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Shantaram

By Gregory David Roberts

(404)

| Hardcover | 9781920769000

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Critics

Shantaram

Con poco più che una leggera sacca da viaggio, un passaporto falso e una chitarra a tracolla, Gregory approda in una Bombay ancora ben lontana dall’espansione economica e dalla recente globalizzazione. Ha davanti a sé un groviglio di volti, culture, ... (read full critics)

mangialibri published on Fri, 17 Feb 2012

Shantaram

La trama e le recensioni di Shantaram, romanzo di Gregory David Roberts edito da Neri Pozza. Nel 1978, il giovane studente di filosofia e attivista politico Greg Roberts viene condannato a 19 anni di prigione per una serie di rapine a mano armata. È ... (read full critics)

Qlibri published on Mon, 29 Nov 2010

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20 Reviews

8 people find this helpful

love, suffering, and love...

TThis book got on Amazon.com 219 "five stars" out of 281: that's an astounding 4,55 stars average meaning 91% of readers liked it hugely.
I am in the 9%.
I mean, this is an excellent craftsman's product and I am sure the author is a nice guy, so I gave him my 4 stars out of 5.
Also, in some ways t ... (continue)

TThis book got on Amazon.com 219 "five stars" out of 281: that's an astounding 4,55 stars average meaning 91% of readers liked it hugely.
I am in the 9%.
I mean, this is an excellent craftsman's product and I am sure the author is a nice guy, so I gave him my 4 stars out of 5.
Also, in some ways this novel is a sort of enclyclopedia.
Let us just take animals: rats, dogs, bears, horses... we'll learn a lot about them thanks to Shantaram (and the book is not about animals!). Same thing for weapons, floods, dope, etc. - name a subject! And some episodes, like how to get into a train or life in the village, are worth re-reading several times. So it's at least a very good holiday reading and let's not forget this novel is part autobiography.
But Greg Roberts has too put it all together too cunningly for my taste to give it ****.
Probably Greg had a good autobiography in his hands, but he decided to make the millions with the best-selling novel - who am I to blame him?
So what really I disliked is Roberts' total lack of fear to become repetitive. But hey, I am not the majority! Many readers DO LOVE to be told the same things over and over again for almost 1000 pages and this probably makes the bestseller.
Let me give you some examples (before you throw your stones at me, recall I am giving **** at the end of the day):
-Karla is a beautiful woman, and he loves her, but she is not able to love back. But she is beautiful, the most beautiful woman. And he loves her. But she only likes him, she does not love him...
Did I forget to mention he loves her but she is not able to love him?)
-Khader Khan is a philosopher, and a mafia don. Although he is a mafia don, he is a philosopher... The author loves him like a father. Yes, he loves the philosopher-mafia don who could have been his father.
-Prabu has a wide smile. Prabu's smile is wide. Prabaker, a.k.a. Prabu, really knows how to make a smile. Smiling Prabu... I can't avoid smiling - like Prabu!
-love, love, love, love, love...
-suffering, suffering, suffering, suffering...

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Plucino said on Jan 5, 2009 about the Paperback edition | 2 feedbacks

2 people find this helpful

Best book I read this year, and I read over 30 each year. Throughout the narration one forgets it is not fiction but a true story.

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Antonella Mauri said on Dec 7, 2007 about the Paperback edition | 1 feedback

1 person find this helpful

Perhaps one of the top ten book writen in the last decade! I loved every page.

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Marisa said on Feb 25, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

surprise surprise

i didn't want to read this book. i wouldn't have bought it (it was given to me as a present).
i started reading it because i didn't have anything else available on paper. i decided i'd try to read 10 pages a day, in order to finish it in 3 or more months, without too much sweat.
but the book easily ... (continue)

i didn't want to read this book. i wouldn't have bought it (it was given to me as a present).
i started reading it because i didn't have anything else available on paper. i decided i'd try to read 10 pages a day, in order to finish it in 3 or more months, without too much sweat.
but the book easily and quickly got me hooked. it's not my kind of book, it's not my kind of story, but i love it.
i don't care if it's fiction or biography, it's difficult to put it down. only lack of time made me take that long to finish it.
the only thing that sounds weird in this book is the main character. violence in him seems to be out of place.
it's impossible not to love the image of india that this book paints, even with all the corruption, social inequalities and all the rest we know from the news. and it's impossible not to love the indian characters.

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Andrew "Ender" Wiggin said on May 27, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Loved every minute of it

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Carolyn said on Jan 30, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

wonderful novel

This book is simply wonderful. I could feel situations, places, people described so well in this book. The author Gave me a taste of Bombay and a taste of a life damned and holy at the same time. This book is a journey into India, into human life, into the big hearth that we all share in the univers ... (continue)

This book is simply wonderful. I could feel situations, places, people described so well in this book. The author Gave me a taste of Bombay and a taste of a life damned and holy at the same time. This book is a journey into India, into human life, into the big hearth that we all share in the universe.I really love this book!

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Swdinesh said on Aug 27, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback