the author, he never hides the fact that his work is a mixture of fact and fiction, it seems to be the books audience who are willingly complicit in a kind of myth making, giving the book an air of the fantastic which as i mentioned informed my perspective while reading and all in all increased my enjoyment of the book. Shame the authors a bit of an egomaniac but this is an epic testament to his clearly unshakable willpower and a achievement you shouldn't ignore. Read more ›

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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story 4 Jun 2012

By Gulliver

Format:Paperback

I have had this book on my shelf for nearly five years and was always put off reading it due its size and weight (hardly the easiest thing to lug around on the daily commute).
Finally I made the effort to read it, and for me, it was a book of two halves (first half I loved, and the other half I found disappointing).
Overall, this is a great adventure-packed story. It's easy to read and a good book to immerse yourself in on holiday. But don't expect a literary masterpiece (as the cover claims), as it certainly is not.
I found the first half especially gripping, in fact I could hardly put the book down. From page 600 onwards, however, I found myself becoming really quite bored and frustrated with the poor quality of writing and by how much the story was being dragged out. As I progressed through the book, the poor writing and fluffy nonsense-philosophy resulted in many an eye rolling moment, or I'd find myself cringing at the pure cheesiness of it. Had it been 300 pages shorter, I don't think this would have been the case.
The disappointment for me came from the fact that Shantaram really got me hooked to begin with, but the last 200 pages I was genuinely willing it to end!
Still, I'm glad I've finally read it, and would recommend it to others provided they're not expecting prize winning literature (as some of the reviews on the inside cover make out)!
Also, note to the publisher - consider publishing Kindle version, would make it a lot more portable!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Bought for an old time hippy

She thought it was a great book. Several places and events were had by herself. She tells me she'd go back to India if it was still the same out there today. Read more

Published 3 days ago by Rats

5.0 out of 5 stars Shantaram

If you have ever wanted to see India and have not yet managed to this is Bombay. A book, full of incident, description and more plots lines than you would ever guess, that leaves... Read more

Published 3 days ago by Dawn Cutland

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Story

This is an excellent well written book about a real adventure in India. After 900 odd pages you are left wanting more.

Published 3 days ago by Duncan Webster

5.0 out of 5 stars gripping...

What a great story. I got seriously addicted to this book. Who cares if it's true or not, I liked it...

Published 5 days ago by allyatsea

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting read

very interesting facts and plausible reasons for the actions taken by main character but for me his knowledge of extreme violence and carrying it out was unpleasant

Published 7 days ago by bobreader

5.0 out of 5 stars A real adventure

Kept me entertained throughout. Sometimes I felt it was a little hard to believe that everything in this true story was exactly as it had been described, but then, surely you... Read more

Published 8 days ago by James Sergeant

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READ BOOK

Good quality Book .Arrived in time still reading it very interesting and highly recommended read... Thick book but do nt be scared to buy as it's a great book.

Published 11 days ago by bambi Khan

5.0 out of 5 stars couldn't put it down

great book it had me on the edge and it took me five days to read it. if you saw the size of the book five days is brilliant, i loved the description of india the slums the life it... Read more

Published 13 days ago by Mrs Jacqueline Moss

5.0 out of 5 stars tks

very qui ck and eff icient ser vice, would use again, tks very much, happy new year, happy new year

Published 21 days ago by ryan meli

5.0 out of 5 stars Shanataram

Loved this book, took me a little time to get into once there I was hooked. Very descriptive, hard to believe this happened to one person so much was packed into the book. Read more

Published 21 days ago by Shelagh Lagden

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