Book Review: Shantaram

Shanatram, by Gregory David Roberts
Finally, after quite a long time, I finished the book Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. It's the author's first novel and, God, I certainly hope it's not the last. Bottom line: read it.

I came upon this book when my boyfriend's brother got it for me for either Christmas or my birthday. It's cute - although I work at multiple libraries, Tommy always buys me books as gifts. This, admittedly, is the first I've finished, but it was well worth it.

One should not let the book's length (over 900 pages) scare them off. The book moves quickly for a number of reasons. For one, action. There's something crazy going on all the time. Second, scandal. Then love. Misery, despair...then joy and celebration. Then lessons learned. The main character is a fugitive that makes his way to Bombay, India, where he joins the Indian mafia.

Perhaps the single best reason for this book's fast pace is the brilliant - BRILLIANT - writing style of Mr. Roberts. The man is a wordsmith and storytelling extraordinaire. The story is prose, but it flows like poetry. The dialogue is honest to the characters and is woven together in a beautiful tapestry of conversation. You can hear these people voices.

An additional plus to this book is how much you learn about the Indian culture. You can see their saris, smell the roti and spiced rice, taste the sweet chai, see them waggle their heads in agreement... I've worked around Indians for the past seven years and have learned more about them in the past few weeks by reading this book.

This book tugs at all the emotional strings. I cried twice. I felt my heart pound a little faster many times. I laughed countless times. In addition to all these lovely things, the book has many fantastic bits of wisdom, witty jokes, and even, dare I say, advice. It's not only a book I'd recommend, but it's a book I'd reread.