The novel came out quite a while back – I read great reviews everywhere – was super-intrigued by the plot, its author and the unusual story behind the book. Yet, somehow I never got around to reading it. Tried to borrow it from the public library a couple of times – but all copies had never-ending queues. Well, finally the public interest faded and I got my hands on a pretty worn and battered copy a few weeks back. And am I glad I finally read it!
Shantaram is definitely one of my favorite books from now on. From the minute I started reading it, I was taken by the remarkable story telling of Gregory David Roberts. The best way I can describe the book is that it is so ‘vivid’ – each location, each character and each sub-plot feels so alive and real. While, of course, this can be attributed to the fact many events actually happened in the author’s life, yet the skill with which he tells their story and fuses it with figments of his imagination is truly commendable. The book takes its readers on a journey of emotions that juggle between suspense, empathy, joy, sorrow and just plain old interest in how the story unfolds. I have to admit I enjoyed the first half or two-thirds of the book more than the rest. It is very unusual that I jot down lines that I like from a book I’m reading – too lazy to pause and make the effort! Yet, this time around, I felt compelled to do so- I wanted to be able to read them over again. And so I diligently managed to do that for almost two-thirds of the book and then the laziness-effort-part and the anxiety to finish reading took over.
I visited the author’s website a couple of days back and learnt about how this was slated to be a big movie production with Johnny Depp in the lead. But seems like all plans fell through. Anyways, it would have been a mammoth task to represent it all in a 2-3 hour movie.
Logging off for now & hoping to be more regular with blogging! Btw, my favorite character in the book was Prabhaker and the most annoying was Karla.
Shantaram is definitely one of my favorite books from now on. From the minute I started reading it, I was taken by the remarkable story telling of Gregory David Roberts. The best way I can describe the book is that it is so ‘vivid’ – each location, each character and each sub-plot feels so alive and real. While, of course, this can be attributed to the fact many events actually happened in the author’s life, yet the skill with which he tells their story and fuses it with figments of his imagination is truly commendable. The book takes its readers on a journey of emotions that juggle between suspense, empathy, joy, sorrow and just plain old interest in how the story unfolds. I have to admit I enjoyed the first half or two-thirds of the book more than the rest. It is very unusual that I jot down lines that I like from a book I’m reading – too lazy to pause and make the effort! Yet, this time around, I felt compelled to do so- I wanted to be able to read them over again. And so I diligently managed to do that for almost two-thirds of the book and then the laziness-effort-part and the anxiety to finish reading took over.
I visited the author’s website a couple of days back and learnt about how this was slated to be a big movie production with Johnny Depp in the lead. But seems like all plans fell through. Anyways, it would have been a mammoth task to represent it all in a 2-3 hour movie.
Logging off for now & hoping to be more regular with blogging! Btw, my favorite character in the book was Prabhaker and the most annoying was Karla.
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