Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fantastic Journey - Not To be Missed!, 25 Oct 2005
Have you ever been browsing in a bookstore, picked up something you liked the look of, read the first page and been unable to leave without buying it? That is how I stumbled across Shantaram, one of the most compelling books I have ever read.Based on a specific period of the author's life (mainly set in Bombay)it covers everything from philosophy and ethics to underworld crime and war. We follow the author as he establishes a free health clinic in a slum, does time in an Indian jail, and goes to war in Afghanistan. It is hard to feel anything but completely attached to the main characters even when they may act in ways that we may not neccessarily approve of. At a little over 900 pages it may look like a long hard slog but I promise that from the first page you'll be desperate to keep going. Apparently the film rights have already been sold to Johnny Depp and the author, Gregory David Roberts, is in the process of writing a sequel that continues the story of his life. An absolutely captivating story - I eagerly await the next installment.
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86 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Confused?, 3 April 2007
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 mêlée 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. Such is my enthusiasm for this tome, I have bought several copies of Shantaram as gifts for friends and family, as I wouldn't dream of lending it to anyone, lest it not be returned!
He is certainly neither romantic, nor quixotic with regard to his immoral and corrupt past and, if you have any capacity for considered judgement, it is clear that he is not a merely one-dimensional character. If you find that you have no empathy with Lin, who has indeed led a fairly intense and criminal life, then you have either a very modest imagination, or are just a tiny bit dead inside.
As for the ending, well, I didn't find it disappointing, or that it `fizzled out' in the least. If you want a definitive conclusion to every storyline, then stick to Andy McNab, or the Hollywood film industry. The art of great entertainment is to have both thoroughly enjoyed the experience and to be left wanting more - I can't wait for further output from Gregory David Roberts.
So, "if you read only one book this year", make sure it's Shantaram.
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48 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
sometimes excellent but sometimes awful, 8 Jun 2008
This book is less a story than an epic journey - with emphasis on 'epic'. At over 900 pages it requires some stamina and will power to finish. Luckily, much of the story is a joy to read: there are parts of this book that are brilliant, for example Lin's experiences in an Indian prison and as a soldier in Afghanistan are truly memorable. The descriptions of Bombay bring vividly to mind a colourful, lively, characterful place which borders on lawlessness but is held together by an 'Indian' warmth and love. Roberts' great respect for India shines through at every stage, even when describing its more ugly aspects.
However, the thing that really lets this book down is its huge sense of its own importance. If this novel were a person, I get the feeling it would be a David Brent style character, with an inflated sense of its own importance in the world, demanding the full attention of everyone like a party bore. It is full of purple prose, some so bad I winced to read it - for example, 'some things are so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you'. It is also full of philosophies on life, drawn out and irrelevant to the story line. The narrator is constantly describing himself as a 'tough man' which grates after a while: we get it, you're very macho and brave and intelligent but also soft and kind and noble. the narrator seems to have a very high opinion of himself. he even tries to put a noble spin on his past crimes by justifying his choice of armed robbery over other crimes such as house burglary.
this book could have been brilliant with a strict editor: if it was halved in length, lost the purple prose and the main character was occasionally weak or stupid (as all human beings are from time to time). it is still brilliant, sometimes. but that is a far cry from what the author was clearly aiming for.
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