Shantaram
I just finished reading Shantaram. Today I finished the remaining 30 percent of the novel.
Spoiler warning
The story begins of a fugitive Australian as he arrives in Bombay. In a nutshell the story is about how a mafia don Kader Khan recruits the author for his holy war in Afghanistan using Karla. From author's perspective It's a love story about his infatuation to this girl Karla and his experiences in India. He seems to have been obsessed with her and they become good friends, have sex but still one way. Karla doesn't have same feeling for Greg. There are lots of character we get to know and lot of them die and few resurface. In spite of his unrequited love the story stops at a happy note but is written definitely for the sequel.
Kaderbhai he is the main character who doesn't gets introduced till the author returns back from village in Maharastra. He is the mafia don who impresses author with his wit and pithy sayings. Only later do we find out that he has a physics tutor who taught him the law of Entropy and other people. I didn't understand why author was so enamored by him.
Karla: She is the object of his fascination and until the end of the novel we are not sure about her true feelings and why she lives in India? who does she work for ?why she left United States ? who ruins Madam Zhou ?and was she aware of his incarceration at Arthur road prison ?
Prabhakar and his family: he is a petty tourist guide whom the author trust. His pearly white grin, street smartness, innocence and shocking death leave an indelible impression on your mind and the fickle nature of life on the streets.
Major events :
Arriving in Bombay.
6 months in a village with no amenities
Living in Jhopadpatti for almost 2 yrs and operating a free clinic.
Incarceration in Arthur road prision.
Starting anew as right hand of Kaderbhai and getting into fake passport business.
Traveling to Afghanistan for The war and getting wounded.
Becoming the official gangster and taking revenge on Sapna gang
I liked the way Greg uses the words. You pretty much see what he is describing. You pretty much see the action in your mind. He is compassionate, strong and ever ready to have a fist fight reminded me of new Sherlock Holmes movies where he gives you a step by step a detailed account of the injury he is going to inflict on his opponent and his reaction to it.
Life in Jhopadpatti. You can almost feel the smell the filth, open garbage and feces laden road. The hustle bustle of the place and if that was overpowering wait till he paints the picture of the prison. They brutal savage beatings, the key hole toilet busting with the dump of 200 inmates in a place fit for 100 people. The watery soup, khadmal bites and the filthy water with germs overflowing for bathing.
Abdullah: He is like a superman and he is portrayed as a dashing, fearsome and a loyal friend. His reappearance in Bombay after we have mourned over his death is fuels new energy in to the story.
Kaderbhai
If I have to summarize the whole story then it's nothing but Kaderbhai's quest to return to his roots and helping them fight against Russians. Everybody else is a pawn in his grand scheme.
The author is in total awe of him , he is impressed by his erudite ness, the kind of respect he commands among his followers. Though in reality he has hired wise man and uses their ideas to impress everyone.
Karla: We get to know about who Karla really is in the very end only. She was working for Kaderbhai and was involved in recruiting European backpackers for him and that was one reason she treated author as just a client and nothing more. That was the reason she didn't rescue him when he was at Arthur road prison
Maurizio the Spanish guy
One of the most taciturn character in the novel and perhaps the only winner in this novel. After severe disfigurement to his face by the Italian he survives. But his reemergence in novel at first seems scary and his demeanor stupid. He wins back his love of life and goes back to Germany with her.
Sapna
The brainchild of Karla and unleashed by his goons went on to rampage. Only towards the end do we find out that it was created as a distraction.
Afghani teacher and the pyscho killer. There are two characters in this novel Abdullah and this psycho killer who strike with impunity and every time they are mentioned, you know they will get better of the other. While you like Abdullah, there is no amount of disgust you have for this kindergarten teacher who has lost his bearings and is now living only to derive sadistic pleasures from siphoning out life from anything breathing be they Russians, his own friends or horses.
There are lots of pithy sayings attributed to Didier, Karla, Author and Kaderbhai.
Civilization, after all, is defined by what we forbid, more than what we permit.
Justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them
If you make your heart into a weapon, you always end up using it on yourself.
Sooner or later, fate puts us together with all the people, one by one, who show us what we could and shouldn't, let ourselves become.
I don't mean to be insulting, but I think most believers have too much of a vested interest in their own God-Heaven franchises, if you know what I mean, to ever agree on anything.
If we all learned what we should learn the first time, we wouldn't need love at all.
I also liked the way he carves out his sentences
His usual smile was preternaturally wide and his dark eyes were happy.
Madame Zhou had become kind of a portmanteau figure: people packed the details of their own obsessions into her life.
Weaving a pump hand in effete little circles with each little couplet.
He was especially, irreverently, affectionate with Kaserbhai.
Spoiler warning
The story begins of a fugitive Australian as he arrives in Bombay. In a nutshell the story is about how a mafia don Kader Khan recruits the author for his holy war in Afghanistan using Karla. From author's perspective It's a love story about his infatuation to this girl Karla and his experiences in India. He seems to have been obsessed with her and they become good friends, have sex but still one way. Karla doesn't have same feeling for Greg. There are lots of character we get to know and lot of them die and few resurface. In spite of his unrequited love the story stops at a happy note but is written definitely for the sequel.
Kaderbhai he is the main character who doesn't gets introduced till the author returns back from village in Maharastra. He is the mafia don who impresses author with his wit and pithy sayings. Only later do we find out that he has a physics tutor who taught him the law of Entropy and other people. I didn't understand why author was so enamored by him.
Karla: She is the object of his fascination and until the end of the novel we are not sure about her true feelings and why she lives in India? who does she work for ?why she left United States ? who ruins Madam Zhou ?and was she aware of his incarceration at Arthur road prison ?
Prabhakar and his family: he is a petty tourist guide whom the author trust. His pearly white grin, street smartness, innocence and shocking death leave an indelible impression on your mind and the fickle nature of life on the streets.
Major events :
Arriving in Bombay.
6 months in a village with no amenities
Living in Jhopadpatti for almost 2 yrs and operating a free clinic.
Incarceration in Arthur road prision.
Starting anew as right hand of Kaderbhai and getting into fake passport business.
Traveling to Afghanistan for The war and getting wounded.
Becoming the official gangster and taking revenge on Sapna gang
I liked the way Greg uses the words. You pretty much see what he is describing. You pretty much see the action in your mind. He is compassionate, strong and ever ready to have a fist fight reminded me of new Sherlock Holmes movies where he gives you a step by step a detailed account of the injury he is going to inflict on his opponent and his reaction to it.
Life in Jhopadpatti. You can almost feel the smell the filth, open garbage and feces laden road. The hustle bustle of the place and if that was overpowering wait till he paints the picture of the prison. They brutal savage beatings, the key hole toilet busting with the dump of 200 inmates in a place fit for 100 people. The watery soup, khadmal bites and the filthy water with germs overflowing for bathing.
Abdullah: He is like a superman and he is portrayed as a dashing, fearsome and a loyal friend. His reappearance in Bombay after we have mourned over his death is fuels new energy in to the story.
Kaderbhai
If I have to summarize the whole story then it's nothing but Kaderbhai's quest to return to his roots and helping them fight against Russians. Everybody else is a pawn in his grand scheme.
The author is in total awe of him , he is impressed by his erudite ness, the kind of respect he commands among his followers. Though in reality he has hired wise man and uses their ideas to impress everyone.
Karla: We get to know about who Karla really is in the very end only. She was working for Kaderbhai and was involved in recruiting European backpackers for him and that was one reason she treated author as just a client and nothing more. That was the reason she didn't rescue him when he was at Arthur road prison
Maurizio the Spanish guy
One of the most taciturn character in the novel and perhaps the only winner in this novel. After severe disfigurement to his face by the Italian he survives. But his reemergence in novel at first seems scary and his demeanor stupid. He wins back his love of life and goes back to Germany with her.
Sapna
The brainchild of Karla and unleashed by his goons went on to rampage. Only towards the end do we find out that it was created as a distraction.
Afghani teacher and the pyscho killer. There are two characters in this novel Abdullah and this psycho killer who strike with impunity and every time they are mentioned, you know they will get better of the other. While you like Abdullah, there is no amount of disgust you have for this kindergarten teacher who has lost his bearings and is now living only to derive sadistic pleasures from siphoning out life from anything breathing be they Russians, his own friends or horses.
There are lots of pithy sayings attributed to Didier, Karla, Author and Kaderbhai.
Civilization, after all, is defined by what we forbid, more than what we permit.
Justice is not only the way we punish those who do wrong. It is also the way we try to save them
If you make your heart into a weapon, you always end up using it on yourself.
Sooner or later, fate puts us together with all the people, one by one, who show us what we could and shouldn't, let ourselves become.
I don't mean to be insulting, but I think most believers have too much of a vested interest in their own God-Heaven franchises, if you know what I mean, to ever agree on anything.
If we all learned what we should learn the first time, we wouldn't need love at all.
I also liked the way he carves out his sentences
His usual smile was preternaturally wide and his dark eyes were happy.
Madame Zhou had become kind of a portmanteau figure: people packed the details of their own obsessions into her life.
Weaving a pump hand in effete little circles with each little couplet.
He was especially, irreverently, affectionate with Kaserbhai.
posted by Sumant at 2:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home