I don't know if Disneyland still has the same system, but when I was a kid you definitely wanted to purchase the 'E-ticket' when you went to the Magic Kingdom. This special ticket allowed you to ride all the most thrilling rides (as thrilling as it could get at Disneyland).Last weekend Book Club gathered 'round the dinner table at my house to discuss the rollercoaster ride of Gregory David Robert's 'Shantaram'.
I don't know how this book has become so widely read, since I've heard nothing about it, except from word of mouth. But the peoples are creating a Shantaram buzz.
Shantaram is set primarily in India; however, knowing that the meal for Book Club is almost as important as the book, I proclaimed early on that I would not be cooking an Indian meal. Indian cuisine seemed too big a leap into unknown spices and cooking techniques for my skill. Don't want to bomb Book Club dinner!
However, I did get close. I made a lamb stew with frangrant spices of cinnamon, cumin and coriander on couscous. Book clubbers slurped it up and murmured appreciations throughout the evening. It was good!
Between the requests for seconds and the openings of new bottles of wine, we talked about this book for over 2 1/2 hours. We only spend that much time in discussion if we love it or hate it - and love it (with some reservations) we did!
At over 900 pages it is a daunting read, and Sue said it was the longest book she's ever read (I guess she wasn't in the BC when we read 'Musashi').
But the pace is galloping and with some small exception, the reader is transported pell mell through a variety of jaw dropping situations and experiences.
Can you imagine being caught in a sea of rats as they flow past you, 3 furry levels deep - you standing stock still so these garbage collectors of the local ecosystem don't bite your shins? Eeewwww!
Or living in an Indian slum in the middle of Bombay where you take your 'motions' (think bathroom) right into the ocean - and your neighbors are so clear on your state of intestinal health that it is proclaimed to the community?
Perhaps you can imagine being held captive in an Indian jail so heavily infested with lice and other blood sucking insects, that each morning you must spend hours meticulously picking these vermin from your body and the seams of your clothing - only to submit over and over to the nightly invasion when you lay down to sleep.
Part of what makes these experiences so vibrant, in both their heart and their awfulness, is the fact that by the author's admission, they are all true. Mr. Robert's says that he has fictionalized the people in Shantaram, but the experiences are a part of his true life history.
So - we Book Clubbers, read open mouthed, perched on the edge of our proverbial seats as our main character Lin (read Roberts) escapes from an Australian prison, dangling over the 10 foot wall in broad daylight, from an extension cord. Tense!
Here's the ratings, and then I'll tell you what folks had to say:
Sue - 8.5
Maria - 8-9
Dale - 10 for the 1st 2/3 & 6.5 for the last 1/3
Craig - 9
Nikolai - 9
Catherine - 8.5
Note - Tess was missing from our group this time and Maria has now joined us to make our 6 an auspicious 7.
We all agreed that this guy can write! Boy howdy! Mr Roberts creates compelling characters, the relationships are tender and complex, and as mentioned, the plot makes this a page turner.
We cared about the people. We got drawn into their lives and relationships and lived with them. We loved the humanity that was created in this book.
We marveled at how a life of such struggle, especially in the slum, could be so beautiful at the same time.
Mr. Roberts says that this book's theme is exile. I noted how deftly he wove this theme into each character and each relationship and that it all stuck together. No small feat in 900+ pages.
There was quite a conversation around our table about the cosmology/philosophy that was developed by the Indian mafia boss (who was Afghani). Sue, Nikolai, and Craig especially liked the development of this guiding principle, which put briefly is: God=complexity and so all actions that create more complexity are good, while those that steer away from complexity are evil.
Nothing like a heavy duty philosophy to steer a criminal mind. So it is not evil to counterfeit, but completely evil to traffic humans.
Personally, this was the part of the book I didn't really like. It made my brain hurt. And, I'll be honest, when I read, I really don't want to have to work too hard. It did make the mafia boss quite complex as a character; however, and more likable as a result.
Dale was vociferous in her commentary regarding the last third of the book which takes place in the hills of Afghanistan during the war with the Russians. She really did not like this part and she said that it seemed so out of place with the earlier two thirds of the book. It was such a notable disparity for her that it really colored her whole experience of the book.
We talked about the parts we liked, the parts we didn't, and the parts when we picked our jaws up off the floor.
We all agreed that we would have loved to have been a part of the chanting, drumming group that ushered a fugitive bear in a Ganesha costume out of the city.
I said I'd read it again.
And we recommend that you read it too.
Craig found some fascinating video of Mr. Roberts being interviewed on CNN Asia. Take a peek:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
When you read a book such as this, you begin to live inside it, and inside the writer's mind - especially since the author and the main character were one in the same. Seeing Mr. Roberts on video makes the story come that much more alive.
Craig, the dear that he is, also made the city and the landmarks come alive for us with his map of the story's important places.
Shantaram is apparently being turned into a movie, with Johnny Depp playing Lin. Wow! I hope the movie's as good as the book.
If you haven't read Shantaram then line up to get your E-ticket. It's worth the ride.
Posts
