Weighing in at nearly 1000 pages, it took me 5 months to finish this book. It was entirely worth it, although I had to eschew all the other magazines and books that came into the house in order to continue determinedly turning Shantaram's pages.
The best feature of this story is that it is largely based on Gregory David Roberts' own experience of escaping prison and living as a fugitive in Bombay where he set up a free medical clinic in the slum that he also called home (remember the opening scenes of Slumdog Millionaire) and worked as a counterfeiter and gun runner.
Luckily for us, Roberts isn't your average rough-around-the-edges, fist-swinging, former heroine addict. He is also a writer with a gift for drama, suspense, lyricism and a deep love for India, a country unique in it's appreciation of an individual with "real heart."
The book is fascinating but the author's real life is even more so. After 10 years living on the lam in India, supporting himself by working with the Bombay mafia, Roberts was recaptured. He finished out his 19 year sentence, returned to Bombay and started a multimedia company. This is one author I would love to meet--I wonder what he thinks about the state of multimedia and print journalism.
The best feature of this story is that it is largely based on Gregory David Roberts' own experience of escaping prison and living as a fugitive in Bombay where he set up a free medical clinic in the slum that he also called home (remember the opening scenes of Slumdog Millionaire) and worked as a counterfeiter and gun runner.
Luckily for us, Roberts isn't your average rough-around-the-edges, fist-swinging, former heroine addict. He is also a writer with a gift for drama, suspense, lyricism and a deep love for India, a country unique in it's appreciation of an individual with "real heart."
The book is fascinating but the author's real life is even more so. After 10 years living on the lam in India, supporting himself by working with the Bombay mafia, Roberts was recaptured. He finished out his 19 year sentence, returned to Bombay and started a multimedia company. This is one author I would love to meet--I wonder what he thinks about the state of multimedia and print journalism.
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