Shantaram

Er det selvtillit eller sviktende selvbilde som får en forfatter til å skrive 933 sider bok (denne utgaven), og bidrar antall ord til å gjøre en bok bedre eller dårligere?
Gjennom en måned med lesing fra 27.juni og til 2. august etter å ha tatt en pause i januar på side 82, har jeg endret oppfatning flere ganger etterhvert som lesingen har skredet frem. Mange blir hektet med en gang, jeg ble bare forvirret av alle menneskene og den for meg statiske handlingen med en person jeg ikke syns var spesielt interessant. Rundt side hundre og på min andre begynnelse løsnet det. Der jeg hørte andre falle av, ble jeg koblet på. Menneskene begynner å få gjenkjennbare trekk, livet i Mumbai-slummen finnet en form, og jeg varmes opp til menneskene, i hvert fall de jeg får taket på.
Og jeg tenker at det skal en del til å ikke bli engasjert av noen personer i et så stort persongalleri. Men jeg sitter med en usikkerhet: Er dette selvopplevd, eller er det fiksjon? Er det fiksjon blir det litt voldsomt. Er det selvopplevd, oppleves det litt vel pompøst og med mange løse tråder. Det er egentlig en bok full av lovede fremtider, men når fremtidene skjer, virker de lovede tingene oppskrytte. Når de skjer så skjer de bare, og forsterker opplevelsen av at Shantaram er litteratur uten en fast historie annet enn Shantaram selv. Ting skjer over de 933 tre sidene, men de kulminerer ikke. Roberts, forfatteren, eller Shantaram som er hans indiske navn, forteller og forteller, og så er han ferdig.
Er det Dickens i moderne form, eller er det en person som har en historie å fortelle, men som ikke vet å sette grenser? Jeg vet ikke, men jeg holdt ut, og kunne tenkt meg å vite mer. I det jeg lukket boken, tenkte jeg at det var en liten bok der det ikke skjedde så mye, og en uendelig bok som inneholdt hele verdener. Jeg begynte på en bok som fikk Mumbai og det indiske subkontinentet til å fremstå som kaotisk og krevende, men sluttet som en fortelling der jeg nettopp hadde åpnet døren og akkurat skulle til å bevege meg inn i en uendelig verden. Det er denne dobbeltheten som gjør at jeg ikke vet om jeg syns dette er bra, eller om det er for mye. Shantaram er en prestasjon, men en litt grenseløs prestasjon der en god redaktør hadde kuttet og hjulpet forfatteren å fjerne det essensielle fra det overflødige. Men hadde han da fjernet kjernen ut av boken? Det er det jeg er redd for, og det er det som gjør at jeg tror jeg sier at, ok, Gregory David Roberts, du klarte det. Du klarte å hekte meg. Nesten. Nesten, og nok til at jeg må se serien på Apple +.

DNF at 8 %

It's a no from me. No doubt for some people this is a magical experience, the very thought of it causing sp0ntainious self combustion or moments of dribbling euphoria. I am not not one of those people, almost 100 pages in and I felt absolutely nothing, completely empty. NEXT!!!

What an incredible book. The stories are so incredible and there are so many that many some of them would deserve their own book. Entire different underworlds are described in such detail that is very difficult to remember that only some of the stories are entirely true. In many moments, while reading this book, I was taken by surprise by how much the book still have to give. Just when I thought it had given enough, it would go in a totally different and new direction. One of the most impressive book I read. It made me feel again like when I was reading Jules Verne books as a kid.

Man was this book a chore to finish. I didn't hate it but I really did not like it. This book could have been edited down or broken down to a trilogy.

Many of the characters were very flat and even if the story was semi autobiographical I felt I heard most of the gangster parts in other books or movies. The godfather comes to mind.

The book then became very soap opery when characters thought too be dead came back. Oof. The love story did not capture me either.

I did enjoy the story of when he was a medic in the slums and the people he met there. that is the reason I gave this book two stars rather than one. I have no idea why this book was recommended and why the reviews are so high. I guess you either loved this book or really did not.

Man was this book a chore to finish. I didn't hate it but I really did not like it. This book could have been edited down or broken down to a trilogy.

Many of the characters were very flat and even if the story was semi autobiographical I felt I heard most of the gangster parts in other books or movies. The godfather comes to mind.

The book then became very soap opery when characters thought too be dead came back. Oof. The love story did not capture me either.

I did enjoy the story of when he was a medic in the slums and the people he met there. that is the reason I gave this book two stars rather than one. I have no idea why this book was recommended and why the reviews are so high. I guess you either loved this book or really did not.

4.5

More accurately its a 4.5 stars. Second time through this quite amazing story. An amazing life & very well told. Real entertainment

I must admit I gave up on it. I just couldn't face more of the endless, endless blabbering about Life and Truth and Self Discovery and omg dude please. There are some great bits about India in this book, but you have to wade through SO much inane drivel to get to them it's just not worth it.

Shantaram is not what I would call literary fiction. It's something similar, which is probably why it gets a lot of flack. People seem to read it expecting flawless style and writing, and while there's no doubt that the writing is better than many similar books, you shouldn't read it for style.

Read it because it is an expansive story in so many ways. Read it for the vivid descriptions of Bombay, war-torn Afghanistan and many other places. For the range of the human condition that is explored, the very believable portrayal of the life of an escape prisoner at the edges of society and the multitude of characters he encounters. All these are bright and believable. It's more than that though. Scattered among the sometimes trite aphorisms are some real gems. There are lessons hard learned that are painful and powerful in their retelling.

I was captivated by Shantaram. While the book is not strictly autobiographical, the storytelling is convincing enough that it feels like it could be. You can tell that Roberts is, in a montaignesque way, really trying to know and represent himself as faithfully as possible. It's impressive how he is able to return to his past self's state of mind–it reminds me of Proust in that sense, the realization that who he is now isn't who he was, but at the same time, trying to accurately identify with that past self.

I really took a while to get into this one, but it was entirely worth it. Roberts connects you to the heart of India with his (at times overly) descriptive and emotional first hand accounts. That connection magnifies the already engaging action that emerges in the second half of the book.

At times Roberts is a bit too flowery and definitive for my taste, but taken with a grain of salt the themes on theology, the meaning of life, and theories around why we interact with others in the way that we do are thought provoking and well woven into the story.

I loved this book! Well worth the five weeks it took me to finish it. This book is not for everyone but I found that it to be both uplifting and informative.

“every human heart beat is a universe of possibilities.”

This is inspired storytelling by someone who values words, voices and experiences; the stuff that goes in making our lives cherishable. The narrative voice is reliable and the style original.
Thoroughly vivid and profound in parts, the story takes on hell of a journey, and I have to say that I find candid honesty in the voice as far as portrayal of India; the life in places, the values of people, strands of cultural fabric, if you will, human first, then Indian, Afghan, European or Australian, is concerned.
A page-turner as it is, the text renders equal justice in character build-up and the way the city breathes through the pages, you end up giving the author credit for seeing with a keen eye. I had to, initially, placate a concerned reader's voice inside me as to where it is going and the almost impossible gestural magnanimity being projected and displayed towards most things, most characters that the narrator ends up bumping in. But as the world of Lin opens up through the crevices of a city's underbelly as well as the whiff of its island-beauty, you find yourself excitedly taking a stroll with the characters. Eventually, it turns into an infectious and irresistible tale you don't want to take your mind's eyes off.
Having learned that the book is a part of a planned quartet, I would look forward to another book by Gregory Roberts. On of the many reasons why I liked the book is that irrespective of an overtly conscious effort to build upon literary styles much dominated by fashion, the tale unfolds and embraces without inhibitions. The reader starts, breathes and walks, takes a plunge, and is back. Home; enriched with words from some world.

Prabaker is probably one of my favourite literary characters. Really enjoyed this book!