Shantaram Allusions & Cultural References

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References

  • Virgil (1.3.142)
  • Alexandre Dumas, The d'Artagnan Romances (1.4.95)
  • "The Sermon on the Mount" (2.14.39)
  • Lewis Carroll (2.9.44)
  • Stendhal, The Charterhouse of Parma (2.16.93)
  • Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (2.16.93)
  • Thomas Mann (2.16.93)
  • Friedrich Schiller (2.16.93, 3.21.66)
  • Djuna Barnes (2.16.93)
  • Virginia Woolf (2.16.93)
  • Isidore Ducasse, Maldoror (2.16.93)
  • Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls (2.16.93)
  • William Shakespeare (3.21.66, 4.32.6)
  • Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology (3.21.66)
  • Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny (4.28.14)
  • Dante, The Divine Comedy (4.32.6)
  • Proverbs 16:18 (4.33.13)
  • King Solomon (4.33.13)
  • Bertrand Russell (4.33.105-07)
  • Koran (4.33.108)
  • The Prophet Mohammed (4.34.57-59)

Historical References

  • Indira Gandhi (3.22.86-88, 3.22.157, 3.22.209)
  • Alexander the Great (4.34.10)
  • Frederick Roberts (4.34.17)
  • Mohammed Ayub Khan (4.34.17)

Pop Culture References

  • Sergio Leone (1.4.72)
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1.4.72)
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1.4.72)
  • Clint Eastwood (1.4.112)
  • High Plains Drifter (1.4.112)
  • "You Really Got Me," The Kinks (1.7.26-27)
  • "We Are Family," Sister Sledge (2.13.110)
  • Amitabh Bachchan (2.12.190-91)
  • To Have and Have Not, Lauren Bacall (2.13.172)
  • Somebody Up There Likes Me, Pier Angeli (2.13.172)
  • Blade Runner, Sean Young (2.13.172)
  • Paanch Paapi (4.29.56-58)
  • Chunkey Pandey (4.29.95)