Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

This was a recommended read by a few different friends- usually a good sign and in this case definitely so. A satisfying read it was, though the story itself is a bit hard to summarize, because the book is so mammoth. It is sort of a fictionalized version of the authour's life so far, and just to give you an idea, this is the author's bio:

"Gregory David Roberts, like the hero of his novel, spent many years as a fugitive. In 1978, after his divorce, losing custody of his daughter, and being convicted of a series of robberies committed to support his heroin habit, he was jailed in an Australian maximum security prison and sentenced to nineteen years. In 1980, he escaped over the prison's front wall, and for the next ten years eluded authorities, living in New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and Europe- but for most of that time in Bombay, where he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for the Bombay mafia. He was finally captured in Germany and served out his sentence there and in Australia, during which time he wrote Shantaram. He is now a full-time writer and lives in Bombay."

The authour on his website says, "The rule of thumb for Shantaram, and for the sequel, which I’m completing now in these months, is that the experiences are all real, taken from my own life and direct personal experience, but the characters and the dialogue and the narrative structure are all creations." At the very least, this book is an incredible read just for the fact that the plot is so unbelievably outrageous that you can't help but assume it's fiction, yet much of it (by his own account) is based on experience; it's fun to wonder what is fact and what is fiction. It's a mix of his philosophies, epiphanies, and impressions of Bombay, much of it dealing with the city's black market and organized crime. His writing style is very beautiful and descriptive and philisophical, enough to make you stop and think, but as the plot gathers momentum you may find that you get so swallowed up by it that you stop appreciating the finer points as you get swept along.

I forgot to mention one thing so I'm going to add a (windy) post-script here. The authour states that the theme of Shantaram is exhile- the exhile from his past life when he became an escaped convict. But to me the theme that stood out most was that of retribution versus rehabilitation, and the way that society treats its wrong-doers. The authour's experience with prison and with being labelled as a criminal gives him a point of view that I think many people who have been in his position may share- that the modern justice system is more about vengeance and punishment than it is about leading someone to the right path and helping them to live within society. What purpose does prison really serve, a place where people are beaten and humiliated, except to satisfy the righteous and the wronged? It doesn't teach people that what they've done is wrong, or hurtful, and certainly not in a way that allows them to re-enter society as more compassionate and humane people. If anything it makes their struggle harder, or their resentment stronger, neither of which helps society as a whole deal with its inevitable problem of wrong-doers. So many literary works throughout history follow the theme that vengeance leads only to sorrow. Shantaram brings a new interpretation to the age-old theme, told through the eyes of the criminal himself, and expresses a valuable viewpoint that I think so many of us have never personally encountered. Says a character in the book, "justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them."