If the book reads like an autobiography, I take that as a very high compliment, because I structured the created narrative to read like fiction but feel like fact.” “With respect, ‘Shantaram’ is not an autobiography, it’s a novel. Menon of the Indian Express newspaper, Roberts explained the book’s genre intention: According to Internet Archive, in an interview with Murali K. “Shantaram” takes place within this period of time as most wanted, but the narrative is centered on unrelated experiences unique to India.

Other aspects of the novel are debated, but these have documented evidence. Roberts remained on Australia’s most-wanted list for nearly ten years. Roberts is an inmate at Pentridge Prison but extraordinarily escapes in broad daylight and flees to India with a fake passport. In both the story and real life, Lin or Roberts, the narrator, is an Australian convicted of a 19-year sentence in 1978 for heroin usage and armed robbery. Shantaram is a one-of-a-kind novel that tells a story very similar to how an epic like the Iliad or the Odyssey would but makes it seem autobiographical by describing the world in immense detail and using the first person. Prabaker also gives Roberts a more casual name, Lin or Linbaba, which he goes by throughout the story. Shantaram means “man of God’s peace,” the meaning of which is left up to interpretation. Shantaram is the Hindu name given to Roberts (the narrator) by the relatives of his close friend, guide and side-kick Prabaker in a remote village.

“Shantaram” is an award-winning novel published in 2003 based on the authentic epic experiences of the author Gregory David Roberts in India.

David roberts shantaram