Shantaram

I liked this novel by Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram. I just found out that this novel will be a movie due to release in 2007. Shahrukh Khan is also in the film. Russell Crowe wanted to play the central role, but johnny depp is playing it now.

It's a massive novel of 900 pages. What took me is simple but profound lessons from life inscribed all over the book. It is written in a classic novel form as each character has its own life, psychology, and background, and they all interact in a very natural life. It's all about real life and real people on the streets of Bombay, and most are said to be valid from the author's life. It later takes you to Afghanistan during the Russian War era. It talks about gangs, weapons, drugs, politics of religion, war, Palestine, police brutality, etc., etc.

Just one example of a quote from a book: "We concentrate our laws, investigations, prosecutions, and punishments on how much crime is in the sin, rather than how much sin is in the crime"!

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