What more is there to say?
This is the most entrancing book that I have ever read.
I read this book while in the hinterland of Australia. Each day I would awake before sunrise and pick fruit for maybe 10 hours and get back home before the sunset. I would read Shantaram despite being exhausted. The story carried my conscious thought.
The book is large with 944 pages. That being said, I came upon the 944th page by surprise and when I turned the last page I was surprised and disappointed that I had finished the book.
About a year later I listened to the book on audible (get the audiobook on your iPhone for free by singing up with Audible here) and was blown away again. The voice actor in the audible recording does an amazing job of portraying the diverse international motif of character accents in the book in a way that adds depth to the overall experience of the novel.
You can get the physical book mailed to you or you can listen to it.
So listen up friends. I’d love to discuss the book with you. It did change my life.
Agreed. Life-changing. It’s my number one fiction recommendation when people ask me what to read. (Fiction, because Gregory admitted it’s an exaggerated account of this experience in India). Gregory has an active FB page where he updates the status of his sequel, The Moutain Shadow. Exited for that. The travel-adventure-criminal genre is like meditation to me. Also incredible: Papillon, Mr. Nice, Serpentine by Thomas Thompson, Flash by Charles Duchaussois.
Shantaram was the most expensive book I ever bought and it was worth every penny. I have a rule that if 3 people recommend a book to me, I buy it. I happened to be in Sydney at the time and the book was $45AUS. But it was worth every penny. I’m glad there is a sequel coming out!
Right?! The sequel was supposed to come out like a year ago, but I guess it’s not something to be rushed.