Shantaram...
So I started this book a few weeks ago based on a recommendation from someone whose opinion I hold in fairly high regard. Has anyone else read this book? It's terrible. The guy has a crazy story, and from what I understand it's semi-autobiographical, but his writing is one cliche after another. If he gets lost in this girls "sea-green eyes" one more time I've going to light it on fire, eat the ashes, puke them up, and take a shit all over it. And it's over nine hundred pages. The worst part is when I tried to talk to my friend to see why he liked he, he got offended and defensive when I told him how I felt (which was more respectable that the fire/puke/shitting comment). But when I look into it, it seems that most people love this book, hailing it as one of the greats of the last fifty years. Am I missing something?
"Fuck with me and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."
-Joan Allen
Best line from the worst movie.
The books by Gregory David Roberts.
http://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/031233053...
I did mention those to my friend, but he said that cliches are acceptable as long as they come from true passion and meaning instead of reusing the old crap. I told him that true passion inspires someone to write something wholly original, because it has become unique to just that person, and he said I was being narrow minded and pretentious.
"Fuck with me and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."
-Joan Allen
Best line from the worst movie.
I almost picked this up last time I went to the book store. I'm glad I didn't concerning this review haha! 900 pages of bad litterature, I can do without...
"Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested."
"Jemand musste Josef K. verleumdet haben, denn ohne dass er etwas Böses getan hätte, wurde er eines Morgens verhaftet"
I'm not sure if I can be trusted on this one. Everyone seems to love it, including people I respect and not just the Oprah/DaVinci Code crowd. That's why I posted this, I want to see if someone can tell me why this is as good a book as everyone seems to claim.
"Fuck with me and we'll see who shits on the sidewalk."
-Joan Allen
Best line from the worst movie.
"They were a very pale brown, those eyes, almost a golden colour. They were the colour of sand dunes in the Thar Desert, on the last day before it rains"
If you like me are sitting there thinking "erm.. I have no idea what colour thats meant to be and I doubt very much that mr gregory actually thought of the Thar desert whilst gazing into karla's eyes"
Then you will probably find Shantaram quite irritating at times.
If on the other hand you are thinking "Oh my.. how profound.. it must mean that in her eyes he see's the life and love that could quench his thirsty heart..a heart like a desert starved against its will by long years of suffering.." or can find some other romantic interpretation then im sure you will find Shantaram deeply romancing.
The book does actually reflect some interesting philosophy probably incubated in prison, and he clearly has love for India which is something many people will appreciate as poor the Indians really are the underdogs at the moment. It got me thinking about the essence of life in a bit of a free-for-all country like India and how that compares to the west. So I give it credit for that, it almost allows me to forgive the authors shameless self-promoting dribble, most of which he does indirectly through the dialog of his made up characters. But not quite.. guess I'm a bit critical, especially when someone is receiving so much praise.
The thing a lot of the readers do not understand is that Greg is telling a story inspired loosely on some events in his life, its no autobiography..
So if for example I wrote
"As I watched the crippled child struggle to make his way to the water well as he did everyday.. the agony of ever step showing itself clearly on his weather beaten face. Finally I could take it no more, I marched up and seized the bucket from him. Never again would this poor child have to collect water for his poor mother..not while I still had a beat in my heart. Karla stared long and hard at me, I could not comprehend what thought lay behind those eye, she must have thought I was a lowly peasant for doing such work "There's something about you Greg" she said, a touch of admiration gleaming in her sardine filled orbs of loveliness "You know.. the definition of a hero doesnt have to mean charging around saving innocents while explosions go off behind you if you know what I mean". I didn't. All I knew was that this poor childs mother needed water"
You can be sure that all the readers are screaming "she means your a hero! oh my and you dont even know it yourself.. how modest" because thats what I wanted them to think!
I don't mind shameless self-promotion so much when it is direct, but there is something about this "Harry said im the fastest runner he's ever seen" method that really irks me, most especially because most readers take this to be a literal autobiography.. or to quote some of his fans "Its fiction but what he says is all real!"
If you can tolerate all that this book does actually have some gems of insight to offer, he did have 6 years in a monkey cage to think relatively deeply about his experience after all.
The writing was atrocious, but I liked it because, like the sadly now overhyped Slumdog film, it is a good view on life in India - specifically Mumbai.
I know India is the in-thing at the moment due to that film, but it's a great place and it truly is a completely different culture to the one I know in the UK. If you can drag yourself past his writing and melodrama, you'll get a great view of an amazing country.
"What cha readin' fer??"
Both Slumdog and Shataram focus a lot of attention on India's criminal underbelly.
I know crime sell's but honestly.. having read one and watched another a person could be forgiven for thinking that if he went to India he would find himself immediately immersed in some kind of Mafia drama.
I liked The Darjeeling Limited for another view of India.. a view of slow gentle wisdom.
Never even heard of it, who's it by?
Also, did you ask your friend about all the over-used cliches, or did he even notice them when he went through it?