The Lost Symbol
Author: Dan Brown
Hello friends,
I have been thinking for a long time about writing my blog posts and publishing them but I was not able to come up with a topic good enough for me to do so. Finally I decided that after reading Dan Brown’s all the books, I should probably write about my reading experience. So here I am with the review of ‘The Lost Symbol’, the latest of Dan’s novels. Kindly note that there is no intention to bring any defamation or harm to Dan Brown or to the sale of the book or his sentiments, or for that matter, anyone’s sentiments.
The book starts with great action surrounding another large organization (this time it is the Smithsonian museum and Capitol building in the Washington D.C.). Robert Langdon is called to Washington D.C. by his old friend and mentor, Mr. Peter Solomon (who happens to be the central character of the central family of this story). Langdon is under the impression that he is at the Capitol building to deliver a lecture on some symbology but it turns out to be a horrifying experience for his as he discovers Mr. Solomon’s hand arranged in particular symbolic way. He is then asked by the unknown villain of the story to follow the path of the ancient symbols to uncover an ancient portal. This portal forms the central idea of The Ancient Mysteries surrounding the FreeMasons. It is believed that the ancient Americans and Freemasons had access to great wisdom with the potential to transform humans and give them God-like powers. And that the secret to unlock the ancient portal lies with a pyramid. However this was claimed to be just a myth until the time Langdon discovers that the Capitol building does have a pyramid hidden beneath its floors at secret location that is known only to the ‘Architect’ of the Capitol, who holds the highest powers there. The antagonist, called Ma’lakh in the book, shown to strongly believe that Langdon is the only one who can understand the ancient symbology enough to unlock the portal, threatens Langdon that if Langdon does not obey him and unlock the portal for him, Langdon will eventually find his mentor dead. Just when Langdon is about to decide to help Ma’lakh, the CIA director, Inou Sato, intervenes and declares that this is a National Security threat and that Langdon is supposed to help CIA. What follows from here is that Langdon, along with Katherine Solomon, Peter’s sister, sets on course to unravel the mysteries of the Pyramid, travel across the National Mall, discover secrets in the Washington D.C. and finally try to find the Portal of the Ancient Mysteries for Peter’s sake. In between, there is a lot of flashback around the Solomon family which also includes a mysterious character, Zachary, Peter’s son. Sure there is a lot of research that was probably done while writing the book, as is evident from the book.
If you have read any of Dan Brown’s previous novels, especially ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ which are claimed to be the prequels of this novel are here for disappointment. I have written the word ‘claimed’ here because I noticed on Wikipedia that ‘The Lost Symbol’ is claimed to be the sequel of the those 2 novels but apart from the presence of Robert Langdon, there was little similarity between the first 2 books and ‘The Lost Symbol’. The first 2 novels were based on symbols and myths related to religion, specifically Christianity whereas this 3rd one is based on FreeMasonry. Moreover, you would notice that there is a stark lack of action and suspense in this novel as compared to the previous ones. This book laid too much of undue importance to the past of the antagonist (like we had one in each of ‘The Da Vince Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ doing all the killing work in the name of God !!!) and less of symbology. Also the Solomon family flashbacks seem to be a bit boring. So I found it difficult to hold onto the book for long. Although, for the readers in India, there is something in the book for them to be proud of. There is a lot of reference to the Indian mystics, manuscripts, Vedas, etc. that treat the humans differently and have reference to Indian rituals and spirituality that help enhance the power of the human mind.
To sum up, this book may not match up to the expectations created due to our existing image of Dan Brown’s books. So if you are reading Dan Brown for the first time or if you are not one to compare the prequels with its sequels, then you can surely go ahead and read the book.
Kindly provide comments, suggestions for more improvement in my writing.
I would be back soon with review of another book. Stay tuned. Good bye till then.
Author: Dan Brown
Hello friends,
I have been thinking for a long time about writing my blog posts and publishing them but I was not able to come up with a topic good enough for me to do so. Finally I decided that after reading Dan Brown’s all the books, I should probably write about my reading experience. So here I am with the review of ‘The Lost Symbol’, the latest of Dan’s novels. Kindly note that there is no intention to bring any defamation or harm to Dan Brown or to the sale of the book or his sentiments, or for that matter, anyone’s sentiments.
The book starts with great action surrounding another large organization (this time it is the Smithsonian museum and Capitol building in the Washington D.C.). Robert Langdon is called to Washington D.C. by his old friend and mentor, Mr. Peter Solomon (who happens to be the central character of the central family of this story). Langdon is under the impression that he is at the Capitol building to deliver a lecture on some symbology but it turns out to be a horrifying experience for his as he discovers Mr. Solomon’s hand arranged in particular symbolic way. He is then asked by the unknown villain of the story to follow the path of the ancient symbols to uncover an ancient portal. This portal forms the central idea of The Ancient Mysteries surrounding the FreeMasons. It is believed that the ancient Americans and Freemasons had access to great wisdom with the potential to transform humans and give them God-like powers. And that the secret to unlock the ancient portal lies with a pyramid. However this was claimed to be just a myth until the time Langdon discovers that the Capitol building does have a pyramid hidden beneath its floors at secret location that is known only to the ‘Architect’ of the Capitol, who holds the highest powers there. The antagonist, called Ma’lakh in the book, shown to strongly believe that Langdon is the only one who can understand the ancient symbology enough to unlock the portal, threatens Langdon that if Langdon does not obey him and unlock the portal for him, Langdon will eventually find his mentor dead. Just when Langdon is about to decide to help Ma’lakh, the CIA director, Inou Sato, intervenes and declares that this is a National Security threat and that Langdon is supposed to help CIA. What follows from here is that Langdon, along with Katherine Solomon, Peter’s sister, sets on course to unravel the mysteries of the Pyramid, travel across the National Mall, discover secrets in the Washington D.C. and finally try to find the Portal of the Ancient Mysteries for Peter’s sake. In between, there is a lot of flashback around the Solomon family which also includes a mysterious character, Zachary, Peter’s son. Sure there is a lot of research that was probably done while writing the book, as is evident from the book.
If you have read any of Dan Brown’s previous novels, especially ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ which are claimed to be the prequels of this novel are here for disappointment. I have written the word ‘claimed’ here because I noticed on Wikipedia that ‘The Lost Symbol’ is claimed to be the sequel of the those 2 novels but apart from the presence of Robert Langdon, there was little similarity between the first 2 books and ‘The Lost Symbol’. The first 2 novels were based on symbols and myths related to religion, specifically Christianity whereas this 3rd one is based on FreeMasonry. Moreover, you would notice that there is a stark lack of action and suspense in this novel as compared to the previous ones. This book laid too much of undue importance to the past of the antagonist (like we had one in each of ‘The Da Vince Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’ doing all the killing work in the name of God !!!) and less of symbology. Also the Solomon family flashbacks seem to be a bit boring. So I found it difficult to hold onto the book for long. Although, for the readers in India, there is something in the book for them to be proud of. There is a lot of reference to the Indian mystics, manuscripts, Vedas, etc. that treat the humans differently and have reference to Indian rituals and spirituality that help enhance the power of the human mind.
To sum up, this book may not match up to the expectations created due to our existing image of Dan Brown’s books. So if you are reading Dan Brown for the first time or if you are not one to compare the prequels with its sequels, then you can surely go ahead and read the book.
Kindly provide comments, suggestions for more improvement in my writing.
I would be back soon with review of another book. Stay tuned. Good bye till then.
