Shantaram Summary, it is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict escapes from Pentridge Prison and flees to India. The novel is commended by many for its vivid portrayal of life in Bombay in the early to late 1980s.
The novel is reportedly influenced by real events in the life of the author, though some claims made by Roberts are contested by others involved in the story.
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| Shantaram Summary |
Shantaram Summary
"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."
So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear.
Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay'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. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature.
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Questions about Shantaram Plot
What is the plot of the book Shantaram? 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.
What happens in the end of Shantaram book? How Does Shantaram End? With Khader's death leaving the mafia in shambles, Lin agrees to join his friend Nazeer in another holy war in Sri Lanka. Before he departs, however, he has a final talk with Karla, revealing he no longer loves her. Lin also returns to Prabaker's village to visit his late friend's family.
Is Shantaram based on true story? Shantaram is based on the novel of the same name by the Australian author Gregory David Roberts. While the book is a work of fiction, it is based on a lot of real events that happened in the author's life. Like Hunnam's character in Shantaram, Roberts really did break out of an Australian prison, for example.
What is the story of the original Shantaram? Shantaram is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict escapes from Pentridge Prison and flees to India. The novel is commended by many for its vivid portrayal of life in Bombay in the early to late 1980s.
Who does Lin fall in love with Shantaram? There's a love story plot when Lin falls in love with Karla, a Swiss-American woman, but Lin is pulled back into a dark underworld. He is recruited to carry out illegal activities by organised crime gangs, and eventually ends up in prison again, this time Mumbai's Arthur Road prison.
Does Lin sleep with Karla? Karla asks Lin to help her free Lisa, a friend, from Madame Zhou's prostitution ring. The plan works but Madame Zhou realises Lin isn't a diplomat and seeks revenge. There's a cholera outbreak in the slum. Karla helps Lin and they sleep together.
Why did Shantaram go to jail? In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to a 19-year imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies of building society branches, credit unions, and shops.
What happens to Lin and Karla in Shantaram? Karla finally breaks Lin's heart when they are thousands of miles apart. She's disappeared, once again mysteriously. He's in the middle of Afghanistan when he finds out that, not only has she been the girlfriend of pretty much everyone he knows at some point in the past, but also that she isn't truly interested in him.
Who sent Lin to jail in Shantaram? Lin helps Karla break her friend Lisa out of a house of prostitution owned by the evil Madame Zhou. In retaliation, Zhou gets him thrown into a horrific prison where he is tortured constantly. Finally Khader gets him out through bribery and Lin goes to work for him, specializing in making counterfeit passports.