The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi- A book review:

Book Review: The Rozabal Line

A heavy read for someone who is not linked to a religion other than his, rather not linked to any religion. Every religion is having its own myths, its own stories, its own heroes and villains, its own morals and values and more importantly its own timeline of inception, though multiple linkages can be established between the religions and the diversity of thoughts one religion has within it. This book is mythology infused thriller, something which Dan Brown is famous for.

The plot is related to Jesus and covers every region, religion, philosophy, geography and time. The events which talk about the lineage of Jesus staying in India and the story of Jesus crucifixion is described with such a clarity that people like, who have little to no knowledge of other religions could understand what was going on. Your eyes can actually visualise the streets of old London and the churches of Goa through the eyes of Vincent Sinclair, the protagonist.

The book talks about regression theory and life after death and previous births, which science is not definitive about, but, some people who have seen both sides of the coin. Once you lose yourself in this beauty, you start realising how easily Ashwin is taking you to a corner where you have no other choice but to believe that indeed Jesus spent his last few days in India.

The research done by the author is immense and you can see the hardship he would have gone through while writing this novel, when you see a large number of pages depicting just the bibliography at the end of the novel.  The Historical basis has been derived from several books which author doesn’t forget to mention: Jesus lived in India by Holger Kersten and The unknown life of Jesus by Nicolas Notovich. 

In this book you will find lots of similarities like that of Mumbai attack of 2008, LeT attacks around the globe, the Islamic rise to power, Deccan Mujahedeen (The elite group of twelve commandos), ISI and a lot of things which you must have read somewhere or the other.

The plot could have been disclosed here, but I will surely urge people to buy or lend this book from someone and read it. I wish to write a lot about this book, but surely words will be less and will not do justice to one of the most controversial topics an Indian writer could write about-Religion.

Rating time:

Disclaimer- The rating is based on my personal thinking and can vary person to person. The scoring has been done out of five. I believe each book is readable and imparts knowledge irrespective of the rating. Though, the rating can make your choices easier and can save you from making some good choices in your reading life cycle.

Stylistic invention means the way the narrative has been written and the innovation brought into structure sentences and paragraphs. Craftsmanship depicts the natural flow of the words and dialogues and the when reading aloud the dialogue sounds credible and expressional. Characters can be round drawn or can be skilfully drawn having a real life of their own- Dress, style, speech, beliefs, social situation, sexuality, age, gender, wealth and other socioeconomic factors. Credible dialogues mean whether the dialogues can be used directly in the movie and won’t lose their lustre upon usage.

Plot and narrative stamina: 3        

Stylistic Invention: 2.5

Craftsmanship: 2.5

Characters: 3.5

Credible Dialogue: 3.5

Overall: 3.5