Shantaram
Shantaram, Book 1
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Shantaram
Narrated by:
Humphrey Bower
Buy Now for £23.80
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Narrated by:
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Humphrey Bower
Summary
'A literary masterpiece... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny... it has the grit and pace of a thriller' Daily Telegraph
'A publishing phenomenon' Sunday Times
'A gigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga' Daily Mail
'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©2003 Gregory David Roberts
Continue the series
Critic reviews
A literary masterpiece... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny... it has the grit and pace of a thriller
Powerful and original... a remarkable achievement
A publishing phenomenon
Extraordinarily vivid... a gigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga
Utterly unique, absolutely audacious and wonderfully wild, Shantaram is sure to catch even the most fantastic of imaginations off guard
[A] sprawling, intelligent novel... full of vibrant characters... the exuberance of his prose is refreshing
Vivid, entertaining... Its visceral, cinematic descriptive beauty truly impresses
Few stand out quite like Shantaram... nothing if not entertaining... Sometimes a big story is its own reward
Very good... vast of vision and breadth
It has a heartfelt, cinemascope feel... A sensational read
[A] jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga of lives laid bare
A curious mixture of adventure story and travelogue... [a] vivid and compassionate panorama of the places and people he encounters
[An] elegantly written, page-turning blockbuster... splendidly evoking an India few outsiders know
Shantaram is a novel of the first order, a work of extraordinary art, a thing of exceptional beauty. If someone asked me what the book was about, I would have to say everything, every thing in the world. Gregory David Roberts does for Bombay what Lawrence Durrell did for Alexandria, what Melville did for the South Seas, what Thoreau did for Walden Pond: he makes it an eternal player in the literature of the world
Shantaram has provided me with the richest reading experience to date and I don't expect anybody to unseat its all-round performance for a long time. It is seductive, powerful, complex, and blessed with a perfect voice. Like a voodoo ghost snatcher, Gregory David Roberts has captured the spirits of the likes of Henri Charriere, Rohinton Mistry, Tom Wolfe, and Mario Vargas Llosa, fused them with his own unique magic, and built the most gripping monument in print... Gregory David Roberts is a suitable giant, a dazzling guru, and a genius in full
Shantaram is, quite simply, the Arabian Nights of the new century. Anyone who loves to read has been looking for this book all their reading life. Anyone who walks away from Shantaram untouched is either heartless or dead or both. I haven't had such a wonderful time in years
Shantaram is dazzling. More importantly, it offers a lesson... that those we incarcerate are human beings. They deserve to be treated with dignity. Some of them, after all, may be exceptional. Some may even possess genius
This book was a rollercoaster adventure of a chaotic life in India more specifically Bombay and the mafia that controls it.
Some of the book I feel was written and remembered in a drug infused haze, but was very philosophical.
Mr Roberts descriptions were often over the top, with more adjectives than you could cook dinner with.
There were parts of the story that were unbelievable, when he saved someones life performng CPR, he had just previously described the person as blue with rigor mortis!
Never the less it was still an excellent book. I still feel there are questions as to what happened next, and also what of his past life and family in Australia now?
Inside the Bombay Mafia
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Must read..
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First time I have ever submitted a review so good was the experience!
I have fallen in and out of love with India along the way
The recommendation to try the audio book has been passed back
This is one of the best from an audible veteran
Most excellent
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What did you like most about Shantaram?
This audiobook remains the unbeatable title in my Audible library, and I've now bored countless numbers of friends and family with my enthusiasm for Humphrey Bower's narration of it. The story had me gripped right to the end (so much so that I arrived late to a social gathering in it's final hour, because I couldn't face going out before it had concluded). Don't be perturbed by the length of the audio - once you're inside the world of Shantaram you'll find yourself wishing it was longer!This book is warm, funny and wonderfully textured. Some parts of the tale may be deemed far-fetched if we're asked to believe that this is strictly an autobiography. However, in truth it doesn't matter, because the characters are so well portrayed that they provide a credible grounding and rich entertainment along the way.
What did you like best about this story?
Prabu - Humprey's narration is superb. Like sunshine in your ears!Which scene did you most enjoy?
Difficult to say, because the story is so long and twists between many diverse and extreme landscapes.Any additional comments?
This should be on the list of titles to read or hear before you die.Charming, funny, beautifully narrated
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More than a book
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