The Mountain Shadow

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The Mountain Shadow
The Mountain Shadow cover.jpg
Hardcover edition
Author Gregory David Roberts
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
Publisher Grove Press
Publication date
13 October 2015
Media typePrint, e-book, audiobook
Pages912 pp.
ISBN 978-0802124456
OCLC 906121967
Preceded by Shantaram  
Website Official website

The Mountain Shadow is a 2015 novel by Australian author Gregory David Roberts [1] [2] and is a sequel for his 2003 novel Shantaram . [3] [4] Grove Press initially released the book on 13 October 2015. This is the second book in the proposed trilogy.

Contents

Plot

Set mostly in modern Bombay, the sequel starts where Shantaram ended. It's been two years since the protagonist Lindsay lost two of the people closest to him: Kaderbhai, a mafia boss who died in the Afghan mountains, and Karla, a mysterious, coveted woman who eventually married a Bombay media mogul. Now Lin has to fulfill the last assignment given to him by Kaderbhai—to win the trust of the sage living on the mountain, to save his head in the uncontrollably flaring conflict of the new mafia leaders, but, most importantly, to find love and faith. [5]

Reception

Akash Kapur of The New York Times wrote, "Gregory David Roberts’s “Shantaram” was an unlikely publishing sensation. Literary purists scoffed at its purple prose; Indian (and many other) readers bristled at its stereotypes and cultural simplifications. The book nonetheless possessed a grittiness and vividness that helped Roberts sell four million copies around the world. Hollywood rights were scooped up (though a film has yet to be made). The book has gone on to occupy a distinctive — and deserving — place in an emerging genre of Bombay noir." [6] Tim Martin of the Financial Times noted, "Ten years in the writing, The Mountain Shadow is the first of three proposed sequels to Shantaram, and continues its mission to transmit as many conclusions about the universe as the author can get his hands on... What we get instead are those essential truths and passionate experiences, swarming through the book like locusts." [7] Camron Woodhead of The Sydney Morning Herald commented, "Axiomatic pronouncements this bald, didactic and sentimental can't possibly approximate the contradictory power of artistic truth, of course, partly because such sloganeering and cod philosophy are routinely used to sell us stuff. They have more in common with Oprah than Proust, and most readers with a shred of intellect or self-respect, no matter how questing, will cringe at the extent to which large chunks of The Mountain Shadow resemble the snake oil of the self-help industry." [8]

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References

  1. Manazir Siddiqi, Ayesha (8 October 2015). "The Mountain Shadow By Gregory David Roberts". The Independent . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. "The Mountain Shadow - Pan Macmillan AU". Pan Macmillan Australia. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. Deb, Sandipan (8 January 2016). "Book Review: The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts". Mint . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  4. "The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts". Publishers Weekly . 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. Mills, Eleanor. "The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts". The Times . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. Kapur, Akash (11 December 2015). "'The Mountain Shadow,' by Gregory David Roberts". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. Martin, Tim (9 October 2015). "'The Mountain Shadow', by Gregory David Roberts — review". Financial Times . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  8. Woodhead, Cameron (29 January 2016). "The Mountain Shadow review: A sequel that falls far short of its predecessor". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 28 October 2022.