Shantaram
Un prófugo de una prisión de alta seguridad en Australia y llega a Bombay dejando tras de sí toda su vida anterior: una ex - esposa y una hija de la cual ha perdido su custodia. Su nombre es Lin, pero pronto será conocido como Shantaram, el hombre de la paz de Dios. En Bombay conoce a Prabaker, su guía hindú, poseedor de una eterna sonrisa que le hace ganarse a todo el mundo. Prabaker le enseña a hablar hindú y marathi y lo sumerge en el Bombay turística y en el desconocido Bombay de los bajos fondos. Durantes este viaje conocerá a la hermosa y peligrosa, Karla, que ocultará un oscuro pasado y de la que, cómo no puede ser de otra manera, se enamorará perdidamente. La novela combina el relato épico con pasajes de gran belleza, humor y sensibilidad a la vez que conmueve la mente y el corazón e induce a la reflexión. Es por otra parte, un gran homenaje literario a Bombay.
Stats for nerds
21recommend
30mentions
29people
2007–2024years
73% recommend23% neutral3% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
- Ooo.. hard question. I read a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. There were only fiction books available in the jail libraries, so that was the bulk of my reading. In fiction my favourites were probably the Southern Reach trilogy and the 3 Body Problem trilogy. I also really liked Shantaram.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantaram_(novel)
In non-fiction some of my favourites were several biographies of people who had conquered Everest. Superhuman by Dave Asprey. And this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Addictive-Technology-Bus...
I did make a list of every book I read but the jail destroyed it. I feel for the author of Shantaram: "His manuscript was destroyed twice by a prison guard, each time after he had written between 300 to 400-odd pages. Referring to this in interviews, Roberts said the guard was "a very harsh critic", remarking that "if you get past something like that, you can take some criticism when you get it from book reviewers.”"
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
These are both absolutely brilliant and moving; you can't go wrong with either of them.
- Shantaram is incredible, I can only think of the original Dune novels by Frank Herbert as comparable in depth, scope and revelation of what it is to be human.
Shantaram's author claims use of artistic license in names, character descriptions and details, in order to protect those described from repercussions. Reading the extraordinary story and arc, and subsequently learning of the fact that later in real life the author later went on to marry into Czech royalty, it's easy to believe it as a fundamentally true account.
- All the fiction books that have left a lasting impact on me have been long...
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22822858-a-little-life)
It is emotionally intense, beautifully written, and is a hypnotic read. Larger than life characters centered around one enigmatic protagonist, Jude. It's about pain, friendship, love, and the brutality of memory and experience.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33600.Shantaram)
An Australian gangster escaping his home country and falling in love with India (Mumbai). Lots of philosophy. A moral tale. Plenty of drama. And a love story with deep, dark characters.
Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2122.The_Fountainhead)
A novel on idealism for the irrational, real world we live in. Centered around an ideal man, Roark, who struggles to survive despite being a brilliant architect; he doesn't give up on his principles and never conforms. Not a typical novel, disliked by many.
- Shantaram is a great novel that is very easy to read regardless of the book length (it's very long). If you are even remotely interested in India and/or travelling it is a must.
