Shantaram

A Novel

By: Gregory David Roberts

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 42 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on his own extraordinary life, Gregory David Roberts’ Shantaram is a mesmerizing novel about a man on the run who becomes entangled within the underworld of 1980s Bombay—the basis for the Apple + TV series starring Charlie Hunnam.

“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured.”

An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter the city’s hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere.

As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city’s poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power.

Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas—this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart.

©2003 Gregory David Roberts (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"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, and what Thoreau did for Walden Pond: He makes it an eternal player in the literature of the world." (Pat Conroy)

"[A] sprawling, intelligent novel…full of vibrant characters…the exuberance of his prose is refreshing…Roberts brings us through Bombay's slums and opium houses, its prostitution dens and ex-pat bars, saying, You come now. And we follow." (The Washington Post)

"Few stand out quite like Shantaram …nothing if not entertaining. Sometimes a big story is its own best reward." (The New York Times)

wow

It is an excellent thought provoking story and the narrator did a very good job.

What a fantastic book

I can’t say enough about this book, it is exciting amazing and beautiful all in one. A must read!!!

exquisitely written

i could see everything he wrote about!! loved every word in this book much love

A big bite of Bombay

Shantaram, the narrator named Lynn Baba, arrives in Bombay as fugitive on the run after having escaped an Australian top-security prison. Meets a spunky and generous-hearted taxi driver named Brabaka who takes Lynn to so many "away from the tourist trail" places that he quickly becomes partly assimilated, even more so because he is clever and picks up the local language.

Lynn's adventures continue in Brabaka's home village, where he learns the important Marati minority language to supplement his rapidly-improving Hindi. Back in the city, Lynn becomes the de facto slum village doctor, despite any formal training. He is accepted and becomes part of the community.

HIs assimilation into the world of the enigmatic Mafia Don, Abdul Kadr Khan begins with instruction in morals and ethics and a shared fascination with the meaning of life. Lyn is tutored in the various essential Mafia Arts, currency manipulation, gold smuggling, and the modification of passports to give them legitimacy.

Don't want to give away too much of the busy and energetic plot, but Lynn finds himself imprisoned for several months in a "hell-hole" prison, where the filthy conditions and the sadistic guards team up to break a man's body and mind,

A bit later the scene shifts to the mountains of Afghanistan, where Lyn wages holy jihad with his new friends. He develops respect for and friendship with a new set of holy warriors.

The adventures never end, continuing after a return to Bombay. Talk begins as the book ends about an expedition into Sri Lanka, which is in the throes of rebellion. This book was already so large and covered the span of so much time and place that i was very glad he didn't try to just "tack on" three of four Sril Lanka chapters to this already-long novel.

The narration is well suited to the material, and it would not have been difficult to believe that it was actually the author reading his own book. You will find lots of adventure between the covers of this epic novel. Well worth while.

“Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry”

Most amazing!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely. Rare is the book that draws you in to make you a part of it's world. Shantaram is such a book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lin of course has to be my first favorite character followed closely by Prabaker. Despite Lin's eventual occupation he has a real integrity, and Prabaker's outlook on life was the best.

What does Humphrey Bower bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Humphery Bower was an amazing performer bringing each character to life, allowing them individual identity.

Any additional comments?

Shantaram is a book you are sorry to see end but all must it and Gregory David Roberts did it in very great style. This is a very good book.

Fantastic fiction

Who was your favorite character and why?

Praberka

If you could take any character from Shantaram out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Praberka

Any additional comments?

Very enjoyable. Don't let the 48 hour narration time put you off, this is indeed a work on the highest order of quality.

Great audio book

Would have never read this book but the audio version was so well done it kept me engaged

My New Favorite Novel

Other favorites are Nick Harkaway's "The Gone-away World," and Vikram Seth's "A Suitable Boy." There is so much that is unique and compelling about this novel, that it's hard to know where to begin. The story of a felony prison escapee with a heart of gold, a deeply kind man that recognizes depth of character and kindness in others, but never shies away from a fight, the right fight, or at least the wrong fight for the right reasons. And he loves Mumbai. All of it: the slums, the prisons, the luxuries, the entire colorful, dusty mess of humanity within. An Aussie-on-the-run who loves Mumbai. We travel with him to Pakistan and Afghanistan, but he returns to Mumbai, which we learn to love as well, as seen though his eyes.

awesome book!

It made me want to go visit India. And spend time in the slums.... now that is good writing!

Great book

Great story and wonderful narrator, The best I have listented to. Stays in head a long Time after Reading.