Shantaram

Once in a while you read a long, very long, did I say this was long?, book and you think this is too long… but you don’t put it down because it is actually really compelling.  That was the case for Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, which is “influenced” by his real-life story of a convicted bank robber from Australia who struggles with heroin addiction and escapes to an adventure of a lifetime in Bombay, India.  Roberts escapes from a maximum security prison, Victoria’s Pentridge Prison, during daylight in an unusual escape plan with another inmate. After hiding out in Australia, an old college professor and mentor meets up with him and encourages him to leave the country before he is captured (as he is listed on the top ten most wanted convicts in the country).  Roberts names the main character Lindsay, or known as Lin, and the bulk of the book focuses on the many people that Lindsay meets after his entry into Bombay.  His friendship with a local, Prabaker, who helps him find a hideout in the slums of town, changes his life and how he is viewed by those who interact with him when Lin becomes the local “doctor”(!) helping locals with low-level illnesses and other problems within the village.  Lin learns the local language and becomes a hero for the lowly and those in need of a bit of care.  Lin falls in love with Karla, a woman with a very sordid past and eventually is recruited into the underworld “mafia” of Mumbai, which leads to a jail term in which Lin is tortured, as are many of his fellow-jailers.  Lin finally gets out of the jail through the help and protection of an Afghan mafia don, Abdel Khader Khan, a man who befriends Lin time and time again. He later goes to Afghanistan to smuggle weapons for the freedom fighters. Later his mentor is killed and Lin finally realizes he became everything he grew to hate and falls into depression. He finally reunites with his love Karla and guess what happens?  Does Lin reunite with her?  The character of Lin is continually evolving, questioning his ability to be good and do the right thing, struggling with drug use, and never sure of how he can feel the kind of emotion that he never received from his parents.  Reminder, this is a really long read, but it is hard to put down.  Lots of learning about the underworld, the Indian culture, and the crime underworld.  There is sadness and a depth in the various characters that Lin meets during his travels.  Prabaker is my favorite.  This might be a great holiday or spring break read.