--- product_id: 6791868 title: "Shantaram: A Novel" price: "Rp681267" currency: IDR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.id/products/6791868-shantaram-a-novel store_origin: ID region: Indonesia --- # Shantaram: A Novel **Price:** Rp681267 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Shantaram: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** Rp681267 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.id](https://www.desertcart.id/products/6791868-shantaram-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Now a major television series from Apple TV+ starring Charlie Hunnam! “It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured.” An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter the city’s hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere. As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city’s poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power. Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas―this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Review: Highly Recommended - The book is named Shantaram and I have burned through its 936 pages in about two weeks. If you don't know the book. it is based on the author's Gregory David Roberts own true story of his escaped from a Maximum Security Prison in Australia, and subsequent travel to India to find refuge among slums dwellers and the Mafia of Bombay. In Mumbai (Bombay), as a fugitive, with a new identity "Lin" (Roberts), as protagonist lives out an extensional quest for survival, freedom, and redemption so profound, that to set such experiences into an active first person narrative, and place it within the context of the authors own intense confessions as well as an esoteric yet rigorous philosophical cosmology constitutes one of the rarest forms of literary expression. Yet Robert's managed the feat while running a medical clinic in one of the cities darkest slums and inhabiting the Bombay underworld, associating with the most amazing cast of anti-heroes and hoods. The sacred and profane populate this novel; gangsters, gurus, thieves, standing Babas, Sufis, sinners, saints, European ex-pats are all among the odd assortment of humanity who find a home within. The plot follows Lin through a series of most fantastic adventures and incredible experiences only possible in India, or ecstatic realizations among unspeakable deprivations. This is a book about crime and its more unspeakable punishment, of despair and hope, love and betrayal. His friendships with India and its villagers, slum dwellers, sages, and his trusty companion Prabu are deeply poignant, joyful and heart wrenching. The author's deep affection for the people of the subcontinent breaths through his every word. The story is also at times even absurdly comic ( ex. A Bombay drug store cowboy decked out in black leather and a stetson, who speaks Danish, a Mumbai police hunt for a giant bear). The author even takes on roles in the Bollywood film industry, and in one of the more breath taking narrations he follows his fellow gangsters to fight in the mountains of Afghanistan as a Mujahadeen warrior (impersonating a CIA agent). As all experiences in India the events unfold in a wholly paradoxical matter full of intrigue and surprises where nothing turns out exactly as one would expect, for in a world of Maya nothing is really as it seems. The author has the rare gift to show the "the authentic face of India"; as Janus as that maybe. A country which if you travel as a tourist seems to offer you a different profile at almost every turn and encounter. In Shantaram one experiences India across the entire spectrum of its extremes, her dark brutal secret of hopelessness and wrath, as well as the fathomless compassion which sparks the flame of hope to burn eternally within her multitudes of beings. This is no where as well illustrated then in his description of the head of one of Bombay mafia family, Khader Kahn, a gangster and guru like figure with a spiritual philosophy based on modern physics and a view not unlike Teilhard De Chardin which concerns the evolution of the universe heading toward a state of maximum complexity which he terms: "God." The writing is so genuine, passionate and sincere, in its description of the tumultuous life of India's largest city and all the eccentric characters who fill it, that this in itself is worth the price of the ticket to Shantaram. No doubt, Shantaram along with some of the recent plethora of great English novels from subcontinent writers has helped to establish Mumbai and her characters as one of the worlds great literary settings of the early 21st century. The story is finally about the author's spiritual transformation and search for redemption in part as he pursues his underworld Anima, the beautiful and mysterious emerald eyed Karla, a Swiss/American also on the run, who devours novels by such authors as Mann, Schiller, Flaubert and Virgina Woolf, in their original language, and spews forth her own experiences of the fringes, in koan like musings while wandering stealthily among the teeming streets of Mumbai to facilitate the trade of guns, money, identity, and espionage. The author managed to contemplate the narrative while he was serving two years of a seven year sentence in an Australian maximum security prison while in solitary confinement. Anyway this is great novel, I was hooked from the book's first sentence and literally could not put it down. Here is how the first sentence reads: "It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant while I was chained to the wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled , bloody helplessness, I was still free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them." (Amazingly after Roberts recorded the events in this book, he ran underworld missions in Sri Lanka, Zaire, Singapore, Italy, and was finally recaptured in Germany where he was fronting as singer for a Rock band. He was then sent back to Australia to serve out his remaining prison sentence. [...] ( It appears that soon the story will be heading to the cinema as Johnny Depp has bought the rights and he is conspiring with Russell Crowe to make the film. Thankfully Roberts is working on the screenplay.) Review: Shantaram: an epic journey for redemption - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts By Michael Hooper Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an epic story about one man’s struggle for freedom, friendship, adventure, love, camaraderie, peace and redemption. The book is about a man who escapes a prison in Australia and moves to Bombay, where he reinvents himself. He calls himself Lin, which is the name on his fake passport. In Bombay, he falls into a crowd of expatriates and slum dwellers. One of the first people he meets is Prabakar, a runner/salesman, who meets tourists at train stations, and brings them to hotels and restaurants and takes a cut from the proprietors. He also helps them exchange money, and score hashish. Prabakar takes a liking to Lin and recruits him into his business as a runner helping tourists. Prabaker calls him Linbaba. I can relate to this job because I worked as a runner helping tourists find hotel rooms in Athens, Greece, when I was a young man. Prabakar introduces Lin to his mother, who gives him a new name Shantaram, which means man of peace. Although he is not afraid to fight for his freedom, it seems that Lin is struggling for peace and redemption. He had been a heroin addict in Australia, where he lost his wife and child in a divorce. He was arrested for burglary and armed robbery, put in jail but he escapes over the wall and travels to Bombay. In Bombay, he falls in love with the city, the first thing he notices is its smell, "its sweet sweating smell of hope" and its "sour stifled smell of greed." One of my favorite places in the book is Leopold’s, a coffee shop bar where he and his friends meet on a regular basis to talk about politics and business and gossip. There he meets people like Karla and Didier Levy, Vickram and Ulla. His friend Prabakar invites him to live in the slum with him and his family. There he sees great need for medical care, and he starts a free medical clinic. Needing antibiotics and other medical supplies he makes a connection with the lepers of Bombay, who somehow acquire these medical supplies and sell them to him at a discount. He is not a medical doctor, but they call him a doctor. He’s actually trained in ambulatory care He helps people get through many struggles, cuts, bruising, inflections and an outbreak of cholera. Love is an abiding theme in this book, there is brotherly love, the love of friends and camaraderie, and the love of a father, or a father figure and romantic love. He falls in love with Karla, who is a very mysterious person with a past in Europe and America. She speaks multiple languages and blends in beautifully into the Bombay lifestyle. Lin is enchanted with her green eyes and beautiful hair and lovely clothing but perhaps most of all he is curious about her mysterious history. His love for Karla is complex taking on various forms -- from friendship to making love to her on a beach under moonlight. He loves their ability to talk for hours and connect. This book is one part James Michener and one part Ernest Hemingway and another part uniquely Australian. It captures the pure Wonderlust of Australians. I’ve met so many Australians, who have traveled the world, they’ve been everywhere and done all kinds of different things. The author Gregory David Roberts wrote this book so well because he lived it. He actually did lose his wife and child, while addicted to heroin and getting busted for armed robbery and ending up in jail in Australia. He broke out of jail and went to Bombay to start his life all over again. One of the most powerful man in Bombay is Abdel Khader Khan, a poet, philosopher and lord of gang of people who work in the black market trades, false passport industry, the gold trade, and the money exchange trade. Lin works for Khader Khan, who wants him to learn everything about his business.The book goes into detail on how his goondas make money in these trades. Abdel Kader Khan believes there are various levels of evil depending on the sin. Some sins are worse than others. Lin is really amazed at the man’s commanding presence and ability to generate extreme loyalty. While working in the false passport trade with two specialists, Lin acquires for himself about five passports. When someone’s visa is out of order, they could fix that with a specialty stamp. Lin goes to great links for Khader Khan. Another fascinating character in the book is Didier Levy, a 35 year old French Jew, who is a wonderful gossip talk head, who spends a lot of time at Leopold‘s, drinking alcohol and talking with friends, and watching business transact all around them, and getting a cut here and there from some of this business. He talks about the hashish trade and the local gangsters. And he talks about Karla. He says she has the power to make men shine like the stars, or crush them to dust. Karla and Didier once lived together for about a year in Bombay sharing a crazy fractured little apartment. Page 58. There are many funny and shocking stories in the book, including a description of how the locals in Bombay treat a person who is at fault for a car accident. The locals actually drag the driver out of the car and beat him up. There's also an endearing story about a beloved bear who gets locked up in prison. His caretakers stay in prison with him, so he is not lonely. Perhaps my favorite theme in the book is camaraderie among friends, especially when they gather at Leopold’s. I believe every person needs a group of friends. It’s tough being alone in this world, indeed it's even tougher when you are in a foreign country and you don't know anybody. There is some evidence that a person will live longer if they have regular contact with people. I go to a local coffee two or three times a week to visit with my friends. My comrades there are very special to me. Yet Leopold's is a different kind of place, because it attracts people from all walks of life, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Franch, American, Indian, and Iranians, and Afghans and Arabs and Africans all gathering at this place. There’s nothing quite like it in Topeka, but when I was in Barcelona in 1990 I fell into a crowd of expatriates. I was walking along Las Ramblas, enjoying the sights of people and places along this famous boardwalk. I saw a group of young men led by a tall, gregarious man. He said hello to me, and I said hello back and he asked if I were English, I said America. He asked, "Do you get high?" and I said, "yes," and he said "follow me." We ended at a coffee shop in a Square just off Las Ramblas, where we drank beer and smoked spliff’s. Perhaps my favorite birthday was when I announced that in five minutes, I would be 27 years old. Everybody started singing, happy birthday to me and sharing drinks and joints. We stayed up all night partying and I ended up sleeping on the beach with my comrade Eamon strumming his guitar. It was one of the most exhilarating, romantic, and illuminating experiences in my life. Shantaram is a huge book at 933 pages. I enjoyed 95% of it. There is some warlord gang fighting that occurs toward the end of the book and this seems to drag on for a while but all in all, I enjoyed the book very much Shantaram is on Apple TV. The 12 part miniseries is fantastic, but unfortunately was discontinued. I believe Gregory David Roberts was involved in writing the script. In some ways, the book is much better with more detail about life in India. There is a great deal of charity in the soul of Linbaba, he is always trying to support his friends, and the poor people who live in the slums. I think the spirit of Linbaba is a man who loves people, who cares about the suffering in the world. Shantaram is an appropriate name for this evolving man of the world. ## Features - Author: Roberts, Gregory David. - Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin - Pages: 944 - Publication Date: 2005-10-01 - Edition: First Edition - Binding: Paperback - MSRP: 19.99 - ISBN13: 9780312330538 - ISBN: 0312330537 - Language: en - Store Location: General Fiction - "Book cover image may be different than what appears on the actual book." ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #9,754 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #85 in Thriller & Suspense Action Fiction #133 in Organized Crime Thrillers #424 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 40,621 Reviews | ## Images ![Shantaram: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81jwDxTChYL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended *by R***N on February 21, 2006* The book is named Shantaram and I have burned through its 936 pages in about two weeks. If you don't know the book. it is based on the author's Gregory David Roberts own true story of his escaped from a Maximum Security Prison in Australia, and subsequent travel to India to find refuge among slums dwellers and the Mafia of Bombay. In Mumbai (Bombay), as a fugitive, with a new identity "Lin" (Roberts), as protagonist lives out an extensional quest for survival, freedom, and redemption so profound, that to set such experiences into an active first person narrative, and place it within the context of the authors own intense confessions as well as an esoteric yet rigorous philosophical cosmology constitutes one of the rarest forms of literary expression. Yet Robert's managed the feat while running a medical clinic in one of the cities darkest slums and inhabiting the Bombay underworld, associating with the most amazing cast of anti-heroes and hoods. The sacred and profane populate this novel; gangsters, gurus, thieves, standing Babas, Sufis, sinners, saints, European ex-pats are all among the odd assortment of humanity who find a home within. The plot follows Lin through a series of most fantastic adventures and incredible experiences only possible in India, or ecstatic realizations among unspeakable deprivations. This is a book about crime and its more unspeakable punishment, of despair and hope, love and betrayal. His friendships with India and its villagers, slum dwellers, sages, and his trusty companion Prabu are deeply poignant, joyful and heart wrenching. The author's deep affection for the people of the subcontinent breaths through his every word. The story is also at times even absurdly comic ( ex. A Bombay drug store cowboy decked out in black leather and a stetson, who speaks Danish, a Mumbai police hunt for a giant bear). The author even takes on roles in the Bollywood film industry, and in one of the more breath taking narrations he follows his fellow gangsters to fight in the mountains of Afghanistan as a Mujahadeen warrior (impersonating a CIA agent). As all experiences in India the events unfold in a wholly paradoxical matter full of intrigue and surprises where nothing turns out exactly as one would expect, for in a world of Maya nothing is really as it seems. The author has the rare gift to show the "the authentic face of India"; as Janus as that maybe. A country which if you travel as a tourist seems to offer you a different profile at almost every turn and encounter. In Shantaram one experiences India across the entire spectrum of its extremes, her dark brutal secret of hopelessness and wrath, as well as the fathomless compassion which sparks the flame of hope to burn eternally within her multitudes of beings. This is no where as well illustrated then in his description of the head of one of Bombay mafia family, Khader Kahn, a gangster and guru like figure with a spiritual philosophy based on modern physics and a view not unlike Teilhard De Chardin which concerns the evolution of the universe heading toward a state of maximum complexity which he terms: "God." The writing is so genuine, passionate and sincere, in its description of the tumultuous life of India's largest city and all the eccentric characters who fill it, that this in itself is worth the price of the ticket to Shantaram. No doubt, Shantaram along with some of the recent plethora of great English novels from subcontinent writers has helped to establish Mumbai and her characters as one of the worlds great literary settings of the early 21st century. The story is finally about the author's spiritual transformation and search for redemption in part as he pursues his underworld Anima, the beautiful and mysterious emerald eyed Karla, a Swiss/American also on the run, who devours novels by such authors as Mann, Schiller, Flaubert and Virgina Woolf, in their original language, and spews forth her own experiences of the fringes, in koan like musings while wandering stealthily among the teeming streets of Mumbai to facilitate the trade of guns, money, identity, and espionage. The author managed to contemplate the narrative while he was serving two years of a seven year sentence in an Australian maximum security prison while in solitary confinement. Anyway this is great novel, I was hooked from the book's first sentence and literally could not put it down. Here is how the first sentence reads: "It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant while I was chained to the wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled , bloody helplessness, I was still free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them." (Amazingly after Roberts recorded the events in this book, he ran underworld missions in Sri Lanka, Zaire, Singapore, Italy, and was finally recaptured in Germany where he was fronting as singer for a Rock band. He was then sent back to Australia to serve out his remaining prison sentence. [...] ( It appears that soon the story will be heading to the cinema as Johnny Depp has bought the rights and he is conspiring with Russell Crowe to make the film. Thankfully Roberts is working on the screenplay.) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Shantaram: an epic journey for redemption *by M***R on May 7, 2024* Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts By Michael Hooper Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an epic story about one man’s struggle for freedom, friendship, adventure, love, camaraderie, peace and redemption. The book is about a man who escapes a prison in Australia and moves to Bombay, where he reinvents himself. He calls himself Lin, which is the name on his fake passport. In Bombay, he falls into a crowd of expatriates and slum dwellers. One of the first people he meets is Prabakar, a runner/salesman, who meets tourists at train stations, and brings them to hotels and restaurants and takes a cut from the proprietors. He also helps them exchange money, and score hashish. Prabakar takes a liking to Lin and recruits him into his business as a runner helping tourists. Prabaker calls him Linbaba. I can relate to this job because I worked as a runner helping tourists find hotel rooms in Athens, Greece, when I was a young man. Prabakar introduces Lin to his mother, who gives him a new name Shantaram, which means man of peace. Although he is not afraid to fight for his freedom, it seems that Lin is struggling for peace and redemption. He had been a heroin addict in Australia, where he lost his wife and child in a divorce. He was arrested for burglary and armed robbery, put in jail but he escapes over the wall and travels to Bombay. In Bombay, he falls in love with the city, the first thing he notices is its smell, "its sweet sweating smell of hope" and its "sour stifled smell of greed." One of my favorite places in the book is Leopold’s, a coffee shop bar where he and his friends meet on a regular basis to talk about politics and business and gossip. There he meets people like Karla and Didier Levy, Vickram and Ulla. His friend Prabakar invites him to live in the slum with him and his family. There he sees great need for medical care, and he starts a free medical clinic. Needing antibiotics and other medical supplies he makes a connection with the lepers of Bombay, who somehow acquire these medical supplies and sell them to him at a discount. He is not a medical doctor, but they call him a doctor. He’s actually trained in ambulatory care He helps people get through many struggles, cuts, bruising, inflections and an outbreak of cholera. Love is an abiding theme in this book, there is brotherly love, the love of friends and camaraderie, and the love of a father, or a father figure and romantic love. He falls in love with Karla, who is a very mysterious person with a past in Europe and America. She speaks multiple languages and blends in beautifully into the Bombay lifestyle. Lin is enchanted with her green eyes and beautiful hair and lovely clothing but perhaps most of all he is curious about her mysterious history. His love for Karla is complex taking on various forms -- from friendship to making love to her on a beach under moonlight. He loves their ability to talk for hours and connect. This book is one part James Michener and one part Ernest Hemingway and another part uniquely Australian. It captures the pure Wonderlust of Australians. I’ve met so many Australians, who have traveled the world, they’ve been everywhere and done all kinds of different things. The author Gregory David Roberts wrote this book so well because he lived it. He actually did lose his wife and child, while addicted to heroin and getting busted for armed robbery and ending up in jail in Australia. He broke out of jail and went to Bombay to start his life all over again. One of the most powerful man in Bombay is Abdel Khader Khan, a poet, philosopher and lord of gang of people who work in the black market trades, false passport industry, the gold trade, and the money exchange trade. Lin works for Khader Khan, who wants him to learn everything about his business.The book goes into detail on how his goondas make money in these trades. Abdel Kader Khan believes there are various levels of evil depending on the sin. Some sins are worse than others. Lin is really amazed at the man’s commanding presence and ability to generate extreme loyalty. While working in the false passport trade with two specialists, Lin acquires for himself about five passports. When someone’s visa is out of order, they could fix that with a specialty stamp. Lin goes to great links for Khader Khan. Another fascinating character in the book is Didier Levy, a 35 year old French Jew, who is a wonderful gossip talk head, who spends a lot of time at Leopold‘s, drinking alcohol and talking with friends, and watching business transact all around them, and getting a cut here and there from some of this business. He talks about the hashish trade and the local gangsters. And he talks about Karla. He says she has the power to make men shine like the stars, or crush them to dust. Karla and Didier once lived together for about a year in Bombay sharing a crazy fractured little apartment. Page 58. There are many funny and shocking stories in the book, including a description of how the locals in Bombay treat a person who is at fault for a car accident. The locals actually drag the driver out of the car and beat him up. There's also an endearing story about a beloved bear who gets locked up in prison. His caretakers stay in prison with him, so he is not lonely. Perhaps my favorite theme in the book is camaraderie among friends, especially when they gather at Leopold’s. I believe every person needs a group of friends. It’s tough being alone in this world, indeed it's even tougher when you are in a foreign country and you don't know anybody. There is some evidence that a person will live longer if they have regular contact with people. I go to a local coffee two or three times a week to visit with my friends. My comrades there are very special to me. Yet Leopold's is a different kind of place, because it attracts people from all walks of life, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Franch, American, Indian, and Iranians, and Afghans and Arabs and Africans all gathering at this place. There’s nothing quite like it in Topeka, but when I was in Barcelona in 1990 I fell into a crowd of expatriates. I was walking along Las Ramblas, enjoying the sights of people and places along this famous boardwalk. I saw a group of young men led by a tall, gregarious man. He said hello to me, and I said hello back and he asked if I were English, I said America. He asked, "Do you get high?" and I said, "yes," and he said "follow me." We ended at a coffee shop in a Square just off Las Ramblas, where we drank beer and smoked spliff’s. Perhaps my favorite birthday was when I announced that in five minutes, I would be 27 years old. Everybody started singing, happy birthday to me and sharing drinks and joints. We stayed up all night partying and I ended up sleeping on the beach with my comrade Eamon strumming his guitar. It was one of the most exhilarating, romantic, and illuminating experiences in my life. Shantaram is a huge book at 933 pages. I enjoyed 95% of it. There is some warlord gang fighting that occurs toward the end of the book and this seems to drag on for a while but all in all, I enjoyed the book very much Shantaram is on Apple TV. The 12 part miniseries is fantastic, but unfortunately was discontinued. I believe Gregory David Roberts was involved in writing the script. In some ways, the book is much better with more detail about life in India. There is a great deal of charity in the soul of Linbaba, he is always trying to support his friends, and the poor people who live in the slums. I think the spirit of Linbaba is a man who loves people, who cares about the suffering in the world. Shantaram is an appropriate name for this evolving man of the world. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ a beautiful Swiss-American woman with sea-green eyes and a circle of ... *by A***G on November 17, 2014* Reading “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts was one wild and crazy roller coaster ride. “Shantaram” is a stranger than fiction autobiography of a young Australian man bearing a false New Zealand passport that gives his name as “Lindsay” who flies to Bombay some time in the early ’80s. On his first day there, Lindsay meets the two people who will largely influence his fate in the city. One is a young tour guide, Prabaker, whose gifts include a large smile and an unstoppably joyful heart. The second is Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American woman with sea-green eyes and a circle of expatriate friends. Lin’s love for Karla—and her mysterious inability to love in return—gives the book its central tension. For a 995 page- book it will seem quite intimidating for any one, however, once you start reading it you will definitely be transfixed by the characters, the language and the thought provoking and inspiring stories within it. While reading the first two parts of the book, I found it not only beautiful in its words and the poetry within the authors prose but also inspiring. I had already decided that it is a life-changing inspiring and motivating book, until I reached the next parts where my feelings towards the book, “Lin” and other characters changed dramatically. But isn’t this how life really is? Characters and people change, develop, and mature due to different circumstances, which makes the book more realistic, even more realistic than most of the readers can handle. I guess that is the reason why this book had as many negative reviews as good ones. It is notable though that the majority of the negative reviews I read where based on the personality of the main character “Lindsay” rather than the book itself and the story as a whole. The timeline of the story moves forward chronologically, and takes place in different cities, and countries starting from Bombay; the city our main character falls deeply in love with, to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The poetic prose in this book deepens whenever he talks about any of his loves; his love for Karla, his love for his good friend and brother Prabaker, his love for his friends, love for the man he wishes to be his father, love for the city, love for all humanity and love for life. If you ever thought otherwise, let me tell you this: this story is definitely and without a doubt a love story of different dimensions. The plots are several and endless, up to the last page plots are still there keeping you engaged. As a matter of fact this might be consider one of the few flaws I found in this book is that it ends leaving you with several unanswered questions and untied knots. Confusing, as I can’t tell was it because he wrote more but manuscript was lost/ damaged or he just felt that this is enough for the reader. I know 995 pages is already a little too much, but I think it could have been edited to end it in a better way and keep it within a reasonable number of pages. This book definitely had a major effect on me, the smart and intellectual conversations between “Lin” and “Khader Khan” came to me at precisely the right time when I was having all of these existential questions roaming in my head. These conversations inspired me and enlightened me in some way. Lin’s story in general was inspiring in different ways, his love for the people around him and his unbounded kindness will leave you rethinking your life and your attitude towards people. Love and gratitude is all what you’ll be thinking about while flipping the pages of this book. Rating this book is undeniably challenging, there were parts where I would give it 1/5, whereas in other parts I would crown it as the best book ever to be written. I guess that’s what makes good art; the way it fills you up with volatile and perplexed feelings, and usually that is the reason why I would love a good book. I love books that makes me ponder and think about life while reading it and maybe even, ask mind blowing questions or take some life changing decisions. Shantaram is that kind of book. “every human heart beat is a universe of possibilities.” As a poet and lover of words and language I am inclined to rate this book at no less than 4/5 and highly recommend it to be read; because even if you didn’t love it as much as I did or enjoy it as much, it will without a question leave a mark on your soul. “But the soul has no culture. The soul has no nations. The soul has no colour or accent or way of life. The soul is forever. The soul is one. And when the heart has its moment of truth and sorrow, the soul can’t be stilled.” ## Frequently Bought Together - Shantaram: A Novel - The Mountain Shadow --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.id/products/6791868-shantaram-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.id/products/6791868-shantaram-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Indonesia* *Store origin: ID* *Last updated: 2026-06-05*