Can Langdon find the Lost Symbol?

Advantages: Fast paced
Disadvantages: last 50 or so pages

...The Lost Symbol is the latest offering from Dan Brown featuring Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon and like all avid readers of his work I was looking forward to reading the book. At 6am on a Sunday morning Robert Langdon receives a message from his mentor and friend, prominent 33rd Degree Mason Peter Solomon, to conduct a lecture in Washington?s Capitol Building and not wanting to let his friend down Langdon agrees to go and sets off for the airport where Peter?s private jet is waiting for him. However on arrival at the Rotunda area within the Capitol Building, something strikes Langdon as odd, there is nobody waiting there for the lecture. Believing he is in the wrong building Langdon is set to walk about but is interrupted by a commotion, on looking on what the problem is, it seems that somebody has left a strategically placed...

paulpry118 09.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown- Ancient Mysteries

Advantages: A good read
Disadvantages: Part of the plot is not too convicing

.... 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....

medgenie 11.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Chart Throb

Advantages: Great characters, amusing
Disadvantages: not hard to put down

...The Blurb Chart Throb. The ultimate pop quest. Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three Judges. Just one winner. And that's Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show. Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits in judgement upon Mingers, Clingers and Blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The real is about to be put back into 'reality' televison and Calvin and his fellow judges are about to become ex-factors themselves. ben Elton, author of Popcorn and Dead Famous, returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows. Chart Throb. One winner. a whole bunch of losers. The Story Here we meet Calvin Simms, the richest and most powerful...

hollywoodmum 31.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Chart Throb - Ben Elton

Laugh out loud? A quiet chuckle more like! - Chart Throb

Advantages: Easy to pick up and put down
Disadvantages: Weak characters, weak ending

...Chart Throb I have never been the greatest fan of Ben Elton as such but do like the sitcoms he was involved in writing such as Blackadder and The Young Ones. After reading a few positive reviews I decided to give one of his books ago and the one I chose was Chart Throb. Eltons 11th novel, Chart Throb is about a reality TV show to find the next big Pop Star. Basically its a mickey take of such programmes as The X Factor, Pop Idol, Fame Academy etc etc etc. The story is set when the X Factor is no longer and Chart Throb is the biggest reality show on TV. The judges on this show are Calvin Simms (also the creator of the show), Beryl Blenheim (an ex heavy metal star who has had a sex change and has a dysfunctional family TV show of her own) and Rodney Root the weakest link. If you have ever watched the X Factor or any similar...

kirkytracy 19.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Chart Throb - Ben Elton

Could you be a Chart Throb

Advantages: typical Elton satire
Disadvantages: not as good as many of his books

...This weekend despite working over 30 hours I have also read two books, one by a well known and respected author another by an author whos work I was previously unfamiliar with, one book captivated me and I ended up reading it after work and going to sleep around 6am the other was well, very average. Sadly for Ben Elton it was his most recent offering which disapointed me. Chart Throb is a satirical look at the Pop Idol/X -Factor TV shows. As with the characterisations his Big Brother satire (Dead Famous) the main characters are somewhat recognisable as their 'real-life' counterparts, we have Beryl Blenheim rock chick and plastic surgery fan who features in her own family show 'The Blenheims' along with her wife Senenity and daughters Priscilla and Lisa Marie. Then we have Rodney Root a record producer, and 'pop svengali'. Finally...

scuba_angel 03.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Chart Throb - Ben Elton

Langdon Returns For Adventure No 3

Advantages: Sticks to the principles of the series
Disadvantages: written with the movie in mind rather than purely a book

...and comparisons back to the previous book were bound to be drawn. I personally have been looking forward to Lost Symbol but I seem to come from a smaller camp of Brown fans who think his best book was in fact Angels and Demons. Could he possibly deliver another book to follow in the success of the previous instalment of the Langdon saga? Rather than following the formula for the other two books directly Brown has taken a slightly different approach to this book. The writing style and the short chapters are exactly the same as the previous 2 outings for Langdon, but the plot takes a slightly different twist. The previous two books were written as solely books, but this one has a real feeling that it's been written with the movie adaptation in mind. It doesn't take away anything for the plot but there are a few more twists than the previous books...

Andy.mack 15.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Brown hasn't lost it

Advantages: Great story, flows nicely, good characters
Disadvantages: Keeps you up all night

...counterpart for a change. The only thing I didn't like, and it's just a small thing; was that there was a map part way through the book showing the layout of the Capitol building. It looked totally out of place and more text book like than novel. As with the other novels there are other parts of the book where it deviates from plain text, and has symbols and items that need deciphering, but these are necessary and it would be impossible for Dan Brown to describe them without adding a dozen more pages to the book. But the map adds absolutely nothing because stopping to look at it breaks up the flow of the story, then after I found the area on the map that they were stood in I was still in the same situation I'd been before, Dan Brown had described the area as much as I needed him too, I didn't need to see a blueprint style map. Apart from that...

Fiver29 16.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

As clunky as a tap-dancing Frankenstein with new shoes..

Advantages: You read it quick
Disadvantages: Over hyped

...book one would be it would sell very well, some 80 million copies pre ordered world-wide so far, and the other is it would be written as a film script and even more in caricature than the previous Langdon books, insuring the movie rites early. The first line in the book is: 'Since the beginning of time...'. Browns prose is still reassuringly as clunky as Frankenstein's tap dancing. So huge were the DaVinci Code sales that publishers Bantam Press could make or break book shops by the speed they get 'The Lost Symbol' out. The fever pitch excitement meant a resulting price war which meant you could pick up the hard back for half-price at pretty much any good big book sellers, as did I, meaning someone is likely to go bust if they didn't hit their sales targets. Sadly the four year wait has not really been worth the anticipation and this is...

thedevilinme 01.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Great chart music downloads

Advantages: Great Chart Music
Disadvantages: none

...I have only started using an MP3 player (winamp) and i was very pleased to come across a site that lets you donload music from the top 30 in the UK and US charts as well as some R&B and others. There are some songs that aren't able to be downloaded, but not many. Albums can also be downloaded although, being a major pop fan, i buy most of my albums when they're released so i had them. I think i'll be looking there in future if i don't have enough money or whatever. Although bands aren't pleased that we can now download music from the Internet, it might make CD retailers think about putting the prices down, so people like myself who love all sorts of music and many different bands are capable of treating ourself to many different songs....

bryans_claire 21.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of mp3chart.com

Excellent, page-turning mystery thriller

Advantages: A great read
Disadvantages: Characters are a little thin

...The world went crazy for The DaVinci Code a few years back. For a few months, water coolers were alive with talk of the Holy Grail, Rose Lines and hidden symbolism. But with mass appeal comes the inevitable backlash from self-proclaimed literary experts spouting accusations of poor writing, flimsy characterization and falsified research. Then, suddenly, everyone who had pretended they loved and understood Dan Brown?s work now had to pretend they hated it, because God forbid people would actually form their own opinions about books instead of following the group consensus like a flock of marginally self-aware sheep. Anyway, the upshot is that these days, proclaiming yourself a fan of Dan Brown generally renders you about as popular as Osama Bin Laden dressed in a Nazi stormtrooper uniform. The Lost Symbol, Brown?s latest entry in...

Dr-Jones 23.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown