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Started By
Message
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Posted on 11/6/25 at 10:32 pm
Posted on 11/6/25 at 10:32 pm
Has anyone on here read this? I decided to read it after I saw someone on Travel Board raving about it, which got my attention. I understand this book was like the hippie Bible back when it came out. For those who don’t know, it’s the story of a guy who escaped from Australian prison to Bombay India, and his subsequent involvement with Indian slums and the mob in Bombay. It’s a true story but I believe it was embellished. I think it has 1 season as an Apple TV show.
The Good:
The descriptions of India/1980s Bombay are really vivid. GDR made me feel like I was there and that the setting as also almost a character in the story. This especially goes for the depictions of slum life, prison life, city life and rural life. He did a really good job of making you feel like you were in that world.
GDR’s description of his time in Arthur Road Prison was really striking. The conditions were so appalling to read about but it kept me turning the pages.
I loved any time Prabaker appeared, that guy was an amazing character.
The Bad:
Sometimes the prose was great and sometimes it was horrible. I don’t need 5 pages of sappy flowering mystical bullshite to describe a person we’ve already met 10 times in the story.
The pseudo-spirituality bullshite. GDR’s character constantly has these “deep” conversations with people where he acts like it’s profound, but doesn’t actually say anything of substance. It gets old.
GDRs character is a miraculous action hero who always beats up and seriously injures his opponents with ease but never kills people because he’s a noble mafioso. It felt unrealistic and kind of silly.
The Afghan War section was interesting to read about, but probably wasn’t really needed. Also, when GDR comes home from Afghanistan, that would have been a great place to end it but we get like 150 more pages of random shite with all new characters we’ve never met.
The character of Karla just pissed me off. GDR’s weird infatuation with her with the above mentioned terrible prose, the mystery surrounding her and the fact that she can’t make up her damn mind on anything.
Overall, I thought it was decent, but if he had an editor to cut it down to like 700 pages it would have been an amazing book.
The Good:
The descriptions of India/1980s Bombay are really vivid. GDR made me feel like I was there and that the setting as also almost a character in the story. This especially goes for the depictions of slum life, prison life, city life and rural life. He did a really good job of making you feel like you were in that world.
GDR’s description of his time in Arthur Road Prison was really striking. The conditions were so appalling to read about but it kept me turning the pages.
I loved any time Prabaker appeared, that guy was an amazing character.
The Bad:
Sometimes the prose was great and sometimes it was horrible. I don’t need 5 pages of sappy flowering mystical bullshite to describe a person we’ve already met 10 times in the story.
The pseudo-spirituality bullshite. GDR’s character constantly has these “deep” conversations with people where he acts like it’s profound, but doesn’t actually say anything of substance. It gets old.
GDRs character is a miraculous action hero who always beats up and seriously injures his opponents with ease but never kills people because he’s a noble mafioso. It felt unrealistic and kind of silly.
The Afghan War section was interesting to read about, but probably wasn’t really needed. Also, when GDR comes home from Afghanistan, that would have been a great place to end it but we get like 150 more pages of random shite with all new characters we’ve never met.
The character of Karla just pissed me off. GDR’s weird infatuation with her with the above mentioned terrible prose, the mystery surrounding her and the fact that she can’t make up her damn mind on anything.
Overall, I thought it was decent, but if he had an editor to cut it down to like 700 pages it would have been an amazing book.
5
Posted on 11/8/25 at 5:14 am to red sox fan 13
Funny i read the same thread this book was referenced in and was planning on reading it after i finish Shelby Foote's civil war series. Sounds pretty good
Posted on 11/11/25 at 8:04 pm to red sox fan 13
I’ve read it.
Author comes across full of himself a little much sometimes. However I still enjoyed it.
Author comes across full of himself a little much sometimes. However I still enjoyed it.
Posted on 11/12/25 at 6:36 pm to red sox fan 13
Picked it up Monday but im still making my way through Shelby Foote's civil war trilogy so it'll be awhile before i get to it.
Posted on 11/19/25 at 8:07 pm to red sox fan 13
quote:
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Dumbest book I've ever read in my life. Utter garbage, its a pseudo-memoir and the author tries to portray himself as a white savior but its so dumb if you think about it for more than 10 seconds. There is a section where he "saves" an entire community with cholera with a first aid kit.
The "prose" is try hard and absolutely full of itself. This is a guy who obviously loves to hear himself talk and thinks everything running through his head is profound.
The book drags, and drags... and drags. Read it as a joke or not at all.
Posted on 11/20/25 at 12:03 pm to red sox fan 13
I was the guy on the travel board. Glad you decided to read the book, and you make some good points. Nobody really knows how much was fact or fiction, but I've read from some serious sources that he was really involved in the underworld in Bombay, he really did live in a slum and worked as a "slum doctor", did escape prison in Australia, and was really in Arthur Road prison. That alone gives him all the credibility I need. I'm pretty sure all the characters in Luipold's were loosely based on people he met in Bombay, which, in the 80's was a wild west city. Karla was pure fiction. One of my Indian friends said it was the best description of Bombay during that time period that he had read.
If you watch any current GDR videos, you'd think he went off his rocker, but who knows. Like in film and music, I try to separate the source from the product, but it's not always easy (or adviseable). He doesn't come across as the same guy who wrote "Shantaram". He did write a sequel, "Mountain Shadow", which wasn't as deep (nor as long) as its predecessor, but he does tie the story up
If you are interested in Bombay, please check out "Maximum City - Bombay Lost and Found" by Suketu Mehta. He uncovers the Bombay underworld through interviews with killers, crime bosses, victims, and the police. He describes the absurd beauracracy, police corruption (much worse than that described in "Shantaram"), political corruption, the role of the mafia in Bollywood, the Hindu/Moslem conflicts, and a lot more. Great book, though the author does seem to ramble a bit at times. It's worth a read.
If you watch any current GDR videos, you'd think he went off his rocker, but who knows. Like in film and music, I try to separate the source from the product, but it's not always easy (or adviseable). He doesn't come across as the same guy who wrote "Shantaram". He did write a sequel, "Mountain Shadow", which wasn't as deep (nor as long) as its predecessor, but he does tie the story up
If you are interested in Bombay, please check out "Maximum City - Bombay Lost and Found" by Suketu Mehta. He uncovers the Bombay underworld through interviews with killers, crime bosses, victims, and the police. He describes the absurd beauracracy, police corruption (much worse than that described in "Shantaram"), political corruption, the role of the mafia in Bollywood, the Hindu/Moslem conflicts, and a lot more. Great book, though the author does seem to ramble a bit at times. It's worth a read.
This post was edited on 11/20/25 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 11/23/25 at 12:16 pm to Boss13
quote:
The "prose" is try hard and absolutely full of itself. This is a guy who obviously loves to hear himself talk and thinks everything running through his head is profound.
This guy gets it.
Would be a much better book if he wasn’t gushing over himself so much.
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