May 05, 2011 11:59 PM
8113 Views
(Updated May 06, 2011 12:22 AM)
1st. I read "Chanakya's Chant". Why? @deepak27 tempting review. Verdict: Okay, a good read, time-pass. 3/5.
2nd. I read "The Rozabal Line". Why? inspired by an Indian author! and the synopsis over net. And my Verdict: Just Wait.
Author in Question: Ashwin Sanghi. This novel was written as the author name Shawn Haigins (anagram of Ashwin Sanghi! Remember Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code). He is an enterpreneur by profession, educated at Cathedral & John Connan School, and St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Masters from Yale, and PhD from Wales. Lives in India with wife and son. Website: https://ashwinsanghi.com (Details as per Author's Note in Book)
Book in Question: It was published in 2007, being the first book of the author, and the plot very much inspired from the all-time greatest thriller "Da Vinci Code" of Dan Brown, but remains different altogether, since that was more of a thriller, blended beautifully with facts (as per the author), and this one, was less on a thrilling-moving story, and more on many facts. A total of 31 chapters alongwith references regarding various statements at the end about the source completed in 362 Pages, published by Westland. The book costs me Rs.146 at Flipkart.
The Plot?: At one side, there is Church, and at the other side, there is Illuminati, Church wants to hide facts about Jesus being a normal man, and his lineage afterwards, and illuminati wanted just the opposite, even by hiring Terrorists, and bombing a nuclear device in Pakistan. But the truth is not so simple, it is tangled, and the characters are merged in between, like Father Vincent Sinclair, his psychic aunt Martha, RAW chief Prithviraj, a japanese killer woman on loose, Swakilki, and the head of all nuisance, the head of Opus Dei Alberto Valerio, his aide Father Thomas Manning, and the terrorist head Ghalib.
Positives?: 1. The wonderful imagination of author and more importantly, the clubbing of all the facts, and stories, either taklen from some source, fact or non-fact, and blending it beautifully with some of his own imagination, combining Jesus to India, and Hinduism.
Wonderfully researched information, even giving the references of original source, from where the plot is derived.
Being the first book of the author, I must say, great effort on the author's part, readability is quite good, and by use of fact, the reader started thinking IS IT REAL? That is the win for author. The story spawns over many countries, starting at Kashmir, India and ending at Katra, India.
Negatives?: 1. The book is less on story part, always dealing on facts and dangling between the fact that is it a fact or a fiction. More on stats about Jesus travel to India, and his blood line after him.
- It is a bit confusing from the start, so many characters introduced at a time, and you take some time to grasp what is going on. If you're not a good reader, you may drop the book in the beginning itself.
Verdict?: Well, its a 4/5 from me on well-researched, well-woven story, and reading about Jesus may-be-bloodline, in India, raise more interest, I dont know the fact but as per the sources referred, it may be the case that he/Jews of Yerusalem travelled to India, and settled in Kashmir. We know one thing for sure, that Jews, Christianity, and Islam born from the same source, but this book even combined Buddhism, Hinduism, Pagan, and Zoroastrian to the same source of evolution, each religion raises from one common God. Read this book, if you liked Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, not good like it, but something is there for sure. I completed 362 pages in 14 days, you can beat me, for sure.
GRuchirG.
