hi, all --

I've been reading this fantastic novel called Shantaram, written over a multi-year period by an extraordinary Australian man who was a junkie and a criminal (imprisoned for a 17-year sentence for armed robbery) -- he escaped Australian prison and went on the run, wound up living in Bombay, India, and living in the underworld there (finally, mafia, gun-running, passport forgery, etc.) until being caught again and sent back to Australian prison. he spent years writing the novel based in his own experiences....

the book is luminous -- the writing is like Pat Conroy, Victor Hugo, or Henry Miller: transcendent, hilarious, painful, honest, and the characters are some of the finest I've ever met in a novel. good, evil, crime, violence, human dignity, joy -- it's all there. plus, the portrayal of India is phenomenal -- you can smell the streets, from the diesel to the spices, in his writing.

all the way through, the love and the humanity melts your heart at every turn.



anyway, here are a couple excerpts from YouTube of the author, Gregory David Roberts, lecturing about his experiences:

part 1: www.youtube.com/watch

part 2: www.youtube.com/watch

there are a total of 5 parts on YouTube -- WELL worth watching each 5-minute segment. the conclusion is magnificent.

hope you enjoy!

namaste,

Alx