Been waiting for this novel for quite sometime and I have to say I have built up a lot of expectations on this. Well, does it meet all my expectations? I think the answer is yes and no, depending how you look at it.
The story begins with our hero Robert Langdon being invited to give a talk in Washington DC by his mentor Peter Solomon. To his surprise, it was actually someone else, other than Peter who invited him and it was not a talk but instead he was given a mission-to find the Ancient Mysteries which is believed to be buried within the DC, otherwise, Peter will be killed. The appearance of the severed hand of Peter in the Capitol Rotunda is given to Robert as a warning and his first clue in the search. On the other hand, there is another parallel story going on with Katherine Solomon, Peter’s sister at her research facility.
Then Robert starts decoding the meaning of The Hand of Mysteries to CIA
officials arrived at the scene, which leads to the discovery of the Mason’s Pyramid at the basement of the Capitol building. The Pyramid is believed to contain the location of the Ancient Mysteries. The story then takes a major turn as the Architect of the Capitol building, Warren, who turns out to be also a Mason like Peter comes to Robert’s assistance and smuggles him out of the scene to prevent further interrogation from CIA. They are then joined by Katherine, who survived the explosion by Peter’s kidnapper at her research facility.
With the joined forces of both of them, they start to decode the clues on the pyramid. However, when they make a significant progress, Peter’s kidnapper, Malakh, a tattooed believer of the power of the Ancient Mysteries, appears and takes both of them to his hiding place. He tortures Robert in a breathable oxygenated water tank and leaves Katherine bleeding to death. Robert finally tells him the secret and he then takes Peter with him to unlock the Ancient Mysteries and to finish the final step of his enlightenment.
Just when you think that it’s the end of our hero, the CIA arrives at Malakh’s nest and rescue Robert and Katherine. They also manage to get to the scene before Malakh could kill Peter as a sacrifice to finish his master plan. This ends tragically for Malakh but Peter is saved.
And finally, in the last 20 pages or so, Peter, who understands it all, take Robert to place where the Ancient Mysteries is buried.
Personally, I have to admit the momentum of the story is quite slow to start up with and Dan has used a lot of flashback in this book such as flashbacks of Robert’s previous adventure and his previous encounter with Peter. However, it picks up again when they discover the pyramid and from then on it’s a page turner.
He has gone for very big theme in this book-God and man and how man can get close to God- which can make the ideas a bit scattered and messy all over the place. Dan is again using his skill of merging facts with fiction to create the plot and I do like some of the ideas he put into it. He discusses about the power of the human mind and we are always saying from time to time, the human brain is the single organ of the human body that scientists know least about. And he also mentions about the experiment on weighting a human soul. I’ve heard about it myself and I think that’s really fascinating. And he also introduces technology like the breathable oxygenated water tank-that is beyond my imagination.
The overall layout of the story using the Mason background and Ancient Mysteries is good. However, I think the reasons behind Malakh/Zach Solomon’s motives is a bit thin on the ground and not too convincing. If a believer of the mysteries was behind it all, that would sound better. A revenge of a son on his father does not really fit too well in this.
And talking about the Ancient Mysteries, I believe readers may have mixed views on this. The final treasure so to speak turns out to be an item (actually a book) that we all know of. Some people I bet are going to feel a bit disappointed. However, looking it at another angle and being a Christian myself, I think it makes a lot of sense. Many people, even I, may have already forgotten “The Word”. It reminds us how far away from God we actually are. Personally, it gives me a good reflection for my faith.
And finally, even though there are a few issues with the book, overall it is still a good read. For those who are new to Dan Brown, I would not recommend to read it straight away as it may end up being different from your expectation. Reading other of his books will get you used to his style of writing. Then you can proceed with the Lost Symbol, which I think is slightly different to his other works.
Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that ... more
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, its actually how rev...
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Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that ... more
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, its actually how rev...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Vehicles move through the murky night, carrying highly secret material. And that ... more
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, its actually how rev...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: Free!
Advantages: A good read with symbolic twists and turns Disadvantages: No WOW factor
Nothing-But-The-Truth 06.11.2009 (06.11.2009)
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Advantages: A good read with symbolic twists and turns Disadvantages: No WOW factor
Nothing-But-The-Truth 06.11.2009 (06.11.2009)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Oct 11th, 2009
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