Gregory David Roberts · 2003 · overland

Gregory David Roberts's huge, semi-autobiographical 2003 novel. Lin, an escaped Australian convict on a forged passport, lands in Bombay meaning only to pass through, and instead vanishes into the city: its slums, where he runs a free clinic; its mafia, for whom he forges and smuggles; its prisons; and at last the mountains of Afghanistan, where he runs guns for the mujahideen. A teeming, romantic, sprawling love letter to Bombay and to a life lived on the run.

1. 1
   Melbourne

   Lin escapes from an Australian prison and flees the country on a forged passport.

2. 2
   Bombay

   He lands in Bombay, meant as a stopover, and is swallowed by the teeming city.

3. 3
   Sunder

   A long journey inland to his friend Prabaker's village in Maharashtra, where he is given the name Shantaram.

4. 4
   Bombay

   Back to the city, the slum clinic, and the Bombay mafia.

5. 5
   Kandahar

   And overland through Pakistan and the mountains to run guns for the mujahideen against the Soviets.