Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

7 reviews

loquaciousleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a book that changed my life.

This is a book I was buying for people before I finished.

AND, this book is heavy. (A lot of trigger warnings.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tmidge22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

fuguballoon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I finished this book, but I wouldn't recommend it.

It is technically a novel, but it's actually a thinly veiled memoir. (Family members of one of the "fictional" characters have spoken publicly about this.) The book's plot is bloated with unnecessary material that, I would imagine, felt essential to the author because it happened in real life. Unfortunately, it makes for both boring reading and a main character who is completely blind to his flaws (again, because he is the author). The prose does not redeem the book. There are passages so bad, especially the author's descriptions of women, that it's hard to believe an editor actually read them.

The biggest issue I had, beyond the bad writing in what really feels like a narcissistic ode to self, was the white savior-ness of it all. The author congratulates the main character over and over for living in a ~slum~ while simultaneously looking down on the people and way of life there, all while literally "saving" them as the local doctor. It makes for rough reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

molliekneath's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault

wifeslife's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

kayfab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cherub__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a complicated book with a complicated history. In a sense, it's no wonder the page count approaches 1000. There is so much life, history, emotion, and tension packed into every single chapter. The prose can be poetic at times, but sometimes borders on pretentious. It's action-packed, but also slow-paced over the whole -- it really does feel as though I've read 7 years of the author's life. Rarely have I read a novel so capable of expressing scenes in an urban environment, and for a reader who loves urban travel/exploration, the early chapters are a delight of new characters and experiences.

There are two things I'm still chewing on after reading. The first is the matter of authenticity and authorial honesty. Shantaram is marketed as fiction, but the events are obviously inspired by the author's real life experiences in 1980s Mumbai and characters are either entirely real people or are barely-hidden composites of real people. Unfortunately, Prabaker's real-life family disputes the events as told in the story, which gives the story more than a hint of exploitation. This, in addition to the history of Orientalism and travel books going back to the 1960s, put Shantaram in somewhat uncomfortable company.

The second concerning aspect is the core philosophy seemingly held by the author and doled out over the course of the narrative. As Lin learns through his conversations with

Khaderbai

, there begins to be a unifying theme in the novel surrounding the notions of good vs. evil and personal redemption. The philosophy lesson contrasts subtly with a distinct lack of personal growth: Lin accumulates an increasingly fantastical amount of experiences but seems almost wholly immune to gathering the associated wisdom. He is, in essence, the same person/decision-maker at the end of the book as at the beginning, just with more power and an additional 7-8 years of stories to tell. Whether this is an intentional choice by the author or a byproduct of the author's true beliefs is hard to tell, but the proselytizing tone and minor hero complex displayed by the self-insert main character combined with a philosophy that more or less excuses the worst behaviors displayed in the book makes for an interesting reflection after reading.

Despite the above, I'd recommend reading this book to anybody who enjoys characters who are larger than life. Each little interaction in Leopold's or the slums was leaps and bounds more interesting than some of the more fantastical plot points!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, and War

Moderate: Car accident