Shantaram... a trip to India in 933 pages

Shantaram: Gregory David Roberts, 2003.

 This novel was written as an almost autobiography. Roberts himself was a heroin addict and felon who escaped from prison and lived in Bombay. Upon his eventual recapture in Germany, Roberts wrote Shantaram.
In this story opener we meet a man known as Lindsay, or Lin, who has escaped from an Australian prison and travelled to India in order to live a life of freedom. During his time in Bombay and beyond Lin falls in love, is in close ties with the mafia, makes some important and faithful friends, works as a gunrunner, smuggler and a counterfeiter. His incredible journey in India is framed by the rich and detailed descriptions of that country and its culture. It is where the true enjoyment of this novel is found.

While this is an exceptional, intelligent and beautiful read, it does have one downfall. The length of the book is more than a little difficult to get through. At 933 it takes an almost Herculean effort to get through more than a dozen pages at one time. It reminds me of very delicious and rich chocolate fudge: You want to continue eating it, but it's just too sweet for only one sitting. Better to break it down and truly enjoy and savour every small bite.

This book is best suited for someone with an interest in India, although I do believe that anyone who would not be scared away by its weight., would enjoy this book. This could not be described as a summer read, more like a rainy Sunday or long, quiet night in.

Enjoy!

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Secretly an interesting read...

Secret Daughter, by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. 2010

In Gowda's novel we follow to separate families that are joined by one secret connection. We start with Kavita, a young woman living in a small Indian village about to give birth to her second child. She has a daughter and because of this, she knows that she cannot keep her, that she will not be allowed to keep her. To save her life Kavita gives up her daughter. Meanwhile, across the globe, we meet Somer. She is a young woman recently entering the Medical field and is married to a handsome Indian doctor, Krishnan, she met while in Medical school. They have had little success in having a family of their own and eventually decide to ventture to Krishnan's home country to find a child of their own. Here they find Asha, the child left in an orphanage by Kavita nearly one year prior. As we follow both families we see Asha grow up and question her birth parents as well as what it means to be "Indian". We see how difficult it is for Somer to want to relate and protect her child, a child with problems she can't solve. Interlaced with this, we also learn of Kavita and her family. How they cope with the loss of their daughter and how the family grows and changes due the impact of this loss.

Throughout this richly detailed and informative book we learn about the trials of poor families in both rural and urban India, as well as the difficulties faced by a family with two distinct cultural groups and their struggles in raising their adoptive child. Gowda manages to intertwine these two families, connected through the love of their child, as well as educating us, the reader, in the problems women face that the average North America woman could hardly imagine.

This was though provoking and moving in some parts, although I did find some aspects of this book to be a little far reaching. I would recommend this particular book to someone who is interested in women's struggles, and cultural issues, yet isn't looking for anything heavy. Enjoyable for the most part but a little weak in substance despite the content.




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