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| The Rozabal Line, Sanghi's first novel (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Wonderful. It is a lovely one in the series of religious and
mystery genre. This was my second attempt at reading something on the religious
matter. Being an atheist I stay away from religious studies, it unnecessarily
inflicts conflicting thoughts that would or would not be true in the real
sense. As in, I would any time prefer to read an actual holy book as compared to a construe
on the same by anyone. Well the reason being, as many heads, as many
interpretations. In fact that is the reason for the so much of commotion in the
religion markets of the world to establish their supremacy. And that current
state of affairs is exactly the fiber of Mr. Sanghvi's "The Rozabal
Line."
The book is a refresher course in the religious history of
the World, taking you through various continents during various centuries; and
ultimately putting you through the same discourse that you hear everyday about
the Almighty, that God is all but one and all religions teach all to be nice, good and one should believe in the
power of Karma, and such and such. Though, the only theological shifting grounds remain the belief
or no-belief towards the philosophies of rebirth, resurrection and
crucification between various religions.
What I really admire about the writer is the deep down study
he has done of the religious books and the events that spanned through the centuries
in all parts of the World. Like for instance I was amazed to know that Mary
Magdalene and Indian Magadha have similarities; Aztecs in America also worship the Eagle,
like Hindus do of Garuda, which happens to be the mythological Eagle that was believed to be the vehicle of
Lord Vishnu. In fact there are many such instances that seem striking when the
writer draws out close similarities through the various religions and
civilizations of the World. But the writer's craft is put to test when he
etches out a beautiful interconnected thriller in-between these historical,
mythological and theological studies.
It is so blasting with interconnected facts that you might
have to be ready with a pencil to mark few lines, so that you do not have to
start reading the book again to get the story right. As a reader you cannot do
much, since Mr. Sanghi is so perfect with his research that he mysteriously
deploys his crucial anecdotes in a treasure hunt flair doing full justice to
the thriller genre.
My personal preference for the book is more attributed to
the fact that there was no exaggerated or emotional or romantic twist to it.
Just a simple “catch-me-if-you-can” construct that keeps you entertained with
all the hypothesis and corollaries in-between. It could be the one for you if you would like a wise mix of a story involving a Priest, past life therapists, a brutal contract killer beauty, oil mafias, women American President, and of course Osama Bin Landen.
Although you have read or not read the
"Da Vinci Code", or the "Angels and Demons", you need to
read this one to get an air of all the major religious theories of the World by
an Indian.
The book can be bought here:
The book can be bought here:
Nice review. Makes me wanna read the book.
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