Review ~ "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown

Say what you want about Dan Brown - the man can write a gripping and fascinating tale by weaving in art and architecture and history. Since I love all those things, I really loved both "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code". (I slightly prefer "Angels and Demons".) Anyway, when I heard his newest book was finally coming out, I snatched it up, hoping for another fast paced adventure that was hard to put down.

In "The Lost Symbol", Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor from the previous 2 books, finds himself running around Washington D.C. Someone is in trouble, and apparently Robert is the only one who can save him. It's hard to give a decent synopsis without giving too much of the book away.

The book was good. But I didn't like it anywhere near as much as I liked his previous 2 efforts. Since I'm a big American history buff, I thought a book set in our nation's capitol would appeal to me. But sadly the book does not really infuse art, history and architecture as much as the previous 2 efforts - instead it focuses mainly on the history and workings of the Freemasons, which is a famous organization I'm sure you've heard of. Well, they play a huge role in this book, and while there was still interesting history, art and architecture tidbits, it just wasn't much. It just wasn't the same. 

Aside from that, I found that while I cared about what happened in the book, I really had no trouble putting it down. Unlike the other 2 books, which I quickly devoured, I kind of read this one leisurely, over the course of a week. The story is good, but it's not quite as fascinating as the other two books. There are shocking moments, but I have to say only one really got me. The others didn't really do much to affect me emotionally.

And while all of this books have moments where you step back and realize how absurd the whole thing is, I've always been able to kind of overlook that in the other books. In this one, however, I found that much harder. I even found myself rolling my eyes a couple of things at the actions of Langdon and his comrades. And I didn't really care for the ending either.

I know it sounds like I'm being really hard on the book - if you're a Dan Brown fan, I still suggest reading it. It's more of the same, but I don't think it's up to the same standards. I was disappointed. In the end, I was hoping for more than the book delivered. But I think he had a lot to measure up to based on the success of his previous two books. It's not easy to always live up to the hype. He still manages to weave a good tale, and his use of mixing history with fiction is still pretty strong. 

If you've never read one of his books, though, I wouldn't start with this one. I'd start at the beginning - read Angels and Demons. Save this one for when you've got some time to kill.

This Is How It Is

You know how many times I yearned to write in here? And did I? No. It's sad that sometimes the prospect of just jotting down thoughts is exhausting. There's really no excuse for it. I need to get my act together and talk about SOMETHING - anything - every day, even if it's only for 5 minutes. How successful will I be? Well, I wouldn't put money on it.

Today was just one of those days where everything just annoyed the shit out of me. I hate days like that. Though I must admit the last several work days have been more bearable than usual because I have many new podcasts to listen to. I love podcasts. They save my life. Right now I'm addicted to "Stuff You Missed in History Class". I'm a history nerd, so I downloaded all the back episodes and I'm loving it. I've learned a lot. So I like to think I'm learning while I'm working. Doing two things at once.

I've also been busy rereading the Harry Potter series. I started with the last book, actually - it was the only book I'd only read once. And when I read it that one time it was right after it came out, and I totally rushed through it, just dying to know what happened. I thought it was okay, but I felt kind of hollow when it was over - and not just because the beloved series was over. For me, I just felt like stuff was MISSING. On reading it again I realized just how much of the plot I actually didn't remember. (Though I clearly remembered every last person who died.) And although I found I did enjoy it more, that same hollow feeling remained. I guess I just didn't find the ending fulfilling. I felt like stuff was missing. That doesn't make it bad...it just makes it...hollow.

So then I went back and read "The Sorcerer's Stone", which I hadn't read in years and years. There's so much in that book that you have to really suspend belief a bit to really absorb properly. There were so many moments when I couldn't help thinking "You're first year students!" or "You're eleven!" That really didn't detract from enjoying the book - stuff like that doesn't really get to me too much, even though I do recognize it. Sometimes you have to just step back from logic and enjoy something for what it is. Most of the time, it's not a big deal.

I'm on Chamber of Secrets now, which is one of my favorites. Gotta love Lockhart.

But I did think about something as I was rereading Sorcerer's Stone...if you were a Muggle parent, and got a letter from some school you never heard of, telling you your kid was a wizard/witch and had magic powers, wouldn't you freak out a bit? Would you automatically want to send your child to this school, into this world you know nothing about? I think it would take a lot of convincing in most cases. I'm sure there would be parents who would refuse to send their kids at all.

But, like I said before, it's not a big deal really. Just one of the things you have to let go.