It had been recommended to me by many in my friends circle, that this is a good book. I’d rather differ a bit; it’s a great book and makes it to one of my favorites. The book is a story of an Australian convict, who escapes from the jail and finds himself in Mumbai, via New Zealand. In Mumbai he lives in the slums, joins the mafia, gets addicted to heroin and gets off it, travels to Afghanistan to fight with the mujaheddin, acts in bollywood movies and so on. As many of you who have read the bestseller would know that this is autobiographical of the authors’ life.
The good part of this novel is the way in which the protagonist explains what he learns from life, about love and happiness in addition to others, and the author has kept it short rather not getting into a fable like writing. One of the many aspects I would remember of this book is a statement made by Abdel Khader Khan, a mafia don in the book, who justifies doing wrong things for the right reasons, or the philosophy about life that it tends towards complexity.
The narration is brilliant and does not make you feel that the novel is all centric on the protagonist; the author has vividly involved other characters like Prabhaker Khare, Karla, Abdullah, Abdel Khader Khan and others. From a point when he enters Mumbai (Bombay) and is greeted by slums and poverty to a time when he lives amongst them, and then when he no longer lives in the slums but is fondly remembered by the folks there, Gregory David Roberts has encapsulated slums and slum life like no other writer. Many writers generally whine about slum life, poverty and helplessness, Gregory rather talks about how the people in the slums are self sufficient and live a lean life, suited to their needs, on how they love to live with each other, selflessly.Not just on the slum lifes, but if at all you wanted to know what the Bombay Mafia was all about, then this does give you as lesson or two.
Such has been a following to this book worldwide that Leopold’s Cafe in Mumbai has become a must visit on every tourist’s agenda. This exceptional piece of literature, I have learnt is only one of the quartets. It does leave up some questions unanswered though; which I believe could be answered in the upcoming parts of the series, for now I’m eagerly expecting the movie on the book which stars Jhonny Depp as the lead. A movie can never encapsulate a book, even if you are planning a trilogy and especially a novel of this depth. I would strongly recommend having this book read, before the movie is out in the box office.
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