Shantaram (Part Two)

格里高利·大卫·罗伯兹 / 黄中宪Oct 2020

Rating 4.3
Word count
197K words
Chapters
14
ISBN
9787559643292

Tags

Foreign Literature Social ObservationLegendary LivesAdventure JourneyFate and FortuneComplex HumanityMumbai UnderworldExotic CultureCross-Cultural View

Summary

Lin Babba survives because of the people he meets. Having escaped from prison, he experiences the generous hospitality of a Mumbai slum, where he encounters Karla, a mysterious green-eyed woman; Prabaker, a friend with an ever-open smile; Khaderbhai, a gang boss with godfather-like status; and Abdullah, a fighter who shares a mutual bond with him. He not only puts down roots in Mumbai but also becomes a newcomer whom Khaderbhai focuses on cultivating, practicing survival skills under his men. Yet when the most important people in his life leave one after another, even the strongest person will be destroyed. After settling the family of a good friend, how is life supposed to go on? He has no answer.

Editor's review

As the second book of the Shantaram trilogy, this volume continues Lin Babba's exiled life in Mumbai after his prison escape, but its focus shifts from "how to survive" to "why live." Roberts, writing as though he were an eyewitness, interweaves the generosity of the slum, the discipline of the gang, the warmth of friendship, and the dull ache of loss. The ensemble of characters feels vividly real: Karla's aloofness, Prabaker's brightness, and Khaderbhai's unfathomable depth all make Mumbai itself a breathing character. The narrative rhythm alternates between the calm exposition of survival skills and the sudden arrival of emotional collapse, offering both the tension of an adventure novel and the sincerity of a memoir. It suits slow, sustained reading, allowing the reader to experience one man putting down roots in a foreign land and then being forced to face dispersion. A reminder: this is a middle volume in a series, and readers who have not read the previous book will miss the context of the characters' relationships.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First read the first volume of Shantaram to clarify Lin Babba's prison-escape background and the main character relationships before entering this volume.
  2. Proceed chapter by chapter; after each section, revisit the characters' motivations and pay attention to the testing and cost behind Khaderbhai's cultivation of newcomers.
  3. Treat Mumbai as an invisible protagonist and observe how the slum, the gang, and street spaces shape the characters' choices.
  4. Pause briefly at the departure of important characters and reflect, in light of your own experience, on the theme of "how to continue after settling things."

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 第一章
  3. 第二章
  4. 第三章
  5. 第四章
  6. 第五章
  7. 第六章
  8. 第七章
  9. 第八章
  10. 第九章
  11. 第十章
  12. 第十一章
  13. 第十二章
  14. 第十三章

FAQ

If I haven't read the first volume, can I read this second volume directly? You can read it, but you will lose a good deal of background. This volume follows Lin Babba's experiences in Mumbai after his prison escape, and relationships with Karla, Prabaker, Khaderbhai, and others are established in the previous book. Going in directly may leave you with an insufficient understanding of the characters' motives and the emotional weight; it is best to read the first volume before this book.
Is this book mainly about survival adventure or emotional change? Both, but the emphasis leans toward the latter. The first half has exposition about practicing survival skills under Khaderbhai's men; the second half focuses on the psychological collapse and the question of where to go after important people leave one after another. Adventure is the skeleton; human connection and loss are the core.
Is it very heavy to read? It carries a certain heaviness. The book involves the hardships of the slum, the violence of the gang world, and the deaths of important characters, and its emotional landing is not light. But Roberts's narration carries sincerity and humor, and the warmth of friendship balances the gloom; overall it is a bearable weight.
Is it suitable as travel reading to take on the road? It suits long journeys or quiet stretches of reading. The book is slow-paced and dense with character relationships, and fragmented reading can easily cause you to lose the thread. If you read it while traveling, it is best to set aside a fixed, longer period each day for continuous reading and to consult a map for Mumbai's geography; the experience will be better.

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About the author

格里高利·大卫·罗伯兹 Author

Gregory David Roberts is an Australian author best known for his novel Shantaram. The book is markedly autobiographical, telling the story of a fugitive who escapes to Mumbai, becomes immersed in the city's underworld, and encounters love and loss. It is a long, expansive work that combines adventure storytelling with social observation, offering detailed depictions of Mumbai's urban life, its slums, and its black markets and criminal world, while exploring themes such as freedom, redemption, and human nature. Roberts has also published further installments of Shantaram, namely its second and third parts. Five of his works are included here, all classified as foreign literature. Public information about his life and writing background is limited, so readers can chiefly come to know his style and influence through his works.

黄中宪 Author

Little is known about Huang Zhongxian's life, and public information about him is limited, yet his translations and compiled works have made a noticeable impact among Chinese readers. Seven of his works are included in the collection, spanning foreign literature, finance, popular science, and history, which reflects a broad range of interests. His representative works include the Shantaram series, The Great Divergence, a new edition of Silent Spring, and Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. These titles suggest that he is drawn to works with narrative power and intellectual depth, translating contemporary foreign novels while also engaging with economic history, environmental science, and global history. His choices tend to balance readability and knowledge, offering Chinese readers relatively reliable texts for understanding foreign literature and academic discussion.