Shantaram
By Gregory David Roberts
Shantaram, written by Gregory David Roberts, was described by the Daily Telegraph as “a literary masterpiece”. In the case of this monumental piece of literature I find it hard to deny the statement. Everything about this novel had me hooked from start to finish. There are flaws, of course, but the book is laced with such vulnerable self-flagellation that the flaws, few and far between as they are, are drowned in its honesty.
Written as a semi-autobiographical account, the story follows Roberts through the most important stages of his incredible life. As an Australian writer-turned-heroin addict, Roberts was sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security prison during the 80’s for several armed robbery offences. After several years behind bars he escaped over the front wall and fled to India. Once there, and under the alias “Lin”, Roberts re-invented himself as a doctor in the slums of Mumbai, earning the attention of the city’s mafia crime boss, the philosophical Idealist Abdul Khader Khan. It’s not long before he joined the mafia as a gun-runner, counterfeiter, and street soldier, which eventually led him to war, fighting alongside the Mujahedin in Afghanistan.
When I read the blurb and realised I was about to embark on a 900 page odyssey following the journey of a Heroin addicted criminal, I felt a little put off. I couldn’t see how I would relate or sympathise with Roberts in a way that would allow me to connect and view the world through his eyes. From the very first page I knew (and was slightly ashamed of my ignorance) that I was totally wrong. Roberts opens the novel beautifully, setting the reader into a state of relaxed excitement. From the outset he makes clear that the focus of the book is not on the events that occur, but on the ideas and personal exploration of the narrator. As Lin begins a quest to find a life in a strange new land, he also begins an inward quest, to find himself in a world that seems to have turned against him.
Gregory David Roberts opens his soul in this book. He shows himself completely, and analyses his every flaw. His humanity, his connection to the world and his ideas on life, love and the relationships we make are depicted with such open vulnerability I sometimes felt guilty reading them, as if I were reading a diary, a personal account of a life hard lived, and loves hard lost.
We see him near death, hanging in chains in a Mumbai prison, tortured and bloody with flesh hanging from his bones. We see him dealing with loss on a horrific level, and fighting his way back to a reality that would, to most, seem hopeless. And we are there, so close, because through each ordeal we have his thoughts and fears described to us in vivid and immaculate detail.
Amazingly, Roberts wrote three copies of the manuscript whilst in prison in India. Each copy of the massively complex novel was destroyed by the prison guards. The mere fact that the novel was completed is a testament to Roberts’ willpower and determination.
I would recommend this book to everyone. Its depth and beauty should be experienced by anyone that seeks cultural enrichment and a fresh perspective on life. The book is at times poetic, philosophical and thought provoking and at others vivid and grotesque, with gripping scenes of inexplicable torment. It is both simple and complex, honest and cruel, and by the time the last page is turned every human emotion will be stirred.
Note to self: Don't write anything in first person ever.
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