Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
Amazon
Shantaram
Wikipedia

As of today, January 20, 2006, the Amazon sales rank for Shantaram is #3,350. Many people have not yet discovered this book. Although this book is long and at times somewhat tedious, it is a very interesting story based on the life of the author. This book is very masculine. It is a book about men -- rough men -- and the rough life they lead in the Bombay mafia. It is a book about violence. This book reminds me of The Godfather. Gregory David Roberts is a gifted author who writes with such skill that the reader is almost mesmerized by the story and hungry to continue to read, not wanting to stop until the story is completed, and yet never wanting the story to end. Shantaram is a story of a man who makes "wrong" decisions, and suffers the consequences of those decisions. Over and over again throughout the book, I found myself anguished by his decisions, wanting to make other decisions for him, not wanting him to continue to cause himself to suffer. I wanted him to be happy, to enjoy life, to be at peace. And yet, his decisions and the consequences of those decisions result in a wonderful story. This book is one of the three best books I have read in the past five years -- along with The Da Vinci Code and A Suitable Boy. This book will not enjoy the success of The Da Vinci Code because it is too long and not fast-paced enough, but I will read this book again. It is a great story, written in a wonderful way.