Gregory David Roberts
Gregory David Roberts ~ Author of Shantaram
Photo Credit: To The Other Side, on Flickr
Shantaram weaves a story around the Character Lin, who escapes from prison in Australia and begins a journey that takes him to New Zealand and further afield to Mumbai, where the majority of the story takes place. This part of the book closely follows the factual account given by Gregory David Roberts about his own escape from prison. The rest of Shantaram is then an exploration of life as Greg experienced in the city, and much of the key parts of the book are taken directly out of Greg's own life.
Greg was a promising young student writer, and whose life was set on a sliding path after he split from his family, resulting in his desent into Heroin addiction and crime. Robbery was the means that fed the addiction in his life at this time, and he found himself in a top security prision. After hatching an escape from prison with a fellow inmate, Greg began another tremendous journey, and this is the point where Shantaram picks up that story with his arrival in Mumbai. It is surely a testement to Greg's courage that he brought so much of his life into his work and allowed us to capture a part of him through his writing
It is worth pointing out however, that while the book is in part autobiographical (in the sense that Lin the main character Lin follows a journey and shares experiences that are smiliar to Greg's life during that time) it is still a novel. Greg has eludicated that characters in the book and certain events are an amalgamation of reality and the author's creativity.
Greg is reported to now live in Mumbai. After having returned to Australia again as a prisoner, he spent the rest of his sentence completing Shantaram. In thr process of his own decision to take redemtion, Greg returned to be the person he set out to be from the beginning. If you've read the book, I'm sure you too support the kind of Gentleman Greg has become.
"Be true to love where ever you find it, and be true to yourself and everything that you really are." Gregory David Roberts
Interviews with Gregory David Roberts
- Interview on Hindustan Times.com
- Somewhat brief interview on Rediff.com
- Another short interview, this one from TribuneIndia,com
- Interview on Abc.net
- Interview on putfile.com (audio)
- Gregory David Roberts interviewed on Laura Hird's website
- A Glimpse into the daily life of Greg, a short rundown on dnaindia.com
- Audio interview on ABC.net.au - find the audio links under the picture of Greg
- A video interview with the BBC Jan 4th 2005
- Interviews on Shantaram.com itself
If you know of an interview not mentioned here, please do let us know. You can join our forum right away and message me there. It only takes a few minutes to complete and you'll be helping everyone searching for inspiration from Greg.
