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The Lost Symbol |
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Author:
Dan Brown
By Transworld Publisher
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: £18.99
Our Price: £2.00
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Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9780593054277
ISBN: 059305427X
Label: Transworld Publisher
Manufacturer: Transworld Publisher
Number Of Pages: 528
Publication Date: 2009-09-15
Publisher: Transworld Publisher
Release Date: 2009-09-15
Studio: Transworld Publisher |
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- New
- Mint Condition
- Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
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Product Description
Book with masonic content
Amazon.co.uk Review
Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that clandestine material will only be available--after midnight--to those who have signed non-disclosure notices. The plot of the new Dan Brown novel? No, it’s actually how reviewers such as myself obtained our copies of the much-anticipated The Lost Symbol, the follow-up to the Da Vinci Code. And as we read it in (literally) the cold light of dawn, we wonder: is it likely to match the earlier book’s all-conquering, phenomenal success? Firstly, it should be noted that The Lost Symbol has incorporated all the elements that so transfixed readers in The Da Vinci Code: a complex, mystifying plot (with the reader set quite as many challenges as the protagonist); breathless, helter-skelter pace (James Patterson's patented technique of keeping readers hooked by ending chapters with a tantalisingly unresolved situation is very much part of Dan Brown’s armoury). And, of course, the winning central character, resourceful symbologist Robert Langdon, is back, risking his life to crack a dangerous mystery involving the Freemasons (replacing the controversial trappings of the Catholic Church and homicidal monks of the last book). And while Dan Brown will never win any prizes for literary elegance, his prose is always succinctly at the service of delivering a thoroughly involving thriller narrative in vividly evoked locales (here, Washington DC, colourfully conjured). Robert Langdon flies to Washington after an urgent invitation to speak in the Capitol building. The invitation appears to have come from a friend with copper-bottomed Masonic connections, Peter Solomon. But Langdon has been tricked: Solomon has, in fact, been kidnapped, and (echoing the grisly opening of the last book) a macabre mutilation plunges Langdon into a tortuous quest. His friend’s severed hand lies in the Capitol building, positioned to point to a George Washington portrait that shows the father of his country as a pagan deity. The ruthless criminal nemesis here is another terrifying figure in Brown’s gallery of grotesques: Mal’akh, a powerfully built eunuch with a body festooned with tattoos. Mal’akh is seeking a Masonic pyramid that possesses a formidable supernatural power, and a pulse-pounding hunt is afoot, with Langdon stalled rather than aided by the CIA. Caveats are pointless here; Dan Brown, comfortably the world’s most successful author, is utterly review-proof. And there's no arguing with the fact that he has his finger on the pulse of the modern thriller reader, furnishing the mechanics of the blockbuster adventure with energy and invention. Like its predecessor, The Lost Symbol will unquestionably be--in fact, already is--a publishing phenomenon. --Barry Forshaw
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Read it in under 24 hours. Doesn't mean I liked it!, 2010-07-25
Dan Brown.
I first heard the name during a lecture at university, where my lecturer called 'The DaVinci Code' "the new Bible!". Perhaps this was not the best introduction to Dan Brown I could have, but it certainly put me off the sensationalism. My belief is that Brown does ample research for his books, and the Robert Langdon books in particular, show the fruit of this research.
'Angels and Demons', and 'The DaVinci Code', then, became bestsellers due to the ease with which the author guides us through popular places and artworks in Italy and France. His prose does not shine, but his ability to clearly intrigue the reader with the vaguest of clues, does. I had read Brown's non-Langdon novels, and did not enjoy them as much, purely due to the far-fetched scientific claims he makes. It is hard to distinguish what Brown, himself, truly believes.
Thus, we have this theme of science vs. art. I believe that Brown fully understands the latter, and wades his way through the former. "The Lost Symbol" enforces this belief.
* Characters
If you have read either of the other Langdon novels, you will probably know what to expect. Langdon teams up with a Clever, Brave, Sexy Scientist and together, they try to thwart the Fanatic Lunatic Deranged Criminal, whether he is covered in tattoos or hits himself with a holy whip. Supporting characters, such as the Old Disabled Mentor (two of which feature in this novel!), and Government Agent Who Has A Hidden Agenda also feature.
The problem is that all these characters are very one-dimensional. They all go through various "twists", but.. ultimately emerge exactly the same. They are there only for Langdon to impress us with his exposition, but with every book that Brown publishes, Langdon loses some humanity, and ends up sounding more like an insufferable know-it-all.
I didn't care for any character in this book. The villain has by far the most interesting (and far-fetched) background, but even then- no emotions. Whether characters live or die didn't affect me, and this is not a good thing. This is Langdon, the "hero"'s, third book. Surely by now I should have some kind of attachment to him? It seems not...
* Setting
A Langdon novel set in Washington D.C.! I had never visited Italy or France prior to reading the other novels, but the places there were described in detail that this novel was not. Whereas previously Brown described with care the cities and places Langdon visited, immersing his reader in a lush landscape, now he simply assumes we know where Langdon is going. There is no sense of direction or distance - as a non-American, and someone who has never visited Washington, I can safely say I have no idea where Langdon went, what places he visited, and why his revelations were so important.
* Style/Prose
The reason I got through the book so quickly is due to the short chapters (there are over a hundred in the book), each ending with some sort of cliffhanger. These cliffhangers quickly become old, and unnecessary - this is not a TV series, but a book. The next chapter starts on the same page, not next week!
Example:
Chapter Ends with "..and he saw her flying through the air emitting a soundless scream."
Next Chapter Starts with "She had fallen over a chair and landed on the floor."
The cliffhangers feel too forced. I would never describe someone tripping over a chair as "flying through the air", and I would not expect a bestselling author to do so either.
* Finally..
The ending was not worth reaching. There is no real "discovery" of an artefact, no "climax". Instead, the end consists of a good 30+ pages of pure exposition and back-story. Very lame, for a book that opens with a severed hand impaled on a stick!
I rate this book two stars. It wasn't bad, but after the success Brown has seen, I expected more from his fifth outing. Perhaps it is time to retire Langdon, and try out a different lead character. Until then I will continue to read - but not expect to enjoy - this book.
A masterpiece of anti-climax, 2010-07-27
I found this book a poorly constructed sequence of ani-climactic events. The only satisfaction it gave me was a strong sense of pride in being to get to the end without throwing it in the rubbish bin. I only achieved this because I thought it HAD to get better. But, no, it got worse and worse with the last 25 or so pages a particular struggle. In the early stages I thought Dan Brown was trying to impart some challenging and very thought provoking ideas but everything cumpled into a boring, muddled morass.
Ever the pedant, 2010-07-23
This is the worst of a series of woefully written books by Dan Brown. It gets bogged down early on and never really recovers. DB's biggest problem is, that unlike better writers in the genre, he appears not to understand when or how to use descriptive narrative and when to use prose. Great slabs of history, technology or esoterica are sandwiched between stodgy speech - it is kind of life Wikipedia punctuated with quotes. As for the esoterica, it is lying around in plain view on the WWW and in hundreds of books in and out of print. Mining it for fiction plots is OK, but spare us the pedantry.
Dull Dull Dull, If you liked Dan Brown's other novels - don't read this!, 2010-07-20
Its not often I manage to pick up a book that I don't find entertaining on some level, but this latest offering from Dan Brown is awful. His characters are uncharasmatic and uninteresting. The plot is just the same as the other books but without the pace and suspense. Generally I couldn't wait to finish it, I didn't care either way what happened to the hero - infact I half wished he'd been bumped off by the cliche bad guy to make the read a little worth while!!
Woeful, 2010-07-19
poorly written, and trying too hard to make every little event as exciting as possible, feels like a movie script rather than a booK.... was never a Dan Brown Fan.. and this is the first and last time I get swept by the media circus around him.
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