July 22, 2008

Shantaram

Finished reading 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts today and it would be safe to say that this magnificent novel is like nothing i have ever read before. Praises more eloquent than i could ever conceive have already been dedicated to this masterpiece of a story.

The writing is brutally frank and honest. It catches hold of you from the first sentence and doesn’t let go till the last, giving you hundreds of shakes and jolts along the way to keep you, if possible, even more riveted. The people, places and situations are described in a manner that, I can now say, is uniquely Roberts. Indeed, the breathtaking, almost tangible beauty of the imagery and the powerful style of writing all but pull you into the life of Shantaram.

And what a life it is: from prison breaks to living in slums, from working for the mafia to fighting with the Mujahedeen, Shantaram’s done it all. The story of his life gets so unbelievable that it is easy to forget that this is novel, though a work a fiction, has been built upon real life events that are stranger and, at times, more unbelievable than fiction itself.

The words of caution that the Publishers forgot to include on the cover is that this book will make you pine for adventure. That it will make you yearn for love and, at the same time, will make you want to love, the second considerably harder than the first. It will make you crave to find yourself. They forgot to say that this story will teach you about love, hate, remorse, forgiveness and a larger than life philosophy without ever getting preachy.

Roberts’ writing has the power to touch even the most callous of readers and change them in some small way or the other.

This is one novel you have got to read.

Visit the official site of the author here.


20 July, 2008

3 comments:

Swat said...

lol aww uve said everything i wanted to say...lol...!!
but i swear i didn't know the story was fiction based on reality...that's sucha shocker...and it's sucha big let down!!

Kriti said...

Cool header!!! And yes, Shantaram is one book that I'm really looking forward to reading...hopefully will get round to doing that soon...

Siva said...

Good Book I like to read this book Shantaram The Great