After a very long time I've finally finished Shantharam, and it left me a little unsatisfied. It is the actual story of an Australian who escapes from a high security prison and comes to Bombay in the 80's. He then learns Hindi and Marathi, lives in a slum for 2 years, starts a free clinic for the slum dwellers, joins the mafia, gets in and out of a heroin habit and even fights with the Mujaheddin. It is as action packed as you could ask for, and it is all based on a true story!
I really liked the first half of the book (around 500 pages of a 936 page book), where it focused on things we take for granted in India. It was nice to see how a foreigner takes them. But then the amount of action in the book just put me down. So is a foreigner living in the slums the only thing amazing about the book? No! It is much more and I would really recommend this book to anyone. It must be because I am reading The Kite Runner, another great book and comparing with it that I'm feeling this way.
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2 comments:
Saatch aur Himmat!!!! Way to go, you join me in celebrating Shantaram.
J'ai beaucoup apprécié ce livre, il nous ammène à nous interroger sur ce que nous sommes et plus largement sur où va le monde. De plus, ce contenu plutôt philosophique est accompagné de merveilleuses descriptions de l'Inde au Pakistan et de personnages tous plus complexes les uns que les autres. Coup de chapeau à l'auteur. Bonne lecture !
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