Shantaram
Thanks to the recommendation of
riphertoshreds and a couple of spare dollary doos, I snapped up this novel recently. I looked at the size of it, almost 1000 pages, and wondered how I would find the time to read it! Finding the time didn't matter once I started to read, it was all I thought about. This is a brilliant, wonderful, colourful and soulful look at the wonderful world of India. You can read the reviews on the net, there are plenty. I suggest that you get yourself a copy, preferably in hardback, because this is one book that you will want to have pride of place on the bookshelf.
It appears that a movie will be made of the novel, and it will star Johnny Depp, so it might be a good idea to read it now, before the story resembles too much Hollywood hype.
Gregory David Roberts' website is worth a sticky beak, and he is truly an amazing person. I am personally impressed that while he could have really played on the wonderful things he did, and taken credit for every accident that found him, he has chosen not to do so, and simply acknowledge that he never particularly sought to do any of the things that he did, they just happened.
For those intrepid adventurers out there, it might just make some interesting reading.