The lost symbol is another Robert Langdon adventure. This time it's set in Washington D.C, particularly The Library of Congress, The Rotunda, The Temple House , The Capitol Building. and The Washington National Cathedral.
This book is brilliant and a page turner. full of facts ,action,adventure and great thought provoking arguments about mysticism, God and the strenght of the human mind.
plot:
Langdon get's tricked into coming to Washington by somebody posing as his friend, Peter Solomon(a well known mason). At Langdon's arrival he gets a phone call. The impostor, Mal'akh , has Peter hostage and if Langdon wants his friend back he must solve The Ancient Mysteries .
I loved the way The Library of Congress is described in this book or maybe I'm just fascinated by the thought of a giant library. and after reading this book . The Library of Congress must really be "giant' if it needs conveyor belts to transport books from one section to the other.
The lead character Robert Langdon is a symbologist and a well known character if you've read Angels & Demons or Da Vince Code. or seen the movies.
In previous Langdon novels . Langdon always seems to have a female sidekick. In this book I thought it would be Inou Sato, CIA agent. Which at first I liked the thought of because it would be something different from the other books. Agent Sato is described as a hardass, most of her agents fear her, she's short and has a deep voice. At first Langdon thought she was a man. She turned out not to be the lead female protagonist which turned out for the best because as her character developed she became problematic to actually saving Peter Solomon's life. She's an annoying,uncooperative,suspicious hardass.
Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, turns out to be the female lead. She joins Langdon later and helps him solve the pyramid puzzle.
The surprise!
The bad guy, Mal'akh. The suspected murderer of Peter Solomon's son Zachary. It turns out Mal'akh IS Zachary. He faked his own death! I suspected this but everything contradicted this because Zachary=Mal'akh=Andros convinced himself he was no longer Zachary but Mal'akh. He had 'tranformed".
This is probably why I read Dan Brown's books. I love the surprises and a good conspiracy. Angels & Demons and Deception Point are good examples thereof. Especially Deception Point , that was like chocolate cake. Although in this aspect The Lost Symbol failed to "surprise me".
Another reason to love this book or any Dan Brown novel is the history and the symbolism he incorporates into his stories. You will never put down one of this guy's books without learning something interesting.
Book excerpt:
" the Apocalypse is not the end of the world, but rather it is the end of the world as we know it"
So is dec.21.2012 the supposed end of the world actually the beginning of a new age of enlightenment. Well isn't that an interesting thought.
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Alberch Durer- Melencolia I
Depicts mankinds struggle to comprehend The Ancient Mysteries
Grade:
O
I loved this book! so, so good. :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book! I think it was just as thrilling as The Da Vinci Code. The story grabbed me from the very beginning with mystery and intrigue. I couldn't put it down because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The characters are lovable (except, of course, for the antagonist), the story easy to follow, and the twists and turns surprising.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's comparable to Da Vinci but I think I enjoyed Angels and Demons more(action).
DeleteAlbeit I loved all the "mystery and intrigue' as you put And I've loved it in all the Dan Brown novels I've read so far.