Well, I've been away from my blog for over a month now. Didn't have much to share lately.
What's new at my end? Hmmm, lots. One of the things is that I completed reading 'Shantaram', a novel by Gregory David Roberts. Finally. This book took quite some time to complete - mostly because of the reason that it was very slow in the beginning & at times in between. There were characters who were explained in an entire chapter, same things repeated at times, and so on. A good writing, which wasn't very well edited. However, by the time I ended reading this book, I fell in love with the characters - be it Linbaba, Khaderbhai, Abdullah, Prabhakar, or Kano the bear for that matter. Writing a short review of the book - if anyone is interested in reading this book.
Also, since I was aware of the fact that there was a movie being planned on this book, with Johnny Depp playing the lead of Shantaram and Amitabh Bachchan playing Abdel Khader Khan, I was visualizing Johnny Depp and Amitabh Bachchan while reading the book.
This book is worth a read - at times it is slow - but overall, it's a good read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shantaram - a novel written by Gregory David Roberts, a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escaped from Pentridge Prison and fled to India where he lived for 10 years. This book is believed by some to be based on real events; however, the story and its incidents are largely fictional.
This novel is influenced by real events in the life of the author. In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to nineteen years' imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies, which he had committed to feed a heroin addiction after his marriage ended and he lost his daughter. In 1980, he escaped from the prison in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia's most wanted men.
The protagonist arrives in Bombay (now Mumbai) carrying a false passport in the name of Lindsay Ford. Mumbai was only a stopover, but he decides to stay in the city. Lin meets a guide - Prabaker - who soon becomes his best friend. When Lin goes to Prabhakar's village, Lin gets his name 'Shantaram' (meaning Man of God's Peace). On getting robbed while returning to Mumbai, Lin is forced to live in the slums, giving him shelter from the authorities and free rent in Mumbai, where he sets up a free health clinic. During his stay, he learns much of the local culture, including learning Marathi, Mumbai's local language.
This novel describes a number of foreigners too - Karla, Didier, Ulla, and so on. Lin falls in love with Karla, befriends local artists, and is recruited by the Mumbai underworld for various criminal operations. Lin eventually lands in Bombay's Arthur Road Prison; however, Lin is eventually released thanks to the protection of Afghani mafia don "Abdel Khader Khan". Eventually, Lin works in black market currency exchange and passport forgery. Lin later goes to Afghanistan to smuggle weapons for mujahideen freedom fighters in Afghanistan. And it is in Afghanistan that he gets to know the various secrets from Khan and falls into depression after he returns. When his mentor Khan is killed, Lin decides that he must fight for what he believes is right, and build an honest life.
Their is a flow in the way Roberts has written this book. The beginning of the book is a bit slow, only picking up momentum as we progress. There were few chapters that had descripton of various characters in detail, which I feel at times wasn't required in such detail.